Hawaii Pacific University’s online BSN to MSN Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner concentration program can equip individuals with tools they need for mental wellbeing, while Hawaii Pacific’s online BSN to MSN Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner degree provides resources that can be added to an individual’s wellness toolbox.
Adopting new coping mechanisms enables individuals to better cope with life’s adversities and stressors. Learning and adopting effective coping mechanisms provides individuals with tools they need to deal with stressors and obstacles more effectively, providing them a sense of control and resilience during difficult times.
1. Identify Your Emotions
To effectively manage emotions, it’s essential to first understand them. If your emotions are leading you down a path towards destructive actions such as lashing out at others, becoming aware of it could help prevent unnecessary reactions.
Emotions have an immediate physical manifestation. Breathing and heart rate may increase, your face might turn redder or you could experience feelings of tension and heat in your body.
Practice recognizing your emotions by talking with friends, your partner/spouse/significant other, counselors and/or mental health providers about them. Visual and cognitive tools, such as an emotion wheel or emotion iceberg can also assist in helping identify and understand feelings more fully.
2. Take a Break
As stress accumulates, you may notice changes to your sleep and focus, or small things seeming more irritating than they should. These indicators of strain should serve as reminders to take a break.
Mental health days are designed to give you time and space away from work to focus on activities unrelated to your job or responsibilities, like listening to music, reading books or journals, writing in them and/or meditating. Physical activities such as walking are also great for relieving stress and improving mood; or you might try an app like Calm or Meditation Minis as relaxation tools.
3. Do Something You Enjoy
Your hobbies should give you purpose, help reduce stress and enhance overall wellbeing. Start by finding something you’re passionate about or pick up an old activity again.
Hobbies that require creative expression such as painting or playing music can help build self-esteem while simultaneously improving brain function, increasing mood and decreasing stress levels. Activities requiring coordination or dexterity like dancing, Tai Chi or photography may even improve motor skills.
Engaging in intellectually rewarding activities such as strategy games and puzzles can also aid focus and memory retention, but finding something you truly enjoy doing is the key!
4. Practice Self-Care
Self-care is the cornerstone of mental wellness. Without it, other healthy behaviors will fall short and leave you vulnerable to sickness or relapse if recovering from mental health conditions.
Self-care takes many forms and should meet each person’s specific needs. Common methods of taking care of oneself may include eating healthy, getting adequate restful sleep, engaging in regular physical exercise and forgoing substances that could pose risks.
Mental self-care for others might mean participating in hobbies and passions like art and music, exploring new resources or setting simple goals like meal prep or walking three times each week after work – goals which help build resilience while creating an atmosphere of accomplishment and fostering sense of community.
5. Connect with Others
Connecting with others provides emotional support, belonging, and meaning; it may also reduce depression and anxiety.
Participating in your community, whether that means attending yoga class, meeting new people at the gym, learning a language or martial art skill, volunteering or joining a community group – can all lead to increased happiness.
Utilizing meditation or relaxation apps such as Headspace or Calm may also prove invaluable in combatting pandemic stress. Many companies such as Pinterest, Stitch Fix, Sephora and Zynga offer them as employee wellness benefits; their simplicity makes them indispensable tools in your mental wellness toolbox.
6. Spend Time in Nature
Forest bathing, ecotherapy or green time may all be terms to describe spending more time outdoors to increase mental wellbeing. Spending more time outside may increase mood, lower feelings of anxiety and depression and increase levels of happiness and life satisfaction.
Correlational and experimental research has linked contact with nature with improvements in mental health, such as increased happiness, positive emotion, life satisfaction and self-esteem. Furthermore, nature can also help solve problems more rapidly.
Make time for nature in your daily routine by going for a stroll in a park, sitting out on your balcony at home, listening to relaxing natural sounds or taking photographs of natural scenes – simply by adding nature into the equation!
7. Create a To-Do List
A to-do list can help keep track of your responsibilities and motivate action, but it’s important to find one that works best for you – so experiment with various list formats!
Prioritize and organize your tasks according to their relative importance. Remember that 20% of tasks can create 80% of results; make sure the most essential ones get completed first.
Make your list visually pleasing – posting it on a bulletin board or creating a sleek document in your preferred color can help motivate and keep you on track to complete tasks quickly and easily. Mind maps or digital tools may also prove effective for those who find linear lists too restrictive.
8. Set Goals
Setting goals helps us take an active approach to maintaining emotional well-being. These may range from small goals such as starting a daily mindfulness meditation routine or more ambitious ones such as changing negative thought patterns.
Goals can help foster growth by pushing you out of your comfort zone and teaching new skills. Tracking progress using journals or checklists can keep you accountable and help celebrate even small victories along the way.
Share your goals with friends, family, or therapists to stay motivated in reaching them. Remember that mental wellness is a journey not a destination and every step forward counts!