8 Ways to Take Care of Your Mental Health

Though often neglected, mental health is an important aspect of all-around health. This blog post highlights 8 ways to manage your mental health.

1. Ask For Help

Asking for help is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness. Tell trusted friends and/or family members how you’re feeling, or simply ask for help. If you need immediate help, call 911 or the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.

2. Value Yourself

A step toward achieving increased mental health is to value yourself. Take what you want into account when making decisions, whether it be about school or about hanging out with friends. Your desires and opinions matter; you matter.

3. Manage Your Physical Health

Your mental health is in many ways connected to your physical health. Take care of your physical health by making an effort to eat healthy foods, stay hydrated, exercise, and sleep. All of these things help boost your systems and your mood.

4. Manage Your Stress

Though difficult, managing your stress is important to manage your overall mental health. Only you know how much you can handle socially, academically, and mentally. If you’re feeling anxious or overwhelmed, try this Managing Stress in College.

5. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a great grounding technique for relieving stress and recentering yourself. Mindfulness is a form of meditation that focuses on bringing peaceful attention to the present moment.

6. Set Realistic Goals

Setting personal, academic, and professional goals are a great method to hold yourself accountable. However, looking ahead at all the assignments, tests, and projects in a semester can seem overwhelming. Trying to focus on small, achievable goals is a great way to break up the bigger goals, and make them seem less intimidating.

7. Try Something New

If you’re feeling stuck or static in your routine, trying something new can be a great way to break up the monotony and improve your mental health.

8. Build Social Connections

Building positive social connections is another way to improve mental health. You can meet people in class, at events, through mutual friends, in club meetings, etc. Successfully navigating relationships can be difficult, here are ten tips for healthy relationships in college.