Lookafter your mental wellbeing

20 August 2018

Youmanity reports on the experience of charity ‘Mind’ in relation to mental health wellbeing and copying strategies. This comprehensive article aims to help anyone improve and maintain their mental wellbeing. It also explains what can affect your mental health and gives practical suggestions on how to build resilience.

What is mental wellbeing? Mental wellbeing describes your mental state – how you are feeling and how well you can cope with day-to-day life. Our mental wellbeing can change, from day to day, month to month or year to year.

A person with good mental wellbeing is able to:

Feel relatively confident in themselves
Feel and express a range of emotions
Build and maintain positive relationships with other people
Live and work productively
Cope with the stresses of daily life and manage times of change and uncertainty

Mental wellbeing is just as important as physical wellbeing, and maintaining both is an important part of staying fit and healthy. Everybody has mental health as well as physical health, and sometimes you’re well and sometimes you’re not well. Your work environment - the quality of your relationship with your job and job colleagues is of the upmost important. Your mental wellbeing can be affected by work-related factors like:

Workload pressures
Long working hours
Lone working
Dealing with people who may be physically or verbally abusive
Repeated exposure to traumatic events

Your mental wellbeing can also be affected by other things in your life, for example, 1) if you suffer some sort of loss, 2) experience loneliness, 3) have relationships problems, 4) and/or are worried about money. Sometimes, there is no clear reason why we experience a period of poor mental wellbeing.

Staying mentally well. It’s important to look after your mental wellbeing on a day-to-day basis, and not just after experiencing big, traumatic events. Staying mentally well by building resilience can reduce your chances of developing mental health problems like depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Mental wellbeing checklist. You can use the checklist below to identify factors that are affecting your mental wellbeing.

I have someone I can talk to about my feelings.
I have good friends I can trust.
I sleep well most of the time.
I eat healthily most of the time.
I do some physical activity regularly.
I make time for the things I enjoy.
I do things to help other people.
I feel I achieve things.
I know how to relax.
I know what affects my moods.
I am kind to myself about who I am.
I look after myself during difficult times

If you were not able to tick many of these statements, you may want to build on your resilience (see below) and consider getting support from some of the suggestions at the end of this article. What can I do to build resilience? Here are some ways you might be able to develop and strengthen your resilience.

Talk about the way you feel. Talking about the way you feel with someone you know and trust can often help. Your colleagues, friends or family may be able to offer you practical help or advice and give you another perspective on what is causing your problems. Even if they can’t help, often just talking something through and feeling that there is someone to listen and understand you can make you feel much better.

Build healthy relationships with people. Building and maintaining constructive relationships with people is an important part of staying mentally well. If you spend time around positive and supportive people, you are more likely to have a better self-image, be more confident and feel able to face difficult times. If you do not have the social contact you feel you need, or experience feelings of loneliness because of your work patterns or for any other reason, this can also have a negative impact on your mental wellbeing.

Do something you enjoy. Doing something you enjoy can improve your confidence and help you stay well. Make time to do things you like, whether it’s cooking, seeing your friends or doing DIY. Learning something new, or taking up a new hobby, can also boost your confidence and occupies your mind in a positive and active way. If you want to try a new hobby, think about what you are good at, or things that you have always wanted to try. You can find information about volunteering organisations and local groups, clubs or classes at your local library, in local newspapers or magazines, or online.

Set yourself a challenges. Set yourself a challenge that you can realistically achieve. This doesn’t have to be anything particularly large but should have meaning for you. For example, you might decide you are going to write a letter to your local paper or start going to a regular exercise class. You will feel satisfied and proud of yourself when you achieve your goal, and feel more positive about yourself as a result.

Look after your physical health. If you have good physical health, you are more likely to have good mental health. Sleep patterns, diet and physical activity all have an impact on your mental wellbeing. Sometimes it can be difficult, or even impossible, to maintain regular sleep, diet and exercise patterns because of work. If this is the case, try to establish as much regularity as you can, or set time aside to look after your physical health after busy or stressful periods.

Relax. It’s important to make time to relax, even if you don’t feel under stress. This may mean going away for the weekend, spending an evening doing something you like, or even just taking a five-minute break to look out of the window. Learning a relaxation technique, such as breathing exercises, yoga or meditation, can also help you relax and reduce stress levels.

