Your mind gets bombarded daily by thousands of little problems and, no matter if work or personal life related, they can turn into real struggles if not attended in time. Most of us don’t have the time to face yet another problem, so usually, all stress related issues get postponed or dismissed, but therapists say that this is the worst thing we can do for our mental health. Same as bad eating habits pile up and make us gain weight and lose control of our once healthy body, problems of the mind can affect us on the long run, from developing rage or frustration issues, to hate, panic attacks or even suicidal thoughts.
With the detox season in full, we thought about taking a different approach to this popular and useful trend, and talk about mental detox and how you can reduce and prevent stress, in order to keep your mind healthy and able to deal with your everyday chores. Here’s Teatox’s simple yet effective mental detox:
Identifying the Problem
Sometimes, our stress can come from where we would least expect it, career problems, family issues, childhood traumas, present traumas, various addictions or even health problems. The first step in your mental detox is to find the source of the problem and come up with a plan to improve your state of mind. Don’t neglect old unsolved problems, as those are the most common causes of mental breakdowns, according to psychology researches.
Get Professional Help
More and more people are turning to therapists in order to face daily struggles and get though life with a smile and an open mind, which is one of the greatest achievement of the modern world. Realizing that there is nothing wrong in getting professional help is a major step, and once you take it, you will already feel better. Therapy sessions can be anything you need them to be, friendly conversations, journal-like experiences or eye openers. A professional will help you find the true roots of your problems and also explain how you can overcome them. No matter the trauma, no matter the time it takes to get better, it will pass, as time is anything but still.
Keep Your Family and Loved Ones Close
Whether we like to admit it or not, or busy lives are affecting the quality of our family time, and of the time we spend with our friends. Try to find ways in which you can improve communications, spend more time together and talk about your lives. You don’t have to plan fancy dinners or expensive trips, you just need to find the time to talk without checking your phone every minute, worrying about the TV show that you are missing, or about the work that you could have done.
Healthy Lifestyle and Sports
If you are leading an unhealthy life, and do little to no workout, your mental health will slowly deteriorate, without even realizing what the cause is. So if you haven’t already made a resolution about improving these two aspects of your life, it is time to make one now. See a nutritionist and get a healthy eating plan, start working out, dancing, riding the bike or swimming. You will be healthier and happier in less than a month, it's that easy.
Take Time for Yourself
We all know how necessary this step is, but we rarely take it. Don’t plan your year by calendar, take unexpected trips, pause work even for five minutes, or simply close your eyes and relax from time to time. You might not feel the immediate results, but your mind will be extremely grateful and will help you deal with thing better.
No matter the problem that got you needing a mental detox, there is a solution for it, as long as you are willing to accept it and work on fixing it. Think of it this way: all that work that you are doing and that is keeping you from having a little time to deal with your stress related issues will not get done at all, if you have a breakdown.
Prevent today, and enjoy tomorrow!