Mental health is influenced by so many lifestyle factors and affects the way we think, feel and act. Our Occupational Psychologist and Rehabilitation Case Manager, Norrina Meechan, shares some of her top tips and the reasons that they are proven to help manage stress, anxiety and depression.
1. Stress isn’t just in the mind
That’s why the simple practice of deep breathing exercises has a huge impact on reducing stress. Your brain is hardwired to protect you. So whether faced with perceived or real stress – e.g. your own thinking about a situation or a stressful event such as having to present at an important meeting at work – your sympathetic nervous system kicks in so you’re ready to ‘fight,’ take ‘flight’ or ‘freeze’. You may find your heart beats faster, your breathing increases and you start perspiring. Focusing on your breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system which sends a signal to your brain to calm your body.
Practice the following routine to help reduce stress and also increase your focus:
- Take 4 deep breaths through your nose
- Hold for the count of 5
- Breathe out through your mouth for the count of 6
Practice throughout the day for moments of calm and at bedtime to help you sleep.
This simple practice uses the mind and body connection to bring calm and focus. You can count to any number that feels comfortable as long as your exhale is longer than your inhale.
2. Break negative thought patterns
This is what is known in cognitive behavioural therapy as ‘pattern interrupt’.
Many of us experience ‘self-talk’ – the continuous internal dialogue we have with ourselves. When this is negative it can be extremely damaging to our mental health. The brain cannot distinguish between reality and hypothetical thinking. So if our internal dialogue focuses on how bad we are at something or that we’ll never achieve that thing we really want to achieve, the brain listens and you experience associated negative feelings.
There are many different ways to do it, but the technique here is to try and interrupt your thoughts before they lead to feelings that lead to associated behaviours.
It’s all about stopping the thought getting any further and taking hold. One well known technique is the ‘rubber band’ technique. When a negative thought enters your head, you snap the rubber band against your wrist to ‘snap’ you out of your negative thoughts. It combines mindfulness – bringing you back to the present moment – and aversion therapy to develop new behaviours.
Whilst effective for many people, something else that is just as effective for combatting negative thoughts is counting backwards. You could count back from 10, 100, 1,000 – it’s up to you! But you can do it anywhere, anytime and without anyone knowing. Which makes it easier to incorporate into your life.
3. Gratitude is the antidote to comparison
Comparing ourselves with others is human nature, but can lead to negative feelings both internally and externally. The prevalence of social media is often a key driver for negative thinking as a result of comparing lifestyle, body image and even career progression.
Focusing on the positives in life can really help reduce these negative thoughts and feelings. Again, this is because the brain doesn’t rank the positives in your life – anything you think positively about has a beneficial effect on the way you feel.
The tip here is to keep a gratitude journal. Write down 3 things at the end of the day that you’re grateful for. Do it last thing at night so your subconscious can ruminate over it for even deeper feelings of positivity. And here’s the game changer – write down why you’re grateful for those 3 things.
This will give you a deeper level of understanding about what makes you happy – it can be the simplest things – and it means that throughout the day you’re actively looking for positive things, which starts to change your behaviour and helps you focus on all the good things you have in your life. It’s impossible to feel anxious and grateful at the same time.
Writing it down is a must. Once you get it out of your head and on paper it’s tangible. You can see and refer back to it – it’s all there in black and white
4. A different spin on positive affirmations
The brain loves repetition. This is how it learns. So using positive affirmations that resonate with you can help combat and overcome self-sabotaging thoughts and negative patterns of thinking.
Step 1: It might feel a bit uncomfortable or egotistical, but choose the right affirmations for you and they can be really powerful. Instead of ‘I am amazing at solving problems’, you might say ‘I am capable of solving any problems I am faced with’. Find something that works for you.
Step 2: Make it your password. Use different affirmations for the many different passwords you no doubt have to remember every day! You will be physically typing and thinking it multiple times and this repetition will help reprogramme your thinking and over time you’ll find you start to think, feel and act differently.
5. Modern psychology meets ancient practice
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as tapping, is a holistic practice that can help reduce negative thoughts and encourage relaxation.
It works by tapping on various meridian points in the body to calm the nervous system and reduce the effects of cortisol, which produces physical anxiety.
The main meridian points, which in holistic therapy connect the flow of energy in the body, are:
- Top of the head
- Eyebrow
- Side of the eye
- Under the eye
- Under the nose
- Under the mouth/chin
- Collarbone
- Under the arm
- Side of the hand
EFT therapists will address specific issues using this tapping technique, guiding the client through a routine which they can then practice for themselves wherever and whenever they like.
Making time to practice a few simple techniques as part of your everyday routine can really help harness the mind/body connection to achieve significant improvements and/or maintain good mental health.
If you’d like to hear more about any of the techniques mentioned in this article, please get in touch.