3 minute read
A—Z for Positive Mental Health
Mental Health and Wellbeing During Lockdown
Covid-19 has definitely tested us. Are you thinking, when is this all going to end? Unfortunately we don’t know, and we will probably have many more changes before it does come to an end. What can we do to help ourselves through this? How can we turn the negatives into positives? We can build our resilience muscle and learn to bounce back when we are feeling overwhelmed. What does this mean? We can choose the way we think when changes occur, so we feel wiser, more confident and more empowered. What daily challenges have you had to deal with in the workplace? How are you coping with these challenges? What are you doing to build your resilience and bounce back when you are feeling like you cannot cope? f we don’t learn to understand and manage our emotions, our mental health and even our life is at risk. Poor mental health can become a downward spiral that affects our relationships, our performance at work, and our physical health if we don’t do something about it.
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his is why we need to use preventative measures.
Here are 5 things I have brought into my day to help me cope: • Have a purpose for the day. Know what I want to achieve and aim to achieve it. I don’t make the goals too large, as I know if I try to do too many things I will find it overwhelming. I have understood I should aim to achieve a few less things, and not try to cram too many things into my day. • Make sure I have a routine. Every morning I make sure I do some exercise with meditation at the same time to set me up for the day. I also make sure I’ve got a routine if the children are at home due to being in isolation if they have a child in their year group with Covid-19. Another routine is to go for a walk at the end of the day together. This helps us clear our heads and feel more relaxed for the evening. • Be grateful for what you have. I do this by writing a gratitude diary every evening. I write down 5-10 things I am grateful for. It helps me sleep better as I am going to sleep with positive thoughts, not the worries of the day. • Keep in touch with positive people. When I am feeling isolated, I make sure I phone a friend who I know will cheer me up. Positive people really help me feel positive. Working from home can feel very isolating. We do not have the chats in the kitchen or over the water cooler. Make sure you build contact with others into your day so you are feeling like you are part of a team. • Accept this is the way it is. We don’t know when it is going to end. We don’t know how things will be in a year's time. Let’s accept that. Let’s not grumble and say, ‘if only.’ It can simply make us feel worse. If we can accept this and make the most of it, we can aim to get the best we can out of this difficult situation. I believe if we can bring positive mental health into our day every day, we will cope better in these tough times. How do you bring positive mental health into your daily life? What do you do for yourself? I have written a book, Emotional Fitness: A-Z for Positive Mental Health to help. It is full of activities to help you to build your resilience muscle, bringing activities into your life to help you bounce back. It is an action book, helps you be in charge of your emotions and help your emotions be more on an even keel, than the ‘Coronacoaster’ we may have experienced since March.
What I have been most amazed about are the comments and messages I have received from people telling me that they’ve never thought of emotional fitness and using preventative measures before. People started sharing their stories - stories of depression and anxiety, even suicidal thoughts. When I asked them whether they’d ever had advice about preventative measures, most of them said they were told to ‘get over it’. But we can’t just ‘get over’ our emotions. We need to work on them on a daily basis and take responsibility for them. This is where preventative measures and emotional fitness are key.
