“Where the Mind is without fear” – Tagore
Dr. Sushil Rudra Ph.D
We don’t think that we have Mental health. It needs care. Here are 54 self-care guides to mental health.
I am not saying that we are unconscious about our minds. Because sometimes we feel sorrow, other time pleasure or joy. The joy, happiness and sorrow, pains come from our minds. When we feel sorrow for a long time, it’s sure, we have been suffering from mental illness. There are several reasons behind this mental illness. We suggest here 54 self-care guides to maintaining mental health.
Like physical health, we should take care of it. For this, you must not attend any club for doing any exercise. You can do this with your self-care. When your mental health is not normal, try to follow these tips.
Once it was a time when only sportsmen, athletes or celebrities used to maintain their physical health, but now most people are alert about the fitness of health. They are health-conscious. But that’s physical, not mental health.
Generally, we are less serious about our mental health. It’s probably for our conservative mindset. Our society is not still too progressive to receive mental illness as a normal event of lives. On the other hand, mental health education is not incorporated with our educational curriculum.
In the modern world, we live a hustle and bustle life. We are running through a busy schedule. This is for our material need. But sometimes we dream of a lot and when it is not achieved, we suffer from depression. Besides, there are so many causes behind mental health illness.
Let’s think of a great warrior and hero of Mahabharata, Arjuna. He became disappointed having seen his relatives on the battlefield. He was resentful because he didn’t want to kill his relatives. Srikrishna, his war strategist and friend told him to instigate his inner power. He said to him,
” It’s not the religion of hero. You are Kshatriya. You must fight against the enemy. Krishna made a vocal effort to awaken Arjuna’s feeble mind. Notwithstanding, Arjuna’s depressed mind got full strength to fight. Lastly, Srikrishna manifests his ” Viswarupa”.
What it was? Krishna shows: ” They are all dead due to their misdeed. You just follow my advice and let’s go to fight”. It’s like modern counselling. We sometimes need counselling during our distracted mental health.
Do We Care of Our Mental Health?
In brief, the answer is”No”. Never we get serious about our world of the mind. Rather we neglect it all the time and in all society.
We are indeed racing towards achieving material gains. And it is natural. But all dreams and ambitions might not be fulfilled due to excessive competition. As a result, generation after generation is going through blue situations.
Most of the youths and their parents are not happy due to this fact. Those who are engaged in corporate service, are busy in service from morning tonight. So when will they take care of their mental health! As a result, patients with mental illness are growing massively.
I have discussed in my previous posts how to overcome stress, anxiety, and depression. There is another post” Diets to rejuvenate our mental health here: I think it will help my readers who are going through the blue episodes. Read here more: https://kalpatarurudra.org
Now I shall discuss 54 self-care guides to maintain our mental health. It’s for all human beings who are interested in enhancing their mental health.
Read more:1.Anxiety & Depression In Adolescent Girls 2.Why Do We Get Angry? And How to Control It?
1. Keep Panic Aloof :
Don’t be afraid in any situation. Because fear gives birth to tension, anxiety and ultimately depression. Generally, stress, anxiety is a temporary conditions. It sometimes reduces naturally. But the moments it stays in our minds are horrible. It hampers our mental peace.
We couldn’t sleep well, which hampers our physical health too. We get lost in each and every activity. Our jest and zeal disappear. I have faced such situations. I couldn’t have any urge of having food.
Acidity and indigestion were my main physical problems. I wasn’t happy at all. As a result, I couldn’t able to do my daily activities normally, couldn’t properly communicate socially and officially. Sometimes I used to feel my life as a stone burden. Life then turned into an oasis.
54 self-care tips to maintain our mental health
2. Don’t Dig Your Heart to Face Your Past:
Imagine and recall your past happiness 😊, not of wounds. The wounds of the past and the dark picture of the future invite a kind of horrible feelings and uncertainties, thoughts of feeling loose and failure. So try to stay at present. I have seen many people that suffer from recalling their past failures, past disturbing incidents of their lives.
Perhaps we have failed to achieve any dream in the past and the present is still full of struggles, we should not recall the past failure. Belive in present. And proceed. If we make a big list of past failures, it will be horrible to us. So take lessons from the past and meticulously step forward to achieve your goals.
