Time To Talk: Looking After Mental Health Whilst Isolating
Now more than ever it is important to talk about mental health with coronavirus highlighting, and sometimes creating, struggles for many individuals. ‘Time to Talk Day’ highlights the importance of mental health awareness for yourself and for your loved ones, “it is a day that we get the nation talking about mental health”
Looking After Your Own Mental Health
If you are struggling with your mental health it not only affects you, but can affect your loved ones around you, therefore it is important to open up even if you do not know how to describe how you feel. Opening up and talking about how you feel helps you process as well as giving you a feeling of being listened to. What may seem like big steps, small changes to your lifestyle can help you improve the way you feel:
Being Active
Staying or becoming more active releases chemicals in your brain, known as endorphins, which can help make you feel happier. Not only will regular exercise make you feel better in yourself, but it will also help you sleep better, which is a common struggle when you have difficulties with feeling low. Exercising can be something you love such as; gardening, dancing, walking, this way it doesn’t even feel like exercise!
Eating Healthy
This does not mean just eating fruits and vegetables, it means having a balanced diet. We have known for a long time that diet can affect your mental health and wellbeing and lack of nutrients can affect different organs, and the brain is no different. A healthy diet will also make your body feel better and can improve your confidence.
Reduce Alcohol Intake
Just as we know diet can affect mood, we also know alcohol can do the same, this can be the reason some of us drink it – to change a mood. We also know when alcohol wears off, it is likely that you feel worse than you did before drinking it. Reducing your intake of alcohol can make you less dependent on it, therefore improving your mood.
Take A Break
Think about your surroundings, what is getting you down? Remove yourself from the situation for a short while. Your mind needs space to clear your thoughts, so staying in that situation where you collect negativity makes it harder for your brain to disassociate.
Supporting Another’s Mental Health
Alternatively, if you know someone who is struggling with their mental health it may be difficult to know how or what to do to look after them. The most important thing you can do is to show them support, when you struggle with your mental health you feel very alone, so offer the opportunity to talk. Sometimes allowing them to talk about their feelings will help them massively and all you have to do is listen. Genuinely listening when someone decides they want to open up to you will help them not feel like they have to close off again and keep their struggles to themselves. Show trust and respect and prove that you can be someone that will help them through their struggles.
Support With Mental Health During Coronavirus
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic it is important we support each other through the difficult times. Have a quick catch-up call or arrange to meet for a socially distanced walk, little activities like this will help us feel less lonely and take some things off your mind. The Mental Health Foundation has some tips on ways to look after your mental health during the coronavirus outbreak – take a look for yourself or show someone that you think it may help.
If you would like to find out more or access our services, please visit promedica24.co.uk to use our online chat service. You can also get in touch with our team on 0800 086 8686 or by sending an email to care@promedica24.co.uk. If you’d like to assess your care and support needs rapidly online, we have a tool available for you to do this.
We can provide live-in care services across the whole of England and we would also encourage you to visit our testimonials page to read what our clients and their families have said about our services.
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