Habits of Mentally Healthy People

While stress from all fronts --- work, home, and world events-- affects all of us, there are things we can do to increase our mental health.

And one of them,  a study by the Cleveland Clinic recommends, is to take a break during the day.

In a Healthy Now survey commissioned by Parade Media and Cleveland Clinic, 46% of Americans have been able to maintain or improve their mental/emotional health by taking multiple 5- to 10-minute breaks throughout the day for activities that relieve stress, depression, and/or anxiety.

And this break could literally be a short walk. “Simply taking a 5-minute walk around the block offers both exercise and time outside to clear your head and recharge for the rest of the day,” Kia-Rai Prewitt, Ph.D., a psychologist with Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Adult Behavioral Health, says in an article. “Even so, don’t get discouraged if you have to skip it every now and then. Building these into your daily routine is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Other healthy habits are recommended by Carla Shuman, Ph.D., owner of Mindful Solutions based in Arlington, Virginia.  Here are a few from her article in Psychology Today. 

Wake up every day and feel grateful for something.

When you are having a bad day or a bad week, you can look around you and observe other people being happy. It can be hard, in times of suffering, to acknowledge things you appreciate. But the ability to think of at least one thing for which you are grateful on a daily basis is a sign of resilience. It is a sign that you are driven to appreciate the good things or the good relationships that you have. Acknowledging these can improve your mental health if this is a regular habit.

Have something that you look forward to doing or experiencing.

Maybe you have an event coming up with friends, a vacation, or something as simple as a quiet night at home watching a favorite movie. Planning something that you can look forward to and finding some contentment and enjoyment in it is a sign that you are seeking positive experiences, which can decrease anxiety and feelings of depression. 

Keep trying when the going gets tough. 

It’s difficult to stay motivated when you’re going through tough circumstances. You may start to run out of energy and lose hope. But people who are mentally healthy can generally keep going when the going gets tough, and sometimes that even makes them more persistent.