Mental Wellness Challenge

January is Mental Wellness Month. The World Health Organization defines mental health as “a state of well-being [where an]…individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life…[and] work productively…, and is able to…contribut[e] to his or her community.” Mental wellness is a proactive, lifelong process of strengthening one’s emotional, mental, psychological and social resources, which in turn can increase contentment, resiliency and a person’s sense of purpose. To improve your own mental wellness, try some of the following suggestions.

Build a support group of five to ten people, including family, friends, coaches, teachers and/or coworkers. Check in with them often and listen to what they tell you. Surprise loved ones (especially those who may be in a nursing home) with a greeting card or letter, send an encouraging text to five people or consider writing thank-you notes to members of the military through Support Our Troops.

Journal ten things for which you are grateful. Document the life stories of your parents, grandparents or other family members. Find interesting questions and conversation tips at StoryCorps Connect or a more exhaustive list of prompts at the Legacy Project. Creative activities not only reduce stress and provide relaxation, they also can be enriching, fun and result in a sense of accomplishment.

Feel all of your emotions, both positive and negative, and then process them. (An easy way to identify your emotions is to think, “If I were a meterologist and my feelings were the weather, it would be ___ today.) Individuals who can specifically identify and label their emotions are less likely to binge drink, be physically aggressive or self-injure when distressed.

Control the things in your environment that you can. Make responsible choices about when you leave your home, going out only when necessary, and limit the number of people with whom you come into contact. Organize your house, bedroom or closet. Go an entire day without complaining. Conduct an environmental detox. Unfollow negative people on social media. Find an inspirational quote that you like and make it your screen saver. Consider limiting the amount of sad songs you listen to, horror movies and crime shows you watch and violent video games you play for two weeks.

Think about the things you enjoy only when you are on vacation and try to add some of them to your day. To create a healthy vision for your life, consider: If your life was perfect, what would it look like?; What kind of person do you want your friends and family to remember you as?; What are your natural skills and talents? and What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

Remember that you do not always have to be goal-oriented or productive. Intentionally slow down when you feel rushed. To relax: notice five things around you that you can see; locate four items you can touch; discover three sounds you can hear; identify two things you can smell; and find one thing you can taste. Consider establishing a virtual book club, reading aloud with your family or listening to an audiobook.

Have an online adventure by virtually touring a museum; exploring space with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s image and video library; or observing livecams at Explore.org, a live nature cam network and documentary film channel. Learn something new by reading a random Wikipedia article, do a crossword puzzle or word search, or try to solve as many simple math problems as possible within a minute.

Mental wellness can co-exist with mental health issues and help you successfully cope with and/or lessen symptoms of conditions like Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or mild depression. Ultimately, mental wellness has numerous components, including how an individual thinks and processes, understands and uses information; how he or she acts, functions and feels, including expressing and managing emotions; and his or her relationships and the ways in which he or she connects with others.

Low mental wellness is often called “languishing” and can be related to loneliness, sadness, stress and worry, while high mental wellness or “flourishing” is reflected through happiness, life satisfaction, personal growth and strong relationships. Failure, grief, loss and other painful emotions are a normal part of life. Increasing your mental wellness not only will mitigate existing symptoms, it also can protect you from developing mental illnesses in the first place; help you to feel valued and that you have control over and freedom in your life; and allow you to cope with challenges and opportunities and function well both as an individual and in relationships.