Taking Care of Your Mental Health

There’s a growing movement in the UK that’s looking to promote the role gardening can play in patient recovery and rehabilitation. Some organizations have found that simply viewing a green space through a window can help people relax and reduce stress levels. In fact, outdoor exercises or ‘ecotherapy’, such as gardening or walking, has huge benefits for your wellbeing and can even be as effective as antidepressants in treating mild to moderate depression and anxiety. 

The colors, sounds and smells of a garden can boost a person’s wellbeing, while nurturing a garden or allotment provides the satisfaction of completing tasks and foster stronger connection with the natural environment. All of this is associated with improved self-esteem and decreased levels of anger. This act of learning a new skill, meeting people and being active ultimately results in a positive impact on a one’s physical and emotional health.

Too much social media can have a negative impact on your physical and emotional health. Research has shown that social media use may detract a person from more face-to-face relationships, reduce investment in meaningful activities, as well as increase sedentary behavior. This in turn could lead to Internet addiction and erode one’s self-esteem through unfavorable social comparison.

Self-comparison can be a strong influence on human behavior, and because people tend to display the most positive aspects of their lives on social media without showing the negative, it is possible for an individual to believe that they have it much worse compared to what they see on others.

So taking a break once in a while from your social media feed will definitely be great for your mental health. It lets you reset your mind, breathe the fresh air and smell the flowers, rather than just endlessly scrolling on your feed.

One of the most important ways to keep yourself mentally healthy is to recognize when you're not feeling good, and to know when to ask for help. There should be no shame in asking for support if you’re feeling blue or stressed. Internalizing such thoughts and emotions can have a negative effect on your mental health.

Be it speaking to your friends or family or even a professional, the most difficult thing to say is often the most important thing to say. While it might be hard kick off the conversation, the relief from just expressing your thoughts and words can be very helpful. More importantly, if you feel that somebody you know is suffering in silence, just ask if he or she is okay? Simple gestures like this goes a long way.