MENTAL HEALTH TIPS ON HOW TO LIVE YOUR LIFE WELL - 2009-05-19
The non-profit Mental Health
Connecting with Others
Humans are social animals and we crave feeling supported, valued and connected. By connecting with others you will have increased happiness, better health, and a longer life. In one compelling study, a key difference between very happy people and less happy people was good relationships. Loneliness was associated with a higher risk of high blood pressure in a recent study of older people. People with strong social and community ties were two to three times less likely to die during a nine year study. Sometimes connection is a heart-to-heart or spill-it-all-out talk. But sometimes it’s just a laugh-out-loud e-mail.
Staying Positive
Experts say it’s worthwhile and possible to learn how to think more positively. People who were pessimistic had a nearly 20 percent higher risk of dying over a 30-year period than those who were optimistic. People who kept track of their gratitude once a week were more upbeat and had fewer physical complaints than others. Also, people who obsessively repeated negative thoughts and behaviors were able to change their unhealthy patterns – and their brain activity actually changed too.
Be Physically Active
Exercise matters for your mood and millions of people have found that it can: decrease stress, anger, and tension; reduce anxiety and depression; offer a greater sense of well-being. Experts say it relieves pent-up muscle tension, stimulates feel-good hormones, burns off stress hormones, and increases blood flow to the brain. There are all these benefits for your mental health, but their are also many physical health benefits including preventing heart disease and high blood pressure, lowering your risk for stroke, osteoporosis, colon cancer, and diabetes. Physical activity can also improve your sleep, increase your energy, decrease some kinds of pain, boost your immune system, and help with weight management.
Helping Others
Research indicates that those who consistently help other people experience less depression, greater calm, fewer pains, and better health. They may even live longer! Research showed that students who performed five acts of kindness a day increased their happiness. If one provides emotional support to others one can significantly decrease the harmful health effects of certain kinds of stress among older people. Lastly, people who donate money to charity got a boost in a feel-good part of the brain as revealed in brain imaging research.
Getting Enough Sleep
Sleep combats some of the fallout of stress and poor sleep has been linked to significant problems including: greater risk of depression and anxiety, increased risk of heart disease and cancer, impaired memory, reduced immune system functioning, weight gain, and greater likelihood of accidents. Research shows that you’re more likely to succeed at your tasks – and enjoy greater well-being – if you get some serious shuteye.
Create Joy and Satisfaction
Experts say good feelings can boost your ability to bounce back from stress, solve problems, think flexibly and even fight disease. Studies have shown that laughing decreases pain, may help your heart and lungs, promotes muscle relaxation and can reduce anxiety. Also, positive emotions can decrease stress hormones and build emotional strength. Leisure activities offer a distraction from problems, a sense of competence and many other benefits. For example, twins who participate in leisure activities were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or dementia than their fellow twins.
Eat Well
Healthy eating can boost your energy, lower the risk of developing certain diseases, provide fuel to your brain, counteract the impact of stress on your body, and affect mood-related body chemicals. Good nutrition can help at times of stress, but that’s exactly when lots of us tend to eat unhealthier. According to a recent survey nearly half of Americans overeat or eat unhealthy food to cope with stress. In fact, it’s not just that we’re seeking creamy comfort – our stress hormones actually give us the munchies. Still, if you follow some reasonable guidelines you may be able to reduce your stress and promote your overall health and well-being.
Take Care of Your Spirit
Spirituality can provide a reassuring belief in a greater force or being; a sense of purpose and meaning; a focus on your own or universal wisdom; way to understand suffering; connection with others; and reminder of the good in the world. People who meditate have increased activity in a “feel-good” area of the brain. Those with strong religious beliefs recovered faster from heart surgery than people with weaker faith. Also, those who didn’t attend religious services died significantly younger than those who attended more than once a week. Why the connection between spirituality and health? It seems spirituality cuts the stress that so often triggers disease.
Deal Better with Hard Times
The research shows that people who spent time writing about a difficult event had better health and less depression. Writers’ grades even improved, and they found jobs more quickly. Those facing stress felt less depressed after problem-solving, and those who often focus on the positives in their lives are less upset by difficult memories.
Get Professional Help if You Need It
You don’t have to be in a crisis to seek help. Why wait until you’re really suffering? Even if you’re not sure that you’d benefit from help, it can’t hurt to explore the possibility. A mental health professional can help you come up with plans for solving problems, feel stronger in the face of challenges, change behaviors that hold you back, look at ways of thinking that affect how you feel, heal pains from your past, figure out your goals, and build self-confidence. Most people who seek help feel better. For example, more than 80 percent of people treated for depression improve. Treatment for panic disorders has up to a 90 percent success rate. To get help right away you can call 1-800-237-(TALK) 8255 to reach a 24-hour crisis center.
(Source: www.liveyourlifewell.org.)
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