Manage Your Mental Health
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Discover ways to practice self-care.
- Describe strategies for protecting your mental health at work.
- Explore the benefits and mental health resources your employer offers.
How Are You, Really?
We all need help from time to time: help to get ahead of stressful triggers; help to rise to a new challenge; help to break free from intergenerational patterns holding us back; and help to learn how to press pause.
Experiencing ups and downs is a part of life. That’s why it’s important to check in with yourself regularly to ensure the emotions you are experiencing haven’t become destructive. If those emotions are starting to impact your relationships—personal or professional—or diminish your ability to concentrate, think clearly, or feel motivated, it’s time to take action and focus on ways to protect your mental health.
Pausing regularly to acknowledge your emotions has a myriad of benefits. For one, it helps you pinpoint a cause-and-effect relationship and position your life toward happiness. Here’s a quick guide to checking in:
- Feel your feelings. Instead of burying your emotions, acknowledge them.
- Do a body scan. Work from head to toe. Is your heart beating quickly? Are your shoulders tight or relaxed?
- Tap into your mind. What are you thinking or feeling at this moment?
- Resist the urge to judge. Notice how you’re feeling without judging those feelings, yourself, or others.
- Make it a habit. Start by checking in with yourself once a day; just 5 to 10 minutes is enough to do a quick assessment.
*Adapted from: It’s Probably Time for a Self Check-in—Here's How to Do It
Proactively Protect Your Mental Health
Managing your mental health is an ongoing process. It’s important that no matter where you are and no matter what type of situation you are in—at home or in a traditional office—you have the emotional safety and space to take care of yourself.
You might be thinking, “Sounds great, but where do I find the time?” Remember, taking care of your mental health is a continual process. And small changes like adding self-care to your day and scheduling time to unplug can make a big impact.
Throughout this unit, we explore ways to prioritize your mental health and set yourself up for success by surrounding yourself with the people, support, and resources you need to help along your mental health journey. Now, let’s get to it!
Practice Self-Care
Self-care is an important component of managing your mental health—whether you’re struggling or not. As Terri Cheney put it in her book, Modern Madness, “The flip side of self-care is self-neglect.” We all need time to reconnect with ourselves, rest, and do the activities that we enjoy and contribute to our overall wellbeing.
Whether that means meditating, adding movement into your day, giving yourself permission to unplug, pursuing a hobby, or something else, block time on your calendar for self-care and stick to it. Tell your friends and family too, so they can help hold you accountable.
Ready to get started? Try this quick guided breathing exercise led by Impact Filmmaker and Founder of Goldenair Breathwork, Chris Keener, to help you calm your nerves and promote clarity.
Build Resilience
Finding healthy ways to cope with challenges and mental distress, also known as building resiliency, takes time. Resilience is like a muscle; the more you work it, the stronger it gets! When you have resilience, you can bounce back from adversity and learn to handle stress in healthy ways.
Your problems may not disappear, but learning resilience keeps you functioning and helps you see past the problem, make a plan, and take action.
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Tips to help build resilience:
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Maintain Connections
We’re designed to be social creatures. (Yes, introverts need to feel connected to others to be fulfilled, too!) But those connections become harder to maintain with the busyness of work and other responsibilities.
Once you start feeling down, it can be hard to pick yourself back up and motivate yourself to connect with people. Maintaining connections with friends, family, nature, and your community is vital!
Studies like the one published in the Journal of Happiness Studies show that people who volunteered at least once a month reported better mental health than participants who volunteered infrequently or not at all. And spending time in nature can help us feel happier, sparking positive emotions such as calmness, joy, and creativity.
Engage in Healthy Activities
Some activities, such as working out and healthy eating, might not readily seem like self-care if you don’t find them enjoyable. But if you challenge yourself and find ways to make these activities fun, they may not be as lofty of goals as you think.
There are lots of ways to make prioritizing your wellbeing fun. And it’s also worth checking into challenges or resources your company offers. The better you treat your body, the more equipped your mind will be to also stay healthy.
We’re All in This Together
Remember you can play a role in supporting your colleagues and friends in their own mental health journey. For example, if a friend or teammate shares with you that they have been experiencing symptoms of burnout, listen to them, acknowledge their feelings, and point them to resources where they can seek more support. Or if you notice a change in behavior of those around you or those you love, check in on them and let them know that they aren’t alone. We can all be champions of mental health.
Let’s Sum It Up
When it comes to health, the primary focus for most people and organizations tends to be on physical health—good nutrition, regular exercise, yearly check-ups at the doctor. But the reality is that mental health is an important part of overall wellbeing. The goal is to be as comfortable with caring for your mental health as maintaining your physical health, so you can be your healthiest and happiest self.