3. Learn to Say “No”.
It’s an art of living to say ‘no’. Be social, but don’t say ‘Yes’ all the time when someone requests you to do his or her work in your busy schedule. Some people always tend to induce you to get help from you without toiling themselves. So be alert and stick to saying ‘No’.
In my life, I have faced so many incidents and become puzzled by a lot of work. It’s very stressful and strenuous. So don’t take any responsibility or make any commitment without thinking about your workload. Why?
Because you are sure to accomplish that work in time due to your ongoing workload. Just take an example:
Suppose your newly married better- half telephones you during your office hours that she is eager to see a film in the evening show from 6 pm to 9 pm. Without thinking about your work’s burden you agree with this proposal. But at that moment, you forget that you have to attend an emergency office meeting.
When you reach your home after completing the office meeting, it is already past 6 pm. So you unknowingly create a misunderstanding with your wife.
Your spouse couldn’t get it normally. So it’s your fault. Rather you can tell your problem that you have to attend a meeting today in the evening. Next Sunday you can arrange it. Certainly, your wife would have realised it.
So, take any decision with a cold mind. Don’t hesitate to say your problem. Eventually, you could have been maintained a good relationship with your wife or friends.
4. Make Proper Economic Plan
It’s very important to make an economical plan for the future from a very young age. So from the very beginning of the earnings, everyone should save some for the future. As a result, you don’t have to worry about future living.
We often see some people in the film industry earn huge money, and spend that money in tandem. But when they have no work or get less work from the industry, they have to face a lot of financial problems. Especially, in their old age, they have to spend in poverty.
Therefore, to keep mental health sound, everyone should save regularly from beginning to his or her carriers. Remind it that most of the mental disorders come from the economic crisis. So save some money from your earnings for the future.
5. Have s Good Relations with Everyone
We are social beings. Have responsibility for your neighbourhood. So make good social relations with your neighbours. Most of the mental distress comes from the relation- complexity. If we maintain a friendly relationship with our family members, neighbours, colleagues, relatives and the known and unknown people we meet every day in offices, markets, and public places, we can win everyone’s hearts. It curtails our mental stress and anxiety. Our behaviour and treatment with others should be genuine, loving, and trustworthy.
6. Keep a Good Relation Both Husband and Wife
Try to maintain a good relationship with your spouse or vice versa. Generally, mentally suffered people mostly belong to husbands and wives. To maintain a peaceful environment in the family, it’s very urgent to keep a loving relationship with each other, or both the husband and wife.
Women are very cautious about it. For the betterment of the family, they are to sacrifice a lot. We know some couple of Bengal who is both distinguished and talented in any creative field, but for the sake of her husband’s exposition, she has sacrificed a lot to look after their families. She resigned from her golden services.
As a result, mental pressure is massively rising among women. Nowadays, this attitude relatively changes, they are also participating in every field of activities. Truly, why will they alone sacrifice in family chores? Both males and females should take responsibility for curtailing their work. Otherwise, the catastrophe will wrap around them.
It’s well-known that women and children are the most sufferers. That’s why WHO declares a mundane that women and children should be given full support for their mental health. The government and NGOs are working on this purpose. Moreover, it is a must obligation to the males to look after their female’s physical and mental health.
Women are the most sufferers of depression than men. At least, double in numbers they are suffering from depression. Children are also victimised due to parental bad relations.
7. Maintain Personality
Try to maintain a stable and firm personality in every work, every place where you exist. You have to gain your personality from your work. What you like or whatnot, it’s to be informed to all around you through your work.
As a result, your mental pressure to some extent will be reduced. Especially, women should be alerted in all spheres of life. If girl children are not given the lessons of personality and are not conscious about it from their childhood, they have to face a lot of problems. Any weak point can be painful unto the last days of life.
Therefore, always maintain a sweet and gentle treatment with others. It’s the easiest way to the victory of others’ minds. Simultaneously, you will get peace of mind. Your mental stresses will also be subsided.
8. Give Importance to the Opinion of Others
We are not alone in this world. We live together. There is a proverb ” United we strength, Divided we fall”. To be united, welcome everyone’s opinion. Maybe you are a scholar or a great politician, you should not take any decision on your own. Rather, you ask your neighbours or colleagues. Their opinions might help you. If it’s not the right decision according to you, you should ask for their opinions. It can decrease your mental pressure.
