I believe we can all agree that all of us have habits. It is something that we do since we enjoy and love doing them. On the other hand, it can also be because we just got used to doing those things.
However, habits become bad when it no longer gives you happiness and the healthy life you, just like everyone, deserves.
Recently, mental health has become a health issue that needs to be faced head-on. This is because diseases related to it have been taking away the precious lives of many innocent individuals.
They always say, bad habits die hard. Yet, the same statement is always subject to rebuttal. Let us go through some bad mental habits, and how we can avoid them.
Lack of Proper Exercise and Diet
I know, I know. You are not ready to hear this yet. Your usual lounging around, watching TV, and eating popcorn or chips are not doing anything good for your mental health.
Not exercising your mind and body results in your life being stagnant. Although some time off is also good for your mental health, if you make it a habit, you will start spiraling down and your mind will wander where you will start to lose control of it.
You may become sedentary. However, you may want to start a slow and less intense workout to keep your body moving and your mind focused such as yoga.
Yoga may manage your stress so that it can release all the annihilating effects the tensions and pressure do to your body and mind.
An expert says that yoga is effective to reach a positive outlook in life, as it brings calmness and clarity to your mind which eventually results in a sharper concentration.
Owing to the self-awareness that is developed through yoga, you may be able to detect any of your physical conditions that will need some immediate care and attention.
Aside from doing exercises, start incorporating healthy and nutrient dense foods in your meals so you will feel better and energized.
In that way, your anxiety will be eased because you have a mind working properly. As the tagline of a chocolate brand says, “You’re not you when you’re hungry”.
Perfectionism and Taking Yourself Too Seriously
There are actually two views to being a perfectionist: other people see you as very organized, composed and living without room for any mistake. On the other hand, other individuals see you as a laughing stock and overreacting.
On the first view, people are amazed by how you live and they even look up to you. However, on the second view, they will think you are nitpicky in a bad way. It may be okay for some but bot to others.
Being a perfectionist is okay as long as when you commit a mistake, do not torture yourself for it. The number 1 rule: Stop beating yourself too much for not being the version other people want you to be.
This is the root of all the anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems. Fall seven times, stand up eight. Do not be afraid to commit mistakes or not be able to meet your list up to 100 percent.
Life is like a house with several rooms, you just have to make sure that there are rooms for mistakes and improvement. As cliché as it may sound, nobody is perfect. You are bound to make at least one or more mistakes in your life.
You should learn how to balance things between being responsible and hardworking and being fun and open-minded with whatever may be the results. You should just have fun. You make mistakes while you still can.
Hiding from your Anxiety or Depression with Stimulants
There has been a stigma with regard to mental health issues. People are not very welcoming to the fact that there indeed are people that are suffering from mental health problems.
This is the reason why instead of seeking medical help, these persons are avoiding health issues entirely and keeping it to themselves. This results in relying on stimulants to either ease your emotions or totally forget them. People tend to smoke, drink alcohol, or even drink too much caffeine for energy.
This may seem harmless especially if you do it for small amounts every day. However, if summed up, you never know the bad effects it has done to your body. Not only that, the effect of these stimulants to your emotions is only temporary. When it wears off, your emotions will be a lot worse.
As much as possible, open up to your family or friends who supports and understands you. Talk to them and tell them your problems because bottling your emotions will only fill it up until you explode which is what we are trying to prevent.
Similarly, you can try journaling wherein you can write your emotions in a notebook to keep a track as to your progress. You can also write on a piece of paper and burn it afterwards so you feel like you have freed yourself from those emotions.
Veer away from people who only make you feel bad about your emotions and mental health problems. They will do no good for you. Just try to distance yourself from them.
However, if you are not comfortable with telling your family and friends and if you know that you no longer can control yourself without resorting to taking stimulants, you have to seek outside help. Point yourself to someone who is expert enough to medically handle your problems without having to hurt yourself.
Overuse of Social Media
Social media can be a good way to spend your free time. In fact, social media has been a great help to ease the boredom that the quarantine period during pandemic has caused. However, if you spend all the time browsing through your Facebook or Instagram, it is actually hurting your mental health.
For one, if you constantly check your notifications all the time. It is a bad habit because if, for example, you are trying to finish a homework or an office task and you picked up your phone to check your notifications, you will lose track of time. And before you know it, you lost all the time you have allotted for such task.
Another is when you compare your life to what you see in someone’s social media profile. It can harm your mental health in a way that you will think that your life is not good enough because it is nothing like you see in social media.
You have to remember that only the best parts are posted on social media. We do not know what is behind closed doors or what happened after that picture or video was taken.
Hence, we cannot compare our bad moments to the good moments they post on social media because that is not what all there is.
You can turn off your phone once in a while and instead, you can go for a walk or jog. Have a good talk with your neighbor. You should try to read a good book.
Final Thoughts
In sum, you just have to chill. Quit overthinking because it’s going to cause you your peacefulness and calmness. I know life is not all flowers and rainbows.
However, do not let thunderstorms cloud your entire mind because just like everything, it too shall pass. Look for something to motivate you. Have a pet or a plant which you know depends on you so you know that you have to keep living healthy.
Exercise your mind by keeping it busy through some mind games or reading a book. More importantly, practice mindfulness so you keep yourself living in the moment than in the future or the past. Remember, a healthy and happy mind is a better life.
