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World Mental Health Day 2022: 5 ways to keep stress in check

World Mental Health Day 2022: Feeling stressed and anxious lately? Nivedita RS Panwar, a counselling psychologist, suggests 5 ways in which you can avoid letting stress have a negative impact on your mental health.

World Mental Health Day 2022 5 ways to keep stress in check drb
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First Published Oct 10, 2022, 9:47 AM IST

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our collective mental health and has taught us a lot about how to nurture our mental health. Although has winded down slowly, it is still not the time to let our guard down.

Life has been very challenging, especially since the outbreak of the pandemic. So, it is more important than ever to be mindful of our mental and physical health. Self-care allows us to be resilient in stressful times and be available for those who depend on us. Here are a few tips for maintaining mental health:

Stay connected:  
No matter what you are going through, isolating yourself from others can negatively impact both our mental and physical health. Find creative ways to connect with family and friends on a daily basis using means such as having family calls and video call parties with friends.

ALSO READ: World Mental Health Day 2022: Know history, significance, theme of this year

Get adequate sleep: Restful sleep is extremely important if we truly want to keep our stress from going into overdrive. Adopting some good sleeping habits can help us achieve sound sleep every night. Avoid using blue screens before sleeping for better sleep.

Eat healthy, and stay hydrated: They say, “You are what you eat”. Food impacts our mood; a healthy diet influences our mental and physical health. It reduces the symptoms of depression. Even mild dehydration impacts both our mood and our ability to remain alert. Water is therefore very essential for our body to function properly so we must keep ourselves hydrated with a minimum of eight glasses of water in a day.

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Moderate your time on social media: While it is important to stay updated with current events, spending too much time on social media isn’t good for our mental health. Too much fake news floating around social media also affects our mental health; therefore, reduce browsing time to once or twice a day.

Practice deep breathing exercises: 

        1.      Lie down on your back and place your hand gently on your stomach.
        2.      Slowly breathe in over a count of five by filling your stomach with air and watch your hand to see this happen.
        3.      Hold your breath for two counts.
        4.      Slowly exhale over a count of five and watch your stomach flatten and your hand go down as you do this.
        5.      Repeat five times.

All these tips will help you become more resilient when you encounter a future stressful event. That is why taking care of your mental health continues to be extremely important. Investing in your mental health is critical. Don’t put this off! Pick one thing from the list above that you can begin doing today to take care of yourself. Remember, “this too shall pass”!

Seek help when you need it: If you feel depressed and stressed out then seek early assistance as it makes it easier to bring changes and break patterns. Consider talking to a professional or scheduling an initial appointment with a counsellor.

*(Nivedita is a counselling psychologist. All views expressed are of the writer, and not of the organisation.)

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