Maintaining our mental health and mental health awareness is so important, especially in school. School is so important for our future lives but aside from classes, tests, assignments, and things of that nature, school comes with a lot of social challenges. I myself somewhat struggle with being social and interacting with others. People can be mean and judgmental. This can really take a toll on our mental health. It’s important to cope with and manage these challenges correctly, and in a healthy way. We face challenges to our wellbeing every day and it’s crucial to acknowledge and deal with them as they approach us.
A mental illness is the “physical illness of the brain.” This affects the thinking, functioning, emotions, and behavior of our daily lives. These factors can make it difficult to properly handle life’s struggles. There are so many different kinds of diagnosable mental wellness disorders. There are also a wide variety of anxiety disorders and mood disorders. Most common and most well known are Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Generalized Anxiety, PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
I have found that there are many ways to cope with these Mental health issues and the challenges they present to us. You can go to therapy. This is a great way to build a strong trust and bond with a trained professional. Therapy gives you advice and a point of view that a friend or family member can’t offer. I have found that family and close friends can be the most supportive and loving people in your life. I wish everyone could have a family like mine. Using tools that you learned in therapy can work wonders and I hope you can find these useful because mental health and wellness does matter. It’s also possible to help others with this. Staying out of drama and avoiding causing drama can change your life drastically. Showing that you care and being a safe space for others can be more helpful than you think.
Using breathing techniques and journaling are 2 great options. Methods called “Grounding Methods” are helpful and important.. They help ground you or bring you back to reality and away from whatever you were worrying about. The 5-4-3-2-1 method is finding 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. Distractions like listening to music, drawing or coloring, going for a walk, and other mindless activities are very popular. For anxiety, it’s been proven that eating sour candy or holding ice can stimulate your physical nerves rather than your emotional nerves and help manage stress and panic. Practicing self importance and self kindness is so important. Using affirmations and manifesting has a high effect on our confidence which can make us feel more capable of overcoming these obstacles.
