Mental health is an important aspect of living a happy, meaningful life. It requires ongoing work, but that doesn’t mean that the hour you have free right now cannot make a difference. At Carolina Dunes Behavioral Health in Leland, North Carolina, we have compiled a list of things that a person can do in an hour or less to address their mental health needs.
Self-Care for Mental Health
Whether or not you’re experiencing any symptoms of mental illness, the steps below are recommended self-care strategies that will allow you to maintain your mental health:
- Improve your sleeping conditions. Getting enough quality sleep reduces your risk of developing mental health concerns, improves your focus, allows you to make better decisions, and improves your ability to learn new information. You can increase the likelihood that you will get the sleep you need by:
- Consuming a diet that is high in fiber, vitamins, and nutrients and low in saturated fat, sugar, and caffeine.
- Meditating
- Getting plenty of light early in the morning
- Turning down the lights and noise in your home in the evening
- Sticking to a consistent bedtime and waking time
- Using blackout curtains or a sleep mask to block out light
- Ensuring you have a comfortable mattress and pillows
- Move your body. Exercise causes your body to release more of the “feel good” chemicals like dopamine and serotonin, and less of the stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. The exercise you choose should be based on your current physical health and what you enjoy enough to continue. Make sure that your workout is happening at least 2-3 hours before you want to go to sleep. For most people, 150 minutes of activity per week is recommended, but you should talk to your doctor if you haven’t been exercising and want to start to discuss what would be best for you.
- Go outside. Spending time outdoors in green spaces (parks, gardens, forests) and blue spaces (lakes, ponds, rivers, oceans) has been shown to promote well-being, improve mental health, and reduce negative thoughts. Getting enough exposure to sunlight also helps our bodies to produce Vitamin D, which impacts mood.
- Spend time with a pet. Animals have been shown to have a positive impact on mental health by offering companionship, mood boosts, routines, and stress reduction
- Reach out to a loved one. Call or text someone you care about to ask how they are doing or schedule some time together.
- Clean your space. A tidy space makes our brains feel less cluttered. You might not be able to clean your whole house right now, but pick one room and set a timer for 15 minutes. Do what you can in that time, and you might be surprised how much better you feel when the timer goes off.
- Brain dump. Writing down all of the thoughts that are floating around in your mind, even for just two minutes on a napkin, can free up mental space. If you prefer, you can formalize this practice by journaling.
- Improve your sleeping conditions. Getting enough quality sleep reduces your risk of developing mental health concerns, improves your focus, allows you to make better decisions, and improves your ability to learn new information. You can increase the likelihood that you will get the sleep you need by:
Addressing Mental Health Symptoms
If you are struggling with some mental health symptoms, then the activities below can help you to manage them:
- Grounding exercises. These are techniques you can use to help your brain manage emotional distress and panic attacks. They are activities you can do without any special tools and without drawing attention to yourself, if you are around other people.
- Build a sensory kit to comfort yourself. Think about each of your five senses and gather items that you find comforting, related to each one of them. Then, when you feel stressed, pull them out and use them. Some examples might include:
- Touch: Soft blanket, stress ball, rock with a smooth surface, your pet
- Smell: A candle or essential oil in your favorite scent
- Taste: A piece of good-quality chocolate to eat slowly and savor
- Sound: A collection of nature sounds or your favorite songs
- Sight: A postcard from a place you love, a picture of someone who makes you feel safe
- Call a crisis line. If you’re struggling with something like self-harm, mental illness symptoms, suicidal thoughts, or addiction, a trained crisis counselor can help you to come up with some strategies to stay safe until you can access ongoing support. In North Carolina, there are also mobile crisis teams that can come to you in person to offer urgent support.
- Attend a therapy session. This may take more time if you need to drive to and from the appointment, but there are many therapists who offer telehealth appointments.
At Carolina Dunes Behavioral Health, we offer inpatient psychiatric treatment for patients who are struggling with acute mental health symptoms. We also assist our patients and their families in developing a plan to make their transition back home as smooth as possible.
