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How to Improve Your Mental Health

At times, it can be easy to neglect, but your mental health is an important influence on how you move through life.

As this topic often arises, Dr. Marla Hartzen, medical director of AMG Park Ridge Behavioral Health at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill., discusses the need for developing good mental health skills with her expert staff. Here are five things they recommend for improving your mental health this year.

1. Become curious about your habits. Your actions and decisions often have deeper unconscious meanings. Becoming aware of why you are doing what you do can help you understand yourself better and help you make different decisions if needed.
2. Prioritize sleep. The recommended amount of sleep per night is eight hours. Start by eliminating things that keep you up like your phone and TV.
3. Reduce stress and limit social media usage. Take time to nurture your in-person relationships and evaluate your work and home life to make sure you have an appropriate balance of both.
4. Connect to a cause. Volunteering, fundraising and helping others in need can impact your mental health significantly. When you look beyond your desires to make someone else’s life better, you tap into a deeper place beyond yourself.
5. Seek mental health help through a counselor or therapist. Maintaining good mental health helps you cope with life’s adversities and transitions.

For support resources, visit OLW’s Meeting Mental Health with Grace Ministry.  Click HERE.

Article Contributed by Toya Campbell