If you maintain a good relationship with the people, it’s your profit.
9. Keep Mind Relaxed
To get peace or to get sound mental health, express yourself to your family and royal friends. Don’t keep it as expressed. We sometimes remark – ” the girl or the boy is very reserved”. They won’t express their fear and pain. It’s very harmful to their personality development. On the other hand, they suffer more than the others who usually express.
The series of junk fears are the cause of mental stress, anxiety and depression. So to clear junk, you express yourself to your nearest one or in a friend circle.
Sometimes their advice and suggestions can help you to overcome your long collected pain and sufferings. Good conversation, good suggestions always help us to take bold decisions. Thus, many problems, many hindrances remove from the path of life’s journey.
10. Plan Well for Your Future
The art of living is, to do all works, all commitment, all things meticulously and routinely. We are unable to perform our daily work perfectly. Why? The cause behind it, is we have no scheduled chart or to-do list to be executed before starting our daily activities.
That’s means, we have no pre-plan what exactly we have to do or whatnot. It is just like a boa a without sailor or a destination. So make a reasonable chart to follow one by one to furnish your daily activities.
11. Eat the Right Foods
Food is our regular source of energy, protein and vitamins. Without this, we are unable to exist. We need pure water, square meals, and fresh air. These three elements are the most important and common needs to all. So as a primary need, we have to choose food and nutrition according to our needs.
I know a gentleman who is 90 years old. In a conversation, I asked him how do you keep his health so fresh and vibrant at this age?
In reply to this question, he said that limited food, little practice of Yoga and exercise and having a time smiled temperament is the secret behind it.
I think it’s the only true way to stay vibrant. So timely limited food intake might help you to live a peaceful life. To rejuvenate our mental health we should be conscious about food intake. There are some foods which can improve our mental strength, and ability to make decisions.
Generally, some foods are not permitted to blood sugar patients, hypertension and high cholesterol patients. Maintaining all these restrictions, we have to choose various types of foods.
So choose your lunch, dinner and breakfast according to your favourite dish. But there must be a limitation and variations in dishes. Every day doesn’t make the same food.
You must consume fresh food, various types of fruits and seasonal fruits, green vegetables 🍀. Do limit in taking tea, coffee and wine.
If you already crossed 40, avoid sugar, sweet 🍭 🍩 and 🧂 salt. Remember, your family want you as a stable member of the family. They demand your wellness. To make them happy can take your favourite dishes. Enjoy your food. Be regular do lunch and dinner in time.
Your breakfast should be super-duper Like a king. Don’t neglect to have your breakfast. Irregular food habits can harm your mental health. Don’t intake food late at 🌟 night. Don’t take tea or coffee after 8 O’clock. Very small lunch at night.
For more information read here: https://kalpatarurudra.org/
12.The Work ♻️ environment
Colour your work environment with love and sacrifice. Nowadays, it’s very difficult to manage a suitable job. Suppose have got a job according to your choice, but after some years, maybe you could feel a botheration.
So try to love ❤️ your job, your colleagues and your office environment. A smiling face can win your colleague’s hearts. Speak sweet words to your colleagues. Think, they’re all your friends. Helping each other is a fabulous work spirit. It makes a mental bonding with each other.
13. Spend Times with the Children
The easiest means to lessen your mental stresses, anxieties is to play with the children, being even childish like them. Speak with them. Tell a story of humour and joking. Be as simple as the children. Mingle with them with simplicity.
Remember, their first friends are parents 👪. Parents are highly precious to their children. Children always need parents’ companions. They are very concerned about how much time their parents are providing for them.
So always try to be a good friend. It helps to build their mental health a uniqueness and strong. Besides, this beautiful relationship, this bonding automatically decrease your anxiety. Try to enhance your mind with the colour of love and affection being their friends. It is the best mental exercise.
14. Create a Hobby
Make the best choicest of hobby which you like most. Everyone should have a hobby. Many of us, don’t know how effective it is! To lessen your mental garbage, it is undoubtedly a medication. Enjoy your hobby.
My hobby is journaling. I used to write about my favourite topics. There was once a hobby of singing music. Still, now, I sing when I feel worried. Painting, collecting stamps or old coins or reading books, mountaineering, gardening, collecting books – all these are very good hobbies which can enrich us with the utmost energy and waves of good vibrations.
