In years past, discussing one’s mental health or wellness was pretty much a taboo thing to do. We have come quite a ways since then. However, we still have more work to do to encourage others that it’s okay to speak about mental health challenges and to seek help for them.
September is National Suicide Prevention Month. In honor of this awareness and prevention effort, this article will explore a few ways to help us all take better care of our mental health. And, if you have a friend who is struggling, feel free to share these resources with them as well.
Get Moving
It may sound unrelated at first, but physical activity can help improve mental wellbeing. Mayo Clinic notes that symptoms of depression and anxiety can get better with exercise. Exercise improves physical health of course, but it also helps your body release endorphins that can boost your mood.
A half-hour of exercise is recommended. If that feels like too much, start with 10 or 15 minutes instead. This might be enough to help improve your mental well-being. And getting in any activity is better than none at all.
Talk to Someone
Simply talking about a problem can help ease your anxiety about it. If you have a supportive friend that you’re comfortable reaching out to, schedule a coffee date or call them up on the phone.
If you’re not comfortable talking to friends about something going on, then it might be time to consider talking with a counselor or therapist. There is no shame in reaching out for a little help, and talking with a professional can work wonders for your mental health. Today, you have many options for both in-person and virtual care depending on your preferences.
Meditate
When not treated, stress can lead to some complications and could worsen mental health problems. Treating stress is not exactly easy, but there are tools out there that can help.
Meditation is one of the options to help alleviate stress and take care of your mental health. You can download any number of meditation apps for some guided meditation, or you can simply try out some breathing exercises when you’re feeling stressed or worried. One form of meditation may work better for you than another, so it’s important to try out a few options to see what works for you.
Find a Guru
Deepak Chopra is a well-known name in the meditation space. A friend of mine referred me to his guided meditations that he has done in partnership with Oprah. In fact, during the start of the pandemic, Chopra released a free 21-day meditation series that worked wonders for my personal mental health at the time.
As it turns out, Chopra is exploring the idea of using blockchain technology to help with mental health and in preventing suicide. He gave an interview with Forbes in 2020 discussing some of his ideas on this topic. He appears to view blockchain as a way to hold people accountable to make sure they’re actually participating in the meditations they signed up for. He also wants to harness blockchain to better work together.
He stated in the Forbes interview, “I am a big student of emergence, which means when you have a shared vision, when you value people’s differences, something happens when there is true transparency when everything is measurable. Blockchain moves us in that direction.”
The Future of Mental Health Care
The availability of virtual telehealth visits and the marriage of blockchain with meditation and mindfulness holds some promise for the future of mental health care. It’s important to keep talking about mental health and to keep taking care of our own mental wellbeing.