Identify mood triggers. Knowing what affects your moods can help you take steps to avoid or change the situations that have a negative impact on you. Even if you can’t change the situation, knowing your triggers can help you remember to take extra care of yourself during difficult times. For example, you may realise that eating certain foods or seeing a certain person has an effect on your mood. Or you may tend to experience a particular mood at a particular time, such as in winter. Keeping track of your moods in a mood diary can help you work out what affects your mental wellbeing and recognise changes in your mood that would be difficult to spot otherwise. You can create your own mood diary, or there are lots to choose from on the internet.

Look after yourself during difficult times. Everyone has times when they face challenging situations and find it difficult to cope. If you are experiencing a difficult time, or are unwell, it’s important to look after yourself and try and get through. Be careful not to put too much pressure on yourself to carry on as normal. You may need to take a break from your usual responsibilities, for example reducing your social activities or workload. Take small steps and don’t expect too much of yourself. Try to get enough sleep and eat regularly. If you are finding it difficult to cope on your own, don’t be afraid to ask for help. For example, you may need time off work or help with day-to-day tasks, such as cleaning or childcare.

Stay safe. If your feelings become overwhelming, and you have suicidal thoughts or you think you may self harm, remember that you can pick up the phone at any time of night or day and talk to the Samaritans.

Learn to accept yourself. One of the most important steps in maintaining mental wellbeing is to learn to accept yourself. If you value yourself, you are more likely to have positive relationships with other people and find it easier to cope with difficult times in your life. Here are some tips to help you increase your self-esteem:

Try not to compare yourself to other people
Don’t strive for perfection
Acknowledge your positive qualities and things you are good at
Learn to identify and challenge unhelpful thinking patterns
Use self-help books and websites to help you change your beliefs
Spend time with supportive people
Be assertive – don’t allow people to treat you with a lack of respect
Engage in hobbies that you enjoy
What support is available?

You may find that, despite your best efforts, you are unable to maintain your mental wellbeing on your own. In this case, you might want to seek professional help to address whatever is affecting you.

Practical help. If there is a particular situation that is affecting your mental wellbeing, the best thing to do is to seek specialist practical help to resolve the problem. Having someone professional who is familiar with your type of situation can see it objectively and usually get to the root of the problem more quickly. For example, if: someone close to you has died and you are struggling to cope, you may want to talk to a bereavement counselor. IIf you have legal, money or housing problems that are causing you stress or anxiety, you may find it useful to talk to your local Citizens Advice. See ‘Useful contacts’ on page 4 for organisations that may be able to help.

Peer support. Peer support means talking to people who have been through similar experiences, for example, in a support group, online forum or website.

Mindfulness. Mindfulness is a way of paying attention to the present moment, using techniques like meditation, breathing exercises and yoga. It has been shown to help people become more aware of their thoughts and feelings, so that instead of being overwhelmed by them, it is easier to manage them. Be Mindful has more information and details of local classes around the UK.

Talking treatments. If you are facing problems that are affecting your mental wellbeing, and you can’t resolve these yourself, you may find a talking treatment helpful.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a form of therapy that aims to identify connections between your thoughts, feelings and behaviour, and to help you develop practical skills to manage them. It has been shown to be particularly effective for low self-esteem and anxiety-based conditions. If your problems stem from early life experiences you might find that other talking treatments, such as person-centred therapy, psychodynamic therapy or interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), can help you address these experiences more thoroughly. If you want to try a talking treatment, your GP can provide information and refer you to a local service. However, waiting lists for talking treatments on the NHS can be long, so you may prefer to seek therapy or counselling privately. Private therapists will charge a fee, but some offer a reduced rate for people on a limited income.

Medication If you are unable to resolve any difficulties you are having yourself, and your feelings develop into a mental health problem, such as PTSD, anxiety or depression, you may be offered prescription medication by your GP. These drugs don’t cure mental health problems, but aim to ease the most distressing symptoms. Your GP should talk you through the potential advantages and disadvantages of taking any psychiatric medication and discuss possible alternative treatments.

If you are able to recognise that you are under a lot of stress, you should talk to someone either someone you trust at work, or friends or family. It’s not right to have to cope with that level of stress and anxiety day in and day out, and over a period of long time it can make you ill.

USEFUL CONTACTS INCLUDE:

Mind

0300 123 3393

www.mind.org.uk

The leading charity for mental health matters

Be Mindful

www.bemindful.co.uk

Information, and details of local mindfulness courses and therapists.

Bereavement Advice Centre

0800 634 9494

www.bereavementadvice.org

Support for people who have been bereaved.