Mental Health Awareness Week: Top tips to improve your mental health

It is Mental Health Awareness Week with a focus on anxiety this year. Since Covid-19 locked down our world, levels of anxiety have increased so I thought I'd share some top tips to improve your mental health.

This past week, I've seen lots of talk about mental health and anxiety, really driving the message of Mental Health Awareness Week. I've also seen posts on social media about anxiety as well; on LinkedIn, there have been top tips for freelancers and those in the business world.

My sister, who is a Spanish-to-English translator, shared some great posts on her LinkedIn about different sorts of anxiety. She included income anxiety, anxiety about marketing and also imposter syndrome, which I have felt before in my life.

Whilst I have shared a blog post about Mental Health Awareness, my sister's posts inspired me to share some of my own top tips to cope when you're having a poor mental health day and are not feeling quite yourself.

So here are some of WriteWatchWork's top tips to improve your mental health:

Dance it out

Now, this technique I've technically stolen from Grey's Anatomy. In the show, Meredith and Cristina have this process of dancing it out whenever they feel down or stressed or confused about something.

So when your mental health isn't where you'd like it to be, put on some music and dance it out. It can be to any song of your choice, personally, I find rock music to be the best when I'm stressed and songs from musicals to be the best at cheering me up.

Once you've danced it out, hopefully, you'll feel better with a rush of endorphins.

Let it out

Whilst the stigma around mental health has decreased in recent years, it is still present. As a result, there are still a lot of people who hide their emotions and put on a front for others.

But it's not good to bottle up all your emotions. So to make you feel better and release some tension, let it out. Scream, shout, cry, find a punching bag, whatever will make you release your emotions, do it. Then once you've let it out, you can start fresh.

Journaling

I actually wrote a blog on how journaling can help your mental health last year when it was Mental Health Awareness Week.

As a writer myself, I can understand how writing out our thoughts and feelings can help us and also allow us to think clearer. I know that I can be writing out what I'm feeling and even end up with a new story idea based on what I've written, so if you like words and writing, give journaling a try.

Track the positivity

A lot of the time, it's easier to feel negative feelings and have a pessimistic view of the world. Whilst that may be the less challenging route through life, it doesn't mean it's the best one.

Everyone at some point will feel a bit down, have a 'meh' day and also feel like they're not good enough. However, one way to improve these feelings and turn to optimism is to keep track of the positivity.

Make a note of compliments you receive, of positive feedback in the workplace, of achievements you've completed. If you remember the positive things in your life, it'll make it easier for you to focus on the good and feel better.

Be you

My final tip to improve your mental health is to be you. Don't try to change for anyone or fit into others' expectations of the person you should be.

Embrace who you are, do things that you like to do to feel better whether that be going out with friends or staying in under the covers to watch a movie. Don't be afraid to be yourself.

Today is the last day of Mental Health Awareness Week. I hope these tips help you improve your mental health and if you have any more of your own, feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Until next time...