One of my college friends used to collect old music 🎤 records. In his collection, I have an opportunity to listen to the songs of old singers of all times like Saigal, Jaharbai, Kanandevi etc. It is his hobby. It’s most interesting.
15. Have the Right Idea About Yourself!
Know thyself. It’s an old saying. It has a deep impact on your personality. We should try to measure our weight. According to our ability, we should perform our work.
We could have a dream, but it should be realistic.
16. Exercise Regularly
It’s a very familiar subject. Each and everyone knows it, practice it, and makes it a life companion. There is no other scientific way to enhance our minds more helpful than exercise. So practice exercise regularly for a minimum of 30 minutes. It should be our perfect medication.
17. Practice Listening to Music Regularly
Music is always a source of entertainment and entertainment gives us an eternal divine inspiration. Either listen to music or sing yourself a song when you’re bored. It has an immediate effect on the mind.
Listening to music 🎧 you can start your daily exercise or asana. It’s a big role and effect on mental concentration.
Nowadays, it’s a practice to do meditation playing soft music.
18. Be Absorbed In Divine Contemplation
19. Keep Sometimes for Yoga and Pranayama
People come to yoga for all sorts of reasons. High on the list is health and the desire to become de-stressed. Kimberley J. Pingatore, studying attitudes among American yoga practitioners, found that they did not view the categories of religious, spiritual, and secular as alternatives.
Even recently some enthusiasts of Bangladesh used to practice yoga for their physical and mental health, though they’re not Hindu by religion.
Practising yoga and exercise is not only useful for physical health, but it’s also beneficial for mental health. So keep your daily routine 30 minutes for performing yoga and exercise.
20. Try to Stay In a Good Environment
21. Make Some Good Habits
One of the best ways to maintain a healthy mind is to keep your brain active and occupied. If you have a hobby already, try to make sure that you keep it up. One of the first things that we tend to do when we feel low is stopped doing things that previously made us happy, and you must avoid that if possible.
If you have lost track of your hobbies, don’t worry! Just try to take some small steps to pick it up again and get back into it. Or maybe consider something entirely new! It could be anything, from sewing to fishing to whittling to collecting stamps, anything that interests you and gives you something to focus on positively.
Internet is an incredible resource for picking up information about possible new hobbies that are cheap or free and can be started almost immediately.
Some of them may even have local organisations or clubs that you could attend, which has the bonus of encouraging you to meet other people with similar interests. Don’t worry if this doesn’t appeal, there are plenty of hobbies that you can do on your own if that’s more your style.
22. Keep An Eye On The Little One
Don’t neglect small matters. Think about them by giving them importance. There may be an intense and big truth of life hidden in the disguise of the little one. So, keep in mind that small is the primary source of the large one.
23. Don’t Blame Others
We have a tendency not to look at our fault. Rather, it is to be seen to seek the faults of others. We see it everywhere.
But when we will be alert about fault, in that moment we must get our success. Our dreams then will be fulfilled.
24. You Seriously Think about ” Aren’t You Suffering From Mental Depression”?
Am I depressed? Or am I feeling normal? We should ask ourselves periodically this question.😂 Otherwise, a silent pandemic might wrap you unknowingly, very stealthy. So be alert.
Our lives are full of adventure. We have to proceed through an uncertain and slippery way. So there has been mental stresses and anxieties. At the end of the day, either we are to laugh or cry.
Therefore, it impacts our minds. This is very challenging. So you should examine our minds if we are all right or not.
25. Focus On The Elderly
- They need our support. Come forward to assist the seniors
One day they were young, but now they’re not strong 💪. Can’t do outdoor activities. Perhaps their children are out of the station. Meet them. Talk with them for a while. The need for a support group.
Never disrespect seniors. They have lost their strength and ability to work. So give sometimes to their sake. They deserve it.
So focus on Seniors.
Mental illnesses and addictions affect at all ages and stages of life, but some problems develop with age and are unique to seniors. So mental health services and support for seniors be increased. It’s a natural demand. Thousands of seniors in India are affected by mental health illness. That number is expected to double by 2028.
