Mental Health Month May Mean Making Changes
May has been the identified month for mental health since 1949. It means changing our beliefs about what it means to be unwell, making personal efforts to reduce stigma, and accepting responsibility for staying as mentally healthy as we possibly can. It may also mean making changes to become healthier and keeping our health in the front of our minds and our efforts.
Here are some ideas for choosing change and some ways to make those changes stick. Remember positive efforts often lead to positive results.
- Get motivated: Alert a friend to your struggle. Use their motivation to help too boost your motivation to move forward. Look for joy. Feeling better is more motivating than feeling down. Get outside; nature is a healer. Document the little changes you make and celebrate each one. It is hard to change and every effort you make is really a big deal!
- Stay inspired: Remember what caused you to consider making a change in the first place. Keep that thought. It will drive you to stay in the game!
- Expect temptation: There will be roadblocks. Expect them and, even better, anticipate them. Anticipation will help you be ready and you will have a plan in place for positive change to take over. Sometimes, you have to allow for a weak moment followed by a do-over. It happens!
- Know yourself: Have you set a meaningful, measurable goal? Is this something that will improve your physical and mental health? Is it important to your well-being?
- Stay the course: Positive change is worth it.
- Be kind to yourself: If you have a setback, try not to get caught up in negative self-talk. Make every effort to not see one day (or even two!) as a permanent failure.
- Sometimes the process is worth more than the product: As you develop your positive-change habits, know that you’re setting change in motion every time you follow your plan. The first few times may not be the exact outcome you had been hoping for, but you are on your way.
Mental Health Month will be the perfect time to set change in motion. The positive things you achieve may inspire others to do the same.