Sometimes, when you’re down in the dumps it’s hard to take good care of yourself. It’s hard to feel inspired to support your wellness, including your mental health and psychological health. When you’re not feeling happy with your life, it can be hard to get up and do something positive for yourself. This article will provide you with 5 ways to move past what’s keeping you down in the dumps in order to take care of your psychological well being.
Watch an inspirational movie. Movies are a great resource for accessing our feelings. There are plenty of movies out there that can address specifically what you’re going through. For instance, the movie CAKE with Jennifer Aniston highlights the sadness of losing someone you love and the difficulty of putting your life back together again. The movie highlights depression but also recovery from that depression. This and plenty of other movies can give a person the motivation to get out of their sadness and do something that’s positive.
Talk to someone. You don’t have to talk to a therapist to feel better. Simply talking to a friend or loved one that you trust can help you feel more at ease. By talking out your feelings versus holding on to them, you might feel a bit better knowing there is someone who understands you and who supports you. Whether it is a mental health professional or not, talking out your feelings can help you break through a low level depression.
Get professional help. If you feel as though your depression or sadness is more than you can handle, perhaps professional help is necessary. A therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist can provide you with coping tools, support and perhaps medication to help manage debilitating symptoms. Even if you’re not experiencing depression, there can be other mental illnesses that can get in the way of your ability to work, enjoy life, and have meaningful relationships. If you notice you’re calling out sick more often, avoiding family and friends, or that you’re not enjoying activities like you used to, it may be necessary to call for professional help.
Journal. Whether you get professional help or not, journaling is an excellent way to get your feelings out. It’s a great way to gain insight about your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Journaling can bring clarity and even a degree of enjoyment. It’s important to not to dwell on any particular feelings, but to use journaling as a tool for venting first, and then investigating your experiences. When you dwell on certain feelings, it may only make a depression worse. On the whole, journaling can support a person’s psychological well being.
Exercise. If you want to change your outlook on life, get your heart pumping. When you exercise, you release endorphins, relieve tension, boost physical and mental energy, improve concentration, increase memory, and improve sleep. There are so many benefits that come out of regular exercise, including promoting overall psychological health.
Certainly, the trouble with feeling down in the dumps is that you might want to do some of these activities but you don’t feel the energy to get up and do them. You might ask a friend or loved one to encourage you. Perhaps, write it down in your calendar. Make a commitment to yourself to get up and do something. Once you begin, you’re likely to continue, especially if you notice a change in yourself.
If you want to improve your overall psychological health, try one of the above activities.
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