As the population ages, the necessity to address diversity in older adults will become an additional challenge. While all seniors are at-risk of mental health problems due to losses that can accompany ageing (loss of family, certain physical capacity, paid work, identity or status, etc.), immigrant seniors, particularly women, are specifically at risk for mental health problems since they are among India’s most isolated groups.
Seniors are an at-risk population for mental illness and addictions( medication). Without medication, they can’t survive. However, most of them are financially weak and having no financial support.
Government should be commended for recognising the impacts of mental illness and dementia on seniors. The challenge is to ensure that the specific and complex circumstances and needs of older adults – and those who work and care for them, are comprehended and addressed.
In addressing the mental health needs of older adults, it is essential to recognise that there are two distinct groups: those growing older who already have a mental illness; and those with age-onset mental illness, most commonly, depression and anxiety disorders related to multiple losses, co-morbidity with chronic disease and medication interactions.
Older persons with depression experience a suicide rate which is five times higher than that of any other age groups. In Canada, men over the age of 85 have the highest rate of completed suicides. In India, I think that there is no such problems. Despite this, we should take care of the seniors.
Use of medications, both prescribed and over the counter, is higher among older adults and some of the most widely-prescribed medications for seniors are known to be addictive and can cause side-effects.
The integration of mental health, problematic substance use and problem gambling services into a single strategy can serve the older adult population well, if the strategy includes a focus on responding to concurrent and co-occurring conditions in seniors.
Distinguish mental Illness in older adults from dementia
We know that some problems develop with age and are unique to seniors, and that for seniors, the “stigma associated with loss of mental functioning often prevents them from accessing services, leaving them in unnecessary and dangerous isolation.” This leaves the impression that older adults’ mental illness is usually related to cognitive diminishment.
The strategy needs to clearly distinguish between dementia and mental illness among older adults. Dementia is primarily a disease of the very old, generally those 80 years and older, as compared to depression and other conditions affecting ageing adults.
So it’s our responsibility to look after them and to assist the seniors in their mental distraction.
26. Look At Children and Adolescents Before the Test 💯
27. Don’t Borrow Money without Special Needs
28. Tell Someone Your Thoughts
29. Don’t Get Drunks
30. Use Credit Card Carefully
31. Save Regularly For Future
32. Fix the Family Ideology
Indian society is different from western society. So the Indian family’s ideology is not the same like other modern societies. Besides, every family has a particular ideology regarding the way the family should function; follow the values and beliefs and systems. A particular family follows and transmits them to their offspring.
Marital Adjustment is the compatibility between the couple. Compatibility is when both the husband and wife have a proper understanding of each other and both agree on the ground rules and relationships that are established by the family.
Most importantly it is the wife who is expected to abide by the rules and be involved in inculcating the good habits into children of the family. However, In some families, the husband’s decisions and instructions are highly maintained.
On the other hand, Women keep notice on food management, dresses, communication etc. These are all their soul responsibility.
33. Keep an Eye On the Bodies of Loved One
We are social beings. Therefore, we must look after our neighbours in their odd times. Especially, it is our courtesy and responsibility to get information about their health.
34. Try to Deal With the Economic Crisis Properly
35. Learn to Understand Anger:54 self-care guides to mental health
36. Don’t Lie
Never tell a lie. Truth always wins. Truth is 💅beauty, beauty truth. Where there is truth, there is God. Sattyam Jayet. No great work or deed is achieved by untruths.
To speak a lie is a mental flaws. It creates a harmful chemical in the mind that can invite a fatal result. So try to speak truth. P
37. Live In the Moment: 54 self-care guides to mental health
Be practical and live in the present. Don’t get emotional. Step your feet very cautiously. Being overwhelmed, don’t do anything.
38. Don’t Go for Unequal Competition
Nowadays, We see competition everywhere from students to housewives, businessmen to company managers. But there is a proverb that “Cut your coat according to your clothes”.
But we forget this saying. We follow our neighbourhood. Suppose he purchased a digital 📺 television.It is very precious. Following him,I run to purchase the same though my bank balance is running short.
39. Take On a Small, Doable, Uplifting Home Project
Make a small project for your dwelling. It’s a dream project. We all need it. We dream a beautiful home for our resting. It will be within our capacity and financial ability.
