Study the text to learn more about World Mental Health Day and how you can improve your mental health.

Dorota Giżyńska

A. World Mental Health Day

The Covid‑19 pandemic has had a big influence on people’s mental health. The people who were particularly affectedaffectedaffected were frontline health workersfrontline health workers [frontline health worker]frontline health workers, students learning online, singles, and the elderly. The WHO (World Health Organisation) has taken stepstaken steps [take steps]taken steps in order to raise awarenessraise awarenessraise awareness of the problem and empowerempowerempower people to take care of their own mental health and provide supportprovide supportprovide support for others.

World Mental Health Day falls on October 10th. It’s an international day for global mental health awareness and education. It has been celebrated since 1992 in more than 150 countries. In some countries, for example in Australia, the day is part of a whole mental health awareness week. Every year, there is a different themethemetheme for the day. In 2019, the main theme was suicide preventionsuicide preventionsuicide prevention. In 2017, it was mental health in the workplace and in 2012, the day was all about depressiondepressiondepression. The slogan for 2021 was “mental health care for all: let’s make it a reality.” How can you make it a reality, though? What can you do to make it happen? There are simple things you can do on a daily basison a daily basison a daily basis.

B.  Take Care Of Yourself

You can start with being mindfulbeing mindful [be mindful]being mindful. It has been proven that mindfulnessmindfulnessmindfulness can reduce stress and help us managemanagemanage our emotions better. Being mindful means shifting our attentionshifting our attention [shift one’s attention]shifting our attention to the present moment and showing an attitudeattitudeattitude of kindnesskindnesskindness, openness and curiositycuriositycuriosity about what we experience every day. Try not to be judgementaljudgementaljudgemental about your emotions and sensations in the body. Accept them, and do not categorise them into good or bad ones.

Develop self‑acceptanceself‑acceptanceself‑acceptance. Don’t compare yourself to other people. The way we feel about ourselves has a big influence on how resilientresilientresilient we are and how we cope with the ups and downsups and downsups and downs of modern life. ResilienceresilienceResilience is a strategy which we can employemployemploy to cope constructively with difficult situations in life, accept them, and adaptadaptadapt in order to move forward.

Being kind and helping others not only contributes tocontributes to [contribute to]contributes to the happiness of other people but also to our well‑beingwell‑beingwell‑being. Studies show that it gives our brain a boost which activates the reward centrereward centrereward centre in our brains, making us feel good. You need to remember that every small act of kindnessact of kindnessact of kindness is beneficialbeneficialbeneficial: a smile or some kind words. It could be a spontaneous gesturespontaneous gesturespontaneous gesture, or something we do regularly, by volunteering, for example.

Be open to new experiences as learning boosts our creativity and self‑confidence and is rewardingrewardingrewarding. It doesn’t have to be connected with school, but it should be something that you’re passionate about and that helps you hone your skillshone your skillshone your skills. The activities should be joyful and engaging.

Take the time to reflect onreflect onreflect on what you’ve read and think how you can applyapplyapply the information in your everyday life. It’s easier than you think.

1 Źródło: Dorota Giżyńska , licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.