Mental Health Tips

While therapy has been shown in research to be an effective treatment for a variety of mental health distress including anxiety, depression, trauma, life stressors, major life stressors (death, grief, loss), there are small things that you can do on your own to minimize stress and help yourself feel a bit better. The following three should help you feel better and augment your treatment. 

1) SLEEP! . I know, I know, We are saturated with this advice from doctors and other health professionals, friends and family, and in the media. Here's my quick tip--stay away from screens 20 minutes before you want to go to sleep. Screens hype up our brain. So put down the phone, listen to some relaxing music, read, or just count to 100 slowly. Avoid caffeine about 5-6 hours before you hit the hay. 

2) LAUGH! Ha-ha-ha! Laughter not only is the best medicine as the old adage goes, but it makes us feel better in the moment by releasing endorphins (our feel-good chemicals). If you are alone, don't let this stop you! Find something funny on YouTube, TV, a book, or just think about something that you think is funny. A good chuckle will definitely help in the short-term. And, this remedy--you can repeat as often as you'd like!

3) VITAMIN D! There's an orb in the sky that greets us everyday and we can benefit by spending some time in the sun! Use precautions, such as sunscreen. But soaking up some rays helps increase our Vitamin D levels, and that helps with keeping our immune system healthy. Not to mention, it boosts serotonin which helps our mood, and increases melatonin that can help us sleep!

If you are waiting to start therapy or are already in treatment, try these tips to see if it helps. The best part--they are free! It is simply using the resources you have to help yourself. And that's what therapy is really all about--developing "tools" to help decrease stress and pain and to hopefully improve the quality of your life.