“Do You Know Your Tools2Thrive?”
Mental health issues often co-occur in individuals struggling with substance use disorders and many times, substance use is used as a coping mechanism. May is Mental Health Month and allows us an opportunity to highlight some healthier coping mechanisms and strategies to improve our mental health.
While 1 in 5 people will experience a mental illness during their lifetime, everyone faces challenges in life that can impact their mental health. The good news is there are practical tools that everyone can use to improve their mental health and increase resiliency – and there are ways that everyone can be supportive of friends, family, and co-workers who are struggling with life’s challenges or their mental health.
This May is Mental Health Month and it is a great time to highlight #Tools2Thrive – what individuals can do daily to prioritize their mental health, build resiliency in the face of trauma and obstacles, support those who are struggling, and work towards a path of recovery.
One of the easiest tools anyone can use is taking a mental health screen at mhascreening.org when they need answers. It’s a quick, free, and private way for people to assess their mental health and recognize signs of mental health problems.
This May, let’s also explore topics that can help us build our own set of #Tools2Thrive – recognizing and owning our feelings; finding the positive after loss; connecting with others; eliminating toxic influences; creating healthy routines; and supporting others – all as ways to boost our mental health and general wellness.
When it comes to our feelings, it can be easy to get caught up in our emotions as we’re feeling them. Most people don’t think about what emotions they are dealing with but taking the time to really identify what we’re feeling can help us to better cope with challenging situations. It’s ok to give ourselves permission to feel. We also know that life can throw us curveballs – and at some point in our lives we will all experience loss. It may be the end of a relationship, being let go from a job, losing a home, or the death of a loved one. It is natural to go through a grieving process. By looking for opportunity in adversity or finding ways to remember the good things about who or what we’ve lost, we can help ourselves to recover mentally and emotionally.
It also is true that connections and the people around us can help our overall mental health – or hurt it. It’s important to make connections with other people that help enrich our lives and get us through tough times, but it’s equally important to recognize when certain people and situations in life can trigger us to feel bad or engage in destructive behaviors. Identifying the toxic influences in our lives and taking steps to create a new life without them can improve mental and physical health over time. And we know that work, paying bills, cleaning, getting enough sleep, and taking care of children are just some of the things we do each day – and it is easy to be overwhelmed. By creating routines, we can organize our days in such a way that taking care of tasks and ourselves becomes a pattern that makes it easier to get things done without having to think hard about them.
For each of us, the tools we use to keep us mentally healthy will be unique. I want everyone to know that mental illness is real, and recovery is possible. Finding what works may not be easy but can be achieved by gradually making small changes and building on those successes. By developing our own #Tools2Thrive, it is possible to find balance between work and play, the ups and downs of life, and physical health and mental health – and set ourselves on the path to recovery. For more information, visit www.mhanational.org/may.