Resilience and Mental Health
Guest article contributed by Audra Stewart-Gordon, Community Health and Communications Coordinator
Resilience can help protect you from mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety. Resilience also can help you deal with things that increase the risk of mental health conditions, such as being bullied or having trauma. If you have a mental health condition, being resilient can help you cope better.
Tips to improve your resilience
If you'd like to become more resilient, try some of these tips:
Get connected. Building strong, healthy relationships with loved ones and friends can give you needed support and help guide you in good and bad times. Connect with others by volunteering or joining a faith or spiritual group.
Make every day have meaning. Do something that gives you a sense of success and purpose every day. Set clear goals that you can reach to help you look toward the future with meaning.
Learn from the past. Think of how you've coped with troubles in the past. Think about what has helped you through tough times. You can even write about past events in a journal to help you see the patterns of how you behave and to help guide you in the future.
Stay hopeful. You can't change the past, but you can always look toward the future. Being open to change makes it easier for you to adapt and view new challenges with less worry.
Take care of yourself. Tend to your own needs and feelings. Do activities and hobbies you enjoy. Include physical activity in your daily routine. Get plenty of sleep and make bedtime rituals. Eat a healthy diet. Practice how to manage stress. Try out different activities to help you to relax, such as yoga, meditation, guided imagery, deep breathing, or prayer.
Take action. Don't ignore your problems. Instead, figure out what you need to do, make a plan, and take action. It can take time to recover from a major setback, trauma, or loss. But know that your life can improve if you work at it.
When to seek professional advice
Getting more resilient takes time and practice. If you don't feel you're making progress or you don't know where to start, talk with a mental health professional. With guidance, you can improve your resiliency and mental well-being. For more information and resources, visit https://strengthenme.com/.