Mental health check-in
Checking in on your mental health is vital to leading a healthy lifestyle. It's easy for unwanted or uncomfortable thoughts and feelings to get pushed aside and buried. When this happens, emotions can compile, causing more issues, which is why taking care of your mental health regularly is so important.
Here are a few quick ways to check in on your mental health.
Gauge your stress and anxiety levels. Some feelings of stress and anxiety are a normal part of life, but these feelings can quickly become chronic if they aren’t cared for. Take some time each week to gauge your stress and anxiety levels from 1 (feeling great) to 10 (suffering panic attacks). If you notice your numbers are between 5 (struggling to cope but still functioning) and 10 for more than a few weeks, it may be time to make a change or seek treatment.
Track your downtime. Time for yourself is often the first thing you forget when life becomes challenging. Think back over the past week. How much time have you spent engaging in hobbies or with loved ones? Not getting enough downtime can be a symptom and a cause of poor mental health, so try scheduling time for yourself each day—even if it's only a few minutes.
Process major life events. Whether joyous or not, life events can introduce added strain. Often, these events happen suddenly, for example, losing a job, finding out you or your partner is pregnant or the passing of a loved one. Try describing the event or situation to yourself out loud. If this causes you to feel overly anxious, consider seeking support.
These exercises will help you evaluate your mental health and make decisions accordingly. Plus, everything listed above can be done in your spare moments, so they won’t interrupt your daily life. However, if you think you could use additional help, check out the blog post on Mental health resources.
