Mental wellbeing tips

Many factors affect your mental health. Some things you can influence yourself, whereas others are difficult to control. Below you will find 12 tips that can help you take care of your mental health. Remember, creating new habits take time. You don’t need to do everything at once. Start with something that’s right for you, wherever you are right now.

Some of the things that affect how you feel are more difficult to change by yourself. If you are feeling depressed or especially low, or if circumstances in your life are making it difficult for you to change your situation, you might need help and support.

12 tips that can improve your wellbeing

• Talk to somebody about how you’re feeling

Trying to express your feelings can help you to better understand yourself. It also makes it easier for others to know how to support you. Being able to say how you really feel to someone you trust can also make it easier to deal with sadness, heavy feelings, or dark thoughts. So try to talk to someone about how you are feeling, even if it seems difficult. Just like everything else – it will get easier with practice.

• Spend time with people who make you feel good

Feeling safe and being able to be yourself when you are with others is important for your mental health. Healthy social relationships give you energy and support when you need it.

• Get physically active

Regular physical activity benefits your mental health in many ways. It can help you sleep better, improve your concentration and relieve worry and anxiety. All physical activity counts, and even just a little bit is better than none. Small changes in your physical activity can have a positive effect relatively quickly.

• Prioritise sleep and recovery

Getting enough sleep increases resilience against physical and mental challenges. Young people usually need around eight to ten hours of sleep per night, whereas adults need between six and nine. If you feel alert and able to function during the day then you are probably getting enough sleep. While you are sleeping, your brain and body have time to recover and process what you have experienced during the day.

• Build your self-esteem

Self-esteem is how we value and perceive ourselves. It's based on our opinions and beliefs about ourselves. One of the first steps to having good self-esteem is to be aware of what you think and feel about yourself. You can boost your self-esteem in many ways, such as trying new things, challenging any negative thoughts you may have about yourself, practising expressing your opinions, and finding social contexts in which you feel valued and appreciated.

• Be kind to yourself

Being kind and understanding towards yourself involves having self-compassion, which you might call the opposite of self-criticism. Try to make sure that the demands you place on yourself are reasonable. It is always good to remind yourself that nobody is perfect. Practise listening to yourself and your needs, and treating yourself as you would treat a close friend.

• Share your time, get involved and help others

Helping others and getting involved in causes you are passionate about can provide you with a sense of community and purpose. Feeling like we can make a difference strengthens our wellbeing. And there are many ways of contributing to something – you could express your interest to someone, consider the needs of your community or those close to you, or ask someone if they need help. You could volunteer for causes you believe in.

• Establish routines that make you feel good

In order to have good health, we need good routines around our basic needs, like food, sleep, physical activity, recovery, and relationships. Finding a balance between work, school, leisure time and other everyday activities will improve your everyday wellbeing. Routines may sometimes feel tedious, but they often suffer when a person is struggling. When you’re struggling, maintaining everyday routines are particularly important.

• Try to reduce stress

Being stressed every now and then is not harmful. But if you experience high levels of stress over long periods, this can negatively affect your health. So, it’s important to be able to identify when and why you feel stress, and how you can deal with the cause of it. Again, make sure you have reasonable expectations of yourself, and make time for sleep, physical activity and recuperation. This will give you a chance to recharge, and is good for your health in the long run. If your stress becomes too much or lasts for a long time, you may need to seek professional help.

• Manage your screen time

TVs, mobile phones and tablets are a significant part of many people’s everyday lives. Sometimes, too much of our free time is taken up by screens, leaving us with less time for important things like sleep, physical activity and relationships. The content of digital media can also affect how you feel. So, try to think about how you consume media, both in terms of time and content.

• Make the most of your free time

Spending your free time doing meaningful things can boost your mental health. Meaningful activities could be anything from spending time in nature and the outdoors, exercise, to cooking, gardening or cultural activities. When it comes to your leisure time, there is no right or wrong way to know what is rewarding, for you. Use your interests as your guide – what you feel you like, and need – and go from there.  

• Try to accept that life goes up and down

Most of us will have periods in our lives where we feel low, worried, angry, or stressed. But these feelings usually pass. Remembering this can help us to more easily accept difficult feelings. There is a certain peace in knowing that we don’t have to always chase after solutions. Acceptance does not mean giving up, rather, it means accepting the situation is what it is right now. It is also important to try to do something that you enjoy, to get a break from what feels difficult. But if the difficult periods become long and significantly affect your everyday life, you may need to seek help.