Summer is synonymous with relaxing, flexibility, soaking up the sun, and enjoying more leisurely days for many people, but for some, it can have the potential to trigger feelings of being overwhelmed and losing control. Expectations of being carefree can put a lot of pressure on those who are struggling with depression or anxiety. With the beautiful weather and abundance of events, summer can be a great time to revitalize your mental health. Here are some tips that help to maintain your mental health in the summer.
- Go Outside
Take advantage of the sun and get outside. Pick up a new outdoor hobby where you can spend 30 minutes in the sunshine. Whether it is gardening, hiking, paddle boarding, photography, spending regular time in nature has been shown to decrease depression, reduce anxiety, and improve mood.
- Stay physically active
Whether it’s hitting the gym, signing up for a yoga class, join a recreational sports team, or taking a walk outside, physical activity is known to boost your mood. It’s easy to stay on the couch and watch the latest TV series during the summer months, but being idle can have a negative impact on our physical and mental health. Try to maintain 20-30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise every day. You’ll be surprised how good you feel.
- Reconnect with others
Boost your mental health during the summer is to spend time with others. Social isolation and loneliness can lead to higher rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide, but with so much going on in the summer, it’s easy to find things to do with friends and meet new ones.
- Maintain a Healthy Sleep Schedule
While it may be tempting to throw your normal sleep schedule out the window during the summer, it can wreak havoc on your mental health. Stick to good sleep habits and schedules this summer, get 8-10 hours of uninterrupted sleep, you may actually see an improvement in your mental health.
- Focus on mindfulness and meditation
When you’re stressed, worried, or anxious at work or anywhere else, remember to breathe and focus on the things that relax you.
- Set Personal Goals
Setting goals and planning out steps to achieve them is one of the most rewarding aspects of life. It is vital that people in recovery make goals for themselves both short-term and long-term. Having dreams helps us stay on our goals and say no to things that might tempt us to fall off track.
- Learn a new skill
One of the great things about living a life of recovery is the time and energy that sobriety provides. you do not have much motivation to learn anything new during your addiction. However, once you got sober, you will make a point to start learning new skills.
If you are struggling with addiction, anxiety, depression or any other mental health problem and are not seeing any improvements, you may visit treatment centers to reach out for help, who knows, it could be the start of a new journey.
