Your mental health and how you feel affects every part of your life, including your family, relationships, physical health, work and leisure time.
Everyone can experience difficult times and may feel down, worried or upset.
However there are lots of things you can do to help improve your mental health and emotional well-being.
Doing something positive can make all the difference - for you and for others.
The following steps could help you improve your mental health and emotional well-being:
Accept who you are
There are many things that make us who we are. Some of these include our values, beliefs, background, religion, race, gender and sexuality. Respect yourself and others, everyone has something to offer.
Surviving
We all have mental health. We can all feel up, down, anxious, upset etc. Try to find ways of coping with life's demands and don't be too hard on yourself if things go wrong. Following these steps will be a good start.
Ask for help
It's good to ask for help. Sometimes we feel unable to ask for help for different reasons. We can ask for help from family, friends, our doctor, local groups and organisations.
Keep active
Regular exercise can really help lift your mood and fight anxiety and stress. It can make you feel well and give you more energy. Find an exercise you like to do such as walking, swimming, cycling etc.
Relax
Making time to relax is very important. We all need time to ourselves. Find something you enjoy such as listening to music, reading etc.
Talk about it
Sometimes you can feels like no one understands or that you are completely alone. It usually helps to share your problems. There are people and places you can talk to, find out who and where they are.
Do something creative
We all have a creative side. When we use our creative skills practically, we get a sense of achievement and it can allow us to express our feelings. Find something you enjoy such as music, writing, painting, poetry, cooking or gardening.
Get involved
Meeting new people and being involved with others helps us to feel 'connected' to the world. It can provide you with support and give you the opportunity to support others.
Drink sensibly
Alcohol is a depressant which means it makes us feel down or low. It usually makes any problems worse. If you do drink only have one or two drinks. Drinking to 'get drunk' is very dangerous to your health.
Learn new skills
Learning a new skill can increase your confidence and help you to feel good about yourself. It can also help you to meet new people or creat new opportunities.
Eat well
Our mental health needs the same nutrition as our physical health. Having a balanced diet will not only help the way you feel but also the way that you think. Try to eat regularly and remember your five daily portions of fruit and vegatables.
Stay in touch with friends
Friends are very important. We need different people around us to share our lives with. Friends can offer us support when we need it and we can offer it to them in return.
Information provided from Positive Steps for your mental health, North Lincolnshire NHS Primary Care Trust.
Positive steps for your mental [PDF] (368K).
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