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Becoming mentally healthy

Mental health is a very important topic. Like many people, I struggle with my mental health. I consider myself an altruist, so I want life to be as free of unnecessary suffering as possible. I often suggest resources to my friends and family on mental wellbeing, so I thought I'd collect them in one place to make sharing them easier.

Our mental health and our physical health are tightly integrated - we depend on our state of mind for our physical health, and being physically healthy in turn produces better mental health. So a lot of the advice for improving physical health also improves mental health:

  1. Get enough sleep (at least 5 lots of 90 minutes each night). Having good sleep hygiene is important for this 4.
  2. Eat a varied, balanced diet 5 6.
  3. Be physically active 7.

My top three books on mental health, in order of excellence, are:

  1. Learned Optimism - Martin Seligman, PhD. See also this Wikipedia page on the subject.
  2. The Happiness Trap - Dr. Russ Harris.
  3. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? - Dr. Julie Smith.

The first two in particular have had a hugely positive impact on my mindset and my life. Beyond books, I like to read what mental health experts have to say (ie. the NHS, Bupa, and Mind). Their tips can be summarised as such 8 9:

  1. Think about the way you think (books like Learned Optimism and therapy can be helpful in this regard).
  2. Be conscious of your time. Spend it wisely.
  3. Get enough sleep (see above).
  4. Connect with others - spend quality time with friends and family (or even strangers!).
  5. Spend time in nature (parks and gardens if you're in a city).
  6. Be kind to yourself - challenge negative thoughts; get stuck into your hobbies and interests; learn a new skill or delve into a new subject; maintain a healthy work-life balance.
  7. Practice gratitude. Count your blessings, not your problems.
  8. Find your purpose and meaning in life.

References

  1. Learned Optimism - Martin Seligman, PhD.. ↩

  2. The Happiness Trap - Russ Harris ↩

  3. Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? - Dr. Julie Smith. ↩

  4. Fall asleep faster and sleep better - Every Mind Matters - NHS. ↩

  5. Eating a balanced diet - NHS. ↩

  6. 8 tips for health eating - NHS. ↩

  7. Benefits of exercise - NHS. ↩

  8. 5 steps to mental wellbeing. ↩

  9. Top tips to improve mental wellbeing. ↩

  10. How to improve your mental wellbeing. ↩

  11. How to Improve Mental Health. ↩

  12. 10 ways to help a friend with anxiety (bupa.co.uk) ↩

  13. [Video] 10 tips for managing stress (bupa.co.uk) ↩

  14. What is burnout and can I do anything about it? (bupa.co.uk) ↩

  15. How does sleep affect your mental health? (bupa.co.uk) ↩