40. Engage in Entertaining Media
For relaxation, media is a prime source. Enjoy a film along with your family members. Spend some hours with your family 👪 which you couldn’t get the opportunity for your business. Curtail a few hours from your regular business seasons and enjoy with your children and spouse.
41. Regular Walking for 15 Minutes
Walking in the morning and evening is a good habit for health. It keeps us healthy, vibrant and also active. Regular 30 minutes of walking really a good exercise for health.
42. Take Bath Two Times
43. Turn off Your Social Media Notifications
Occasionally, turn off notification of your social media sites. Allow your eyes and mind to stop to see it. Media notification addiction is bad for your mental health. Relief your mind from it. It will save your time and mental health. Rather go out for walking.
44. Read a Mental Health Book
Reading habit is undoubtedly a fantastic job. It gives us both pleasure and knowledge. And a mental health book 📚 is a superb selection for the reading of the.
45. Write down All Your Negative Thoughts
46. Make Some gossips with Your Friends
Express your pain or suffering. Tell your problems to a royal 👸 friends. Manage sometimes for meeting with your friends. Gossiping drains out the periodical obsession. Enjoy some 30 minutes with them. It can melt your
47. Make a New Playlists and Listen to Music
Music is the best solution to repair our mental health. It removes all negative elements of the mind. It supplies us with good vibes.
Make a list of your choicest songs that listen to in your boring situation. Music therapy is undoubtedly a good and helpful method to cure our minds. Try it to rejuvenate your tormented mind.
47. Keep Your Room, Bed, Writing Table Clean
Keep your rooms fresh cleaning all the garbage. For your sound sleep, it’s highly recommended to have a clean bed sheet, pillow cover and simply decorated room. You might pour out some fragrances. May it be chamomile. It has a natural power of tranquillity. So helpul for
48. Remember That Nothing Lasts Forever
We never think that one day we will die. We have to leave this material world. Perhaps we might stay in celestial bodies. We believe in the soul.
But this physical and bodily existence will be discontinued one day. So we must not be irresistible worldly desires to achieve in this life.
Of course, we do live with our dreams, desires. We try to be successful. Nevertheless, it will be not limitless. If so, there is also failure. We know that failure is the pillar of success. So it’s a positive side of life’s struggle. But there should be a limitation.
49. Dip Your Face in Cold Water
💦 Our mind works day and night 😴, even when we sleep. Especially, our cognitive world needs some servicing like any other machinery. When the mind works a lot, it needs some rest, some refreshments.
It’s a well-known way to mobilise our minds by dipping some water shower on your face. It normals the heating brain and mind. Read here in detail: https://kalpatarurudra.org/mind-brainanddepression /HOW TO KEEP OUR MINDS HEALTHY?
50.Practice Gratitude Daily: 54 self-care guides
Gratitude is good for you because it opens the door to joy and hope in every circumstance. We can show gratitude by:
- Thanking God each day for His unfailing love.
- Counting all the positive things in our lives, even when we are hurting.
- Looking for opportunities to unselfishly give hope and help to others.”
The patient shows gratitude to Doctor and sisters who have been always active in healing her. So after recovery, should convey. gratitude by saying ” Many many thanks for your service’ Sir, and Sisters.’ It’s our decorum to follow.
51. Process Your Emotion and Thoughts
It’s not easy to know how to deal with an emotion or feeling. It’s very helpful to talk to someone whose judgement we trust to get a balanced perspective on what might be happening.
Some emotions are due to distorted thinking patterns and we need to try and re-frame our thinking in more helpful ways in order to release the feelings.
Other times, the feeling is triggered by childhood memories or past trauma and so we need to find ways of letting it go.
However, some feelings might be due to a boundary being violated or from a need being unmet and in these cases we may need to be assertive with someone in our lives. Addressing the emotion and feeling in a healthy appropriate way is the key to psychological well-being.
Based on what you conclude from processing you may need to;
- Get a need met.
- Address distorted thinking
- Assert yourself with someone
- Re-establish a boundary
- Let the feeling pass
- Express your thoughts and feelings to someone or through journaling
- Re-align yourself with your values and take corrective action.
- Do the opposite of what your urge is (ie if it is to isolate and sleep – go and take a walk or talk to someone.
- Apologise or make amends to someone
Learning to manage emotions takes time and is difficult to do on your own. But once you really understand your emotions, and can process them effectively, you really can transform your life.
