We all are aware of our physical health. When it is out of balance, we know what to do. We do exercise and improve our diets for improving our body and its health. The means for improvement, while not necessarily easy or followed through on, are at least known. But what about your mental health?
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 18% of adults (1 out of every 5) in the United States suffer from a mental health issue in a given year. 1 out of 25 adults faces a mental issue so severe, it interferes or prevents a major part of life. Those seem like remarkably high numbers. The treatments for these problems also seem more enigmatic than the treatment for a lifestyle-induced physical ailment.
We usually treat for serious mental illness from a professional. What about those facing less severe issues, stemming from high-stress jobs or family environments?
There are many techniques that can be practiced to prevent a worsening situation.
1. Meditation
The benefits of meditation have been well studied and reported. Research is not clear on how many thoughts per day we have. It is obvious that we think a lot, and that we are unaware of most of the thoughts.
These thoughts are either positive, negative, or neutral regarding the impact they have on our daily experience. The big question is, how does meditation help? It helps by creating a buffer of space between the thought and your reaction to it. Meditation does support your capacity to allow thoughts that create further mental suffering to pass through without creating negative consequences.
2. Gratitude
It’s impossible to fully feel the feeling of gratitude while also feeling a strongly negative feeling. It’s as if our body can only hold one of the sensations at a time in its full glory.
When you focus on a positive emotion, the negative emotion releases its grasp. A simple way to cultivate the feeling of gratitude is to make a bucket list of things you are grateful for on a daily basis. Challenge yourself to come up with ten or more items. With practice, the positive feeling of gratitude will crowd out any negative feeling of mental tension.
3. Exercise
Exercise can help to reduce stress. Research also shows that active people have lower incidences of anxiety and depression compared to inactive people.
According to the American Psychological Association:
Work in animals since the late 1980s has found that exercise increases brain concentrations of norepinephrine in brain regions involved in the body’s stress response.
Although researchers are unsure of exactly how most antidepressants work, they know that some increase brain concentrations of norepinephrine.
4. Charity
A charitable gift does more than help those in need. It helps you in the process of making yourself happy.
Research shows that giving to meaningful causes activates parts of your brain responsible for pleasure.
Even more interesting, research also indicates an increase in bonding between the giver and the cause, noted by the role of Oxytocin in the brains of givers (and lack thereof in the non-givers). This is the same type of result one would expect in examining the bond between mothers and children or between life partners.
5. Humor
There are even laughter researchers, including Robert Provine, who recommend, “until the scientists work out all the details, get in all the laughter that you can!” Perhaps one day in the future, doctors will not only counsel you to “eat your veggies” and “get 30 minutes of daily exercise” but also fit in a healthy dose of laughter each day as well!
It’s comforting to know that no matter how stressful the world might seem, we have the means, within our control, to ease that suffering.