I will start by saying I am not in any way educated in Mental Health, I have had experience with it in some areas of my life and the following blog is based on my thoughts and feelings.
Mental Health for me has never been something I really focused on learning or talking about till recently as its never been an issue with me or my close circle of friends and family, and when I say recently it was lock down.
Lock down was a horrible experience for everyone in many different ways, life’s lost, jobs lost and bad for peoples mental health.
Mental Health can be many things not just the first thing you thought of when reading this, it can be from depression all the way to mental health issues that are very serious.
For me I did go through a period where Mental Health came in to my life, and it was very difficult, extremely hard to understand and gaining knowledge on the specific area was needed to help me understand it and deal with it.
Apart from understanding it there were things I needed to do to help me, and this is where my doorstep was a great help and a lot of people who suffer from mental health should also copy as it might help even a little.
As I mentioned a lot of life’s were lost during covid and experiencing a death in your family or close circle can really effect your mental health. Death as a whole is a hard experience to go through more so if your close to that person, and can take a lot of time to get over sometimes.
Even death with a family pet can be just as emotionally damaging, as a pet isn’t just a pet they are an actual family member that you bond with over many years and can hurt just as much as a person. If you do feel very down with a lose of a pet please do check out my friends website she is a great person, friend and will help you through this hard time : The Scottish Pet Bereavement Counselling Service
Before I start the helpful tips, the best two things for any kind of mental health issues are speak about it and get help:
- Speak about it with friends, family and trained medical professions.
- We live in a time where now talking about things like this is ok and nobody will judge you, they just want to make sure your ok and doing good. Getting help from the trained professionals will help you cope with it better either for the rest of your life or for that period its come in to your life.
Now to tell you what I mean with your doorstep.
Walking
I know Scotland doesn’t often have nice sunny days, but getting outside and going for a nice walk in a park etc is great for your mental health and will also help with your daily exercise.
Fresh air and nature always is a great mood booster more so if its a sunny day, either alone or get a friend and go for a walk and have a long chat.
Bagging a Munro or two
This sounds a bigger challenge than it actually is, and the reason I am saying that is this is exactly what I did to help me.
I am not Mr fit, wasn’t in great shape but a friend organised a group to go and bag a Munro and I said sure and joined them.
The ones I did I wouldn’t recommend for beginners but there are nice easy ones, well not easy easy but more a nice walk that I would say would be good to do.
Do not do this alone, go with a friend or a group and when you get to the top that is just an amazing feeling, plus the view WOW.
A massive boost!
Let your inner artist out
Sitting drawing indoors or outdoors is a great way to help your mental health, and release all the stress from that day.
Even if your not Van Gogh just that pencil, or paint brush to paper feels great and for the next x amount of minutes to hours your focus is all on your artwork.
There is a lot of amazing places to sit and draw from your local park all the way to Glencoe and surroundings.
Socialising
Yeah this is a hard one for a lot of people now thanks to lockdown.
You need to get back out there and just mix with people even with a small group of friends, and the more you do it the easier it will become again.
Even if its just a meetup for a coffee or lunch, this will instantly help you and take your mind of things.
Get Enough Sleep
This one seems obvious but not many do it.
Have you ever noticed how if you have a bad sleep one night, your mood the next day is effected? imagine that every day and the snow ball effect.
Going to bed at the same time and getting up at the same time is great for your body and mind, you will feel refreshed and ready for the day. Having enough sleep will also help with your concentration and make you enjoy the day more than you would if your half asleep.
Final Comment
Seek proper medical help as a lot of mental health problems can be managed and you will feel really good with their help.
If your reading this please do speak with people, don’t think they will judge you as if they are friends or family they just want to make sure your ok and will be there for you if you need them.
