5 Self-Care Tips for Mental Health
Last Updated on July 9, 2024 by TYHO Team
Reviewed by April Justice, LICSW
- Updated on 9 July 2024
Wanting to learn self-care tips for mental health is a great step to take!
Self-care is doing small, doable things that make a big difference in how we feel and live every day.
Unlike how self-care is portrayed in the media, we may have to consistently develop self-care habits and perform them every single day to feel better.
Below are some questions to help you reflect on how much essential self-care you practise every day:
- Do you sleep enough?
- How nutritious are your meals? Are all your meals nutritious?
- Do you move your body daily, even if it’s simple stretching?
- How often do you socialise with your loved ones?
Self-care is about what feels right for you. In this article, we will explore 5 easy self-care tips to improve your mental wellness.
We also look into self-care tips for anxiety and depression!
What Is Self-Care?
Self-care refers to intentional habits you develop to improve your emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing.
You can identify your needs through self-care tips and create steps to fulfil them. Self-care tips for mental health are essential to creating a happy and healthy lifestyle.
Also See: How to Do 5 Self-Care Tips Better
Taking a bubble bath every other day or going for a power walk every evening is not just an indulgence but a small habit that builds up to a positive mindset.
For mental health, self-care might include:
- Setting boundaries
- Developing realistic couple goals
- Saying no
- Practising self-compassion
- Rediscovering joy and happiness
- Learning communication to handle work-related stress
When we actively choose to follow these habits regularly, we prioritise ourselves and our wellness.
Caring for yourself is not selfish. You deserve the care and love.
In the next section, we will specifically look into what emotional self-care means and how you can include it in your daily routine.
What Is Emotional Self-Care?
Emotional self-care means managing and improving your emotional wellness. Emotional wellness could include feeling:
- Happy
- Content
- Satisfied
- Positive
- Confident
- Energetic
- Inspired
- Hopeful
By including self-care tips in your life, you will start to understand, express, and manage your emotions better.
In other words, you may learn how to:
- Maintain your energy throughout the day
- Take breaks
- Avoid emotional triggers
- Control anger in relationships
- Stay grounded in the present moment
Try asking yourself the questions below to get started with emotional self-care:
- Are your coping methods useful and healthy?
- Do you spend time on activities that bring you joy?
- What type of activities drain your energy?
- How can you manage your tasks in a way where your energy is balanced throughout the day?
Take your time to reflect on the above questions or any other points you can think of.
For example, you could start a hobby that you have been interested in for a while or call a friend if you get energy from social interactions.
5 Self-Care Tips for Mental Health
What do self-care tips for mental health look like? Where do you even get started?
In this section, we explore 5 simple and essential self-care tips that you can use to improve your overall health and wellness.
What works for someone else may not work for you. Hence, the pointers mentioned in this article are the most common and useful tips.
We urge you to reflect on what self-care strategies worked for you previously and what tip from the list below could be a nice addition to your routine.
If you want to try therapy for personal development, please visit our Therapist page to read about our services.
1. Develop Mindfulness
Mindfulness may sound fancy or hard to understand without proper instructions. However, it is a handy self-care tip for mental health.
The idea behind mindfulness is simple – it is about focusing and paying attention to the present moment.
Being mindful can help you feel calm and in control of your emotions.
Mindfulness Tips
1) Try taking deep breaths early in the morning or whenever you feel stressed or sad for no reason. ‘Pausing time’ for a deep breath can help you feel relaxed immediately.
2) Try different types of meditation. You can go for stillness, body tracing, or simply breathing in and out. Meditating for a few minutes daily can help you feel happier and improve your concentration.
3) Try to maintain a journal for gratitude. Although it may seem like it has no effect, the things you are grateful for will eventually add up and change your attitude. You may stop worrying about uncertainty and enjoy what you have now.
4) Try walking as a form of mindfulness. If you are a person who enjoys walking, you may feel calm and collected after a long and mindful walk. Walking is a simple and accessible way to bring some peace into your daily hustle.
2. Make Time for Therapeutic Activities
Self-care tips for mental health can significantly improve your emotions and thought patterns.
Therapeutic activities are a large term and can mean different things to different people.
Hence, you may have to focus more on what activity feels therapeutic to you.
Do you prefer reading? Maybe you enjoy talking to your friend? Some people also cook or bake.
Below are two types of therapeutic activities you may enjoy:
Creative Expressions
People engage in different types of creative outlets to feel calm.
Some ideas include painting, drawing, scribbling, doodling, listening to music, writing, and cooking. Your creative expression could also be your hobby.
Hobbies often offer a sense of accomplishment and joy.
Ask yourself, “What have I created recently that gave me joy?”
Digital Detox
In an era of constant connectivity, stepping away from screens can be therapeutic.
Try to allocate specific times to disconnect from your online world.
A digital break can lead to improved focus and a calmer mind.
You May Like Reading: Dopamine Detox: Does It Work?
3. Prioritise Your Physical Health
Your physical wellness can also positively affect your mental wellbeing.
Below are some easy self-care tips for mental health that focus on staying active:
- Try walking more. It is easy and effective, plus you don’t need any equipment to get in some walking. A quick walk around your neighbourhood can help release dopamine, which is the ‘happy chemical’.
