The mind is an essential part of your well-being. On World Health Day, these tips will help you live more fully.
World Health Day is a day proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to highlight important aspects related to the physical, mental and social well-being of people. For this 2023, the motto is “Health to all”.
It is a special period. WHO celebrates 75 years of existence and the institution reviews its past, but also projects itself into the future with the utopia of having the best quality of health and the highest possible quality of life for all the inhabitants of the planet.
A website created for this purpose was put online for those who want to be more interested in the event and the anniversary. You can access your reading here and understand why it is relevant to reach health for all.
However, World Health Day also means general health and well-being that goes beyond the physical. In this sense, taking care of the mind in the midst of a stressful, hectic and changing lifestyle like ours is essential.
To contribute to this, we have prepared these 6 useful tips that will protect your mental health.
1. Talk to someone
Something as simple as talking, but underestimated many times. Talk about what matters to us, what motivates us and, why not, what scares us and worries us.
In some areas this can be an obstacle. It is difficult to open feelings in spaces that are traditionally closed to these expressions. An analysis published in Social Science & Medicine drew attention to the silent crisis experienced by men in rural areas, unable to speak about certain issues for fear of being condemned in their society.
And how to speak? How to open up when it is not a common practice for us? The important thing is to use our words and be sincere. A guide that may be helpful is the one prepared by Mental Health Foundation and that you can consult here.
2. Get out into nature
Contact with nature helps to take care of your mind. It is worth remembering the motto for the year 2022 of World Health Day, which was “Our planet, our health”highlighting the deep link between the environment and our well-being.
Experts are increasingly convinced that contact with nature improves mental health. And not only that, but also helps prevent the development of mood disorders.
From a simple walk through a park to more committed experiences, such as forest bathing, more and more people understand that they find calm and relaxation there. The speed of cities and the advance of cement threaten these possibilities.
A 2021 study found that contact with green and blue spaces was key to some people coping with the pandemic. After the confinement and the fear unleashed in the world, recreation and leisure in open places offered hope to face the future in a different way.
3. Do not consume harmful substances
Alcohol, tobacco and recreational drugs do not help take care of your mind. They are not a valid escape route or tension relievers either..
On the contrary, the use of these substances worsens your mental health:
- According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alcohol increases the incidence of anxiety and depression.
- According to data from National Institute on Drug Abuse, there is a clear link between tobacco and mental health. Patients with a mental illness considered serious, such as schizophrenia, have a smoking rate of up to 85%. That is, 8 out of 10 people with the disorder smoke.
- A brief review of the effects of marijuana in different ways found that daily recreational use of cannabis may increase the risk of psychosis and perhaps depression.
In conclusion, do not use substances capable of leading to a mental health disorder or worsening a condition it already exists. Faced with temptation and the irresistible desire to consume, she returns to the first tip and talks to someone.
4. Practice mindfulness
This is not a fad tip to take care of your mind or a cliché for World Health Day. full attention and mindfulness they can really contribute to well-being.
And they are practices without age limit. Studies reveal that children and adolescents can benefit from models adapted to their abilities to connect with their surroundings. At the other end of life, older adults who experience stressful situations have less risk of depression when they register a high frequency of practicing mindfulness.
You don’t have to be a meditation expert right away. It takes time to access our surroundings with mindfulness. It starts with some questions, in a controlled environment and without external disturbances:
- What do you feel now?
- What are the scents around you?
- What sounds are there in the environment despite the silence?
5. Do things you like and new things
Doing what we like always seems good. So why don’t we practice it more often?
Routine, occupations and excuses separate us from what we enjoy. And perhaps we just need a better organization or a firm decision to return to that sport, that artistic expression or those encounters with others that we were gratified by.
Hobbies are healthy outlets for stress and anxiety. In addition, they usually allow us contact with a group we belong to, which contains and supports us.
But let’s go a little further. Let’s try new things, without the obligation to do so and without the pressure to “get it right.” New experiences help you take care of your mind because they diversify your brain’s attention.
6. Eat well and exercise
A review published by the University of Cambridge made it clear that nutrition plays a key role in caring for the mind. Among various findings, they found that following a Mediterranean diet is a protective and preventive factor against mental health disorders. By the way, if you want to know more about how to develop a nutritional plan of this type, we have a complete article on it.
On the other hand, exercise has the ability to improve mood, as some scientific studies conclude. Physical activity is supposed to be anti-inflammatory and that this is an essential point for it to be effective against anxiety and stress.
But that is not all. Eating well and exercising are habits that improve our cardiovascular, pulmonary and digestive health. In addition, they prevent the development of different types of malignant pathologies. Why do not do it? Even more: why not take advantage of World Health Day to start the path of well-being?
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