52. Pinpoint Your Triggers
Change your outlook. Know your faults. Try to change it.
5 Ways to Pinpoint Your Anxiety
Knowing your triggers is half the battle
It’s very difficult to find our triggers. To manage it, we need patience, efforts and experience.
The sneaky thing about anxiety is that we often struggle to get clarity on what is triggering our physiological reactions.
We experience a churning stomach, clammy hands, and at times hyperventilate into a panic attack. If we are able to get clarity on what is triggering those reactions, then we have a starting point for addressing those underlying fears.
Anxiety can hold you back from living a full life, impacting relationships, career moves, and down-time – so here are five ways to start pinpointing your triggers and getting back to full-functioning:
- Map the context: Think back to the last three times when you experienced anxiety symptoms, and for each one begin to map out the context – What happened leading up to the symptoms? Who was around when you started experiencing sensations? What changed in the situation? When did the feelings start? Where were you? What were you doing? Other key information?What similarities are there between the three events? Differences? What helpful information do they give you about how you experience anxiety?
- Find the thought process: When you experience anxiety symptoms, often there is a worry or concern that has triggered them – a train of thought that produces the fear and anxiety.
- What is it that goes through your head right before and often during the anxiety sensations? Fear of failing, dying, of pain, of responsibility or even overwhelming confusion can be at the root of the sensations. Try and reduce the idea to a simple statement that accurately represents what is going through your mind –
- “I will fail”, “I can’t do it”, “I don’t know”, “They’ll think I’m a looser”, “I’ll make a fool of myself” – Once you’ve got that statement, begin to question it’s truth and meaning, you don’t have to believe everything you think – “Failure means I was brave enough to take a risk, and I want to be brave.” “I can learn, I can be a beginner.” “I know how to find out.” “The ones who mind don’t matter, and the ones who matter don’t mind.”
- Flip what makes you calm: To find out more about your anxiety symptoms think about the times when you have felt most at peace.
- Like the first exercise on this list, think about the context for that peace – what facilitated your feelings of ease? If you can gather information about what makes you calm, it gives insight into what the opposite might be, that is what disrupts the calm and brings on the anxious feelings.
- Use your imagination: While for most people this exercise is safe, individuals with severe anxiety and/or PTSD sufferers should consult with a professional before trying this, as flashbacks and intrusive memories can be re-traumatising.
- Our imagination is a powerful tool for stimulating physiological reactions. This means that we can use it to begin to understand what is going on in certain situations without having to live them out.
- When you are struggling to find the details for the last three exercises, call on your imagination to recreate the situation, in detail. Letting yourself feel the emotions of the event, knowing that you are safe, can provide important information about the nature of the trigger.
- Test yourself: If none of the exercises above are revealing patterns or clues as to your triggers, begin to test yourself. Start in a safe place and start trying things that slowly increase your feelings of anxiety – the aim is to find your tolerance or comfort zone, so that you can spend some time there desensitising and getting used to the sensations.
- Atart with simple things and slowly increase the difficulty – walk to the letter box, walk down a crowded mall, talk to a shop owner, talk to your boss about taking time off, etc – each time you try something remember to map out the sensations you experience and the thoughts that go through your head.
All of these exercises will provide clues to your triggers and helpful information about the way you experience anxiety. Be kind to yourself, and remember that small steps forward are still steps forward.
53. Make a Journaling a Habit
Like other habits, journaling is a very interesting habit. We think a lot of things throughout the day. Some are important, some less important. Perhaps, we forget all of them.
So write down the thoughts. It will help you in need. Writing 📝 is a good hobby. Write short stories, poems, your biography, diary. We feel so many things about the world, surrounding environment, nature, neighbours, education life, the story of travelling and so on.
These are all the vivid photography of a certain time and space. So journaling is a deed and accomplishment of a specific time. I find plenty of pleasure in it. Sometimes it helps us to enhance our cognitive health. So make journaling a habit.
54. Follow the Self-Care Checklist in Time of Crisis
We forget all our plans that we make with hard efforts. Especially when it comes to applying. I have made such to-do lists several times. However, for busy scheduled couldn’t furnish often.
But if we follow these rules, it’s sure, we will be mentally strong and happy enough.
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