- Dancing is a much more fun option if you enjoy it! Whenever you feel stressed or irritated, try playing your favourite playlist and shake your body for 10-15 minutes. With dancing, the positive change in your mood may be much quicker!
- If you enjoy physical activities, try strength exercises. You don’t need to go to a gym or buy expensive products. An easily available weight at home (eg water bottle) can be useful for beginner exercises!
Read: How Trauma Affects Physical Health
Remember that the goal with the above tips is to enjoy the self-care habits as much as possible. If you’d rather stretch or do yoga, you should go ahead with it!
Listen to your body and engage in activities that bring you the most joy.
4. Do Inner Work
Taking care of your mind is just as important as looking after your body.
Here are some simple self-care tips for mental health to help you feel better:
- Let go of perfection: Trying to make everything perfect can make you unhappy. Understand that it’s okay not to be perfect. The perspective shift can really help your mind relax.
- Find a moment for yourself every day: Try to book some alone time in your calendar, even if it’s just five minutes to enjoy a cup of tea or sit quietly.
- Ask yourself why: Sometimes, we do things out of habit. Taking a moment to think about why you do what you do can help you understand yourself better. Self-awareness can be a huge help when you want to make better decisions and improve relationships.
Remember, it is important to take time for yourself. These simple steps can make a big change in how you feel every day.
5. Practice Self-Acceptance
Self-acceptance could include several factors. However, mainly, it’s about overcoming negative self-talk and being hard on yourself.
Through self-acceptance, you will start to be kinder to yourself, listen to your needs more attentively, focus on your desires, and manage your emotions effectively.
Firstly, try to acknowledge that perfection is a myth and subjective. What’s perfect to you may be imperfect to someone else.
Secondly, accepting your mistakes is a part of growth and can help you widen your perspective. Whenever you make a mistake, try to reflect on what you can do next time to avoid it and move on from the incident.
Identify your negative thought patterns. Do you think something is wrong with you? Do you feel like you are never enough? These are negative thought patterns.
When you think these thoughts, stop yourself immediately and ask, “Is this true?” and “What proof do I have to believe this about myself?”
Thirdly, celebrate all your achievements, both big and small. Did you manage to cook for yourself during a depressive episode? Did you simply get out of bed today? Or did you win an award?
You define what an achievement is for yourself. Anytime you achieve something, give yourself a reward and validation!
Lastly, try to surround yourself with positivity. You can’t always be positive, but you can take the opportunity to be as positive as you can.
Anxiety Self-Care Tips
Living with an anxiety disorder is not easy. However, certain anxiety self-care tips can be useful.
Below are self-care tips for mental health issues such as anxiety:
- Talk to your loved ones regularly. Keeping your friends and family updated about your social anxiety or any other type of anxiety can be helpful. Let them know what kind of help you’d like from them.
- Give yourself a little time each day to think about what’s bothering you. Self-reflection helps you determine what you can change and can’t.
- Try engaging in breathing exercises when you feel anxious. Slow and deep breathing can help you calm down right away.
- Maintain a reflection journal. In this notebook, write down all your triggers and coping mechanisms. Eventually, you will start to identify what triggers you and how to overcome your anxiety in a crisis moment.
You can also reach out to Talk Your Heart Out (TYHO) counsellors for anxiety counselling.
TYHO counsellors can help manage and control your emotions. Your Therapist may teach you effective tools to live with anxiety.
Depression Self-Care Tips
Taking care of your mental health when you have depression can be hard, but there are simple things you can do to help yourself feel better.
Here are some easy self-care tips for when you’re dealing with depression:
- Try to move your body every day as much as possible. Physical exercise is not an immediate cure or does not offer an instant energy boost. However, every time you exercise, your brain will notice the changes you make, and your efforts will add up to feeling positive and happy in the long run.
- Eating good and nutritious food is important to feel in control of your emotions. Try including a lot of fruits, vegetables, and fish in your diet.
- Try to sleep at the same time and for the same number of hours every night. Maintaining a sleep schedule can immensely help you feel better.
- Avoid consuming alcohol or drugs. Using substances to feel better can worsen your mental health in the long run.
If you are struggling and unable to find any benefits through self-care tips for mental health, please reach out to us to start therapy.
Sometimes, we may all need professional help and support through hard times.
Therapists at TYHO are experts in handling issues such as major depression, bipolar disorder, and eating disorders.
Through effective tools like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and narrative therapy, you will learn how to:
- Manage your emotions
- Improve your mood
- Improve relationships
- Feel confident and happy
- Regain a sense of joy in life
- Look at life through a positive mindset
Visit our Singapore Therapy page to learn more about our services.
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Takeaway
Wanting to learn self-care tips for mental health is a great step to take! Self-care involves doing small, doable things that make a big difference in how we feel and live daily.
Self-care is personal and about what feels right for you. Caring for yourself is not selfish. You deserve the care and love. Regularly practising self-care can help you feel happier, healthier, and more balanced.
Therapy can help you learn these tools and personalise them for your needs. Hence, if you feel like your regular self-care tools aren’t helping, feel free to reach out to one of our Therapists.
