5 Habits for Better Mental Health
Mental health is a spectrum, ranging from poor to excellent, and is defined as our psychological and emotional well-being including our ability to effectively cope with stressors. Where we sit on that spectrum can vary from year to year, month to month and even day to day. Why is it that we can sometimes be feeling in control and on top of all the demands in life, whereas the next week we feel down and depressed? This is the question that mental health professionals have been studying for centuries. Although the true answer is a complicated mix of biology (biochemistry, genetics) and environmental situations (e.g. job, partner, friends, family), there are several protective factors that have been reliably identified in the research. This article looks at 5 habits that are linked to better stress management and that promote improved emotion regulation and mental health.
1. Good, quality sleep
Poor sleep is highly correlated with poorer emotional and psychological health and is linked to disorders such as depression, anxiety and bi-polar. Although the process is not completely understood, it appears it is a bi-directional relationship, that is, struggles with mental health leads to poorer sleep patterns and poorer sleep patterns lead to worsening mental health. Sleep is a complicated process with many stages, and each stage plays a role in emotion regulation. For example, REM sleep facilitates the processing of emotional information collected throughout the day, and interestingly, lack of REM sleep has a harmful impact on the consolidation of positive emotional information, leading to increases in suicidal thinking.
If you are having issues with proper sleep management, take a look at basic sleep hygiene principles: have your bedroom dark and cooler at night, use your bed only for sleep, keep technology out of your bedroom (get an old-fashioned alarm clock that is dimmable as opposed to your phone), have a bedtime routine that does not include screens, don’t eat or drink too much in the hours before bed, use a white noise machine to block out regular household noises. If problems still persist, use the expertise of your family doctor or a therapist to explore evidence-based approaches to sleep issues and insomnia.
2. Balanced Eating
When we eat in balanced ways, we help avoid mood fluctuations throughout the day. Ever hear of the term “hangry?”, it’s not a myth! Our emotions are closely tied with the amount and quality of the food that enters our body each day. Skip a meal or start a diet? Be prepared to have slower cognitive power, be more irritable and prone to negative thinking. Or have an exceptionally large and heavy meal? Be prepared to feel lethargic and drained, less motivated, and (again), more prone to negative thinking. Repeat these habits on a daily basis, and poor overall mental health is likely to develop.
Although not a cure for mental illness, balanced eating (that is, eating enough and eating a variety of foods) is a known way to limit vulnerability to negative emotional states. More and more research is being conducted on the link between ‘food’ and ‘mood’, including the interesting finding that people on a traditional Mediterranean diet or Japanese diet were 25% to 35% less likely to suffer from depression as those on a traditional Western diet (source). The key may be in the nutrients found in certain foods and their biochemical impact on the brain’s functioning. In addition, proper nutrition makes for improved cognitive processing and energy levels, which we all can agree make our daily activities easier and less stressful.
3. Avoiding Mood Altering Drugs
Depressants and stimulants are used for a variety of reasons by the mass majority of us. Alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, and caffeine are some of the most commonly used, and can have many short-term positive effects. However, with excessive use, these substances can cause long lasting negative effects in our brain’s biochemistry and functioning. Overtime, people can find themselves on a slippery slope of self-medicating mental health symptoms (for example, using alcohol for social anxiety), which can deplete our own ability to tolerate stress and anxiety. If you are already struggling with mental health symptoms, it is even more important to avoid mood altering drugs to not worsen the situation or create a dependency. Drug use (including cannabis) has also been linked to ‘triggering’ specific mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia, in those who are biologically vulnerable. It is therefore important that people with family history of schizophrenia or psychosis avoid recreational drugs best they can.
4. Limiting Social Media
No surprise here. Social media platforms are designed to be ‘reward based’ by increasing dopamine in the brain the more you interact with the app. As such, changing the biochemistry of the brain in this way can be detrimental and foster a perfect storm for anxiety, depression and poorer mental health. Scrolling for even 5 minutes at a time (or 5 hours?) is linked to feelings of isolation, jealousy, and low self-esteem. So why is it that we go back for more if it’s so harmful? The addictive properties of the dopamine release are real, making you feel good in the moment of using the app, but once you are finished, there are lingering negative effects. Think of it as a slot machine at a casino!
Since there is a direct correlation with higher social media use and poorer mental health, do yourself a favour and limit it wherever you can. Monitor your screen time, try checking only one app at a time (rather than all 3 or 4) and put your phone away when in the presence of others. Another really good way to limit the effects of social media use? Face to face interactions with others! Go on dates, meet up with friends at the park, skip the self-checkout in favour of a live person at the grocery store. The more face to face interactions we have on a daily basis, the healthier our brains are.
5. Pleasant Activities and Hobbies
Ever notice that the weeks that you are stressed out to the max tend to be the same weeks that you have very little ‘fun’ activities planned? All work and no play makes mental health worse! Having meaningful hobbies and activities that are sprinkled throughout your day creates a buffer against negative mood states. There are many different categories of pleasant activities and hobbies, including social activities (playing a board game with a friend, going out for coffee with a colleague), activities in which we build mastery (cooking, sewing, musical instruments), activities in which we contribute to others (helping a friend move, donating old clothes we don’t need), and physical activities (running, playing volleyball, working out). Having a wide variety of activities everyday is key, and NO, scrolling Tik Tok for 4 hours does not count! (see #4).
The reason having planned pleasant activities in your week is so vital for resilient mental health is explained in the theory of ‘behaviour activation’, a widely used treatment in many forms of therapy. Behaviour activation is considered the gold-standard treatment for depression. Engaging in pleasant activities even when we do not feel like it creates an upward spiral of motivation and joy. We often wait to feel better before we engage in activity, however, when low mood persists (such in the case of depression), action must precede emotion to break the cycle.
Engaging in healthy habits listed above can help protect you from negative emotional states. To help keep you accountable in engaging in these types of habits, consider working alongside a therapist who can help you assess, plan and put strategies into place. The therapists at Brookhaven Psychotherapy are experts in emotion regulation strategies, incorporating healthy daily habits that will buffer against everyday stressors.
Learn more about Adult Therapy here!
