When was the last time you thought about your own mental wellbeing? Chances are it may not be something that you take stock of regularly. With the busyness and stress that is ever present in our modern lifestyles, many of us don’t take the time to press pause and evaluate our own mental state. With one in five of us reporting that we have taken time off work within the past year due to feeling stressed, anxious, depressed or mentally unhealthy it is probably time that we pay more attention to our own mental wellbeing.
Recent research conducted by Medibank suggests that 2017 may have been Australia’s most stressful year yet and with stress significantly linked to reduced mental wellbeing (depression, anxiety and panic attacks) it is important that we take it seriously. There are many potential reasons for our increasing stress levels, with the most common reported within the Medicare survey being lack of sleep, juggling too many things and pressures at work. It seems that we are being influenced by workplace cultures which reward those who work long hours and are constantly connected (think answering phone calls/emails while out at dinner/spending time with family/on holidays). In addition to this, we are regularly told we can do it all, be the loving mother/father who spends plenty of quality time with their kids, the wife/husband who is always around to help with dinner and the career woman/man who is on top of their game. This mentality may lead to us feeling constant stress and pressure to be more and do more.
By not managing our stress levels we not only impact our mental state, we may even be adding to our workload, giving us even less time for the things that we want to be doing. Stress in our lives creates a vicious cycle where our mental wellbeing is negatively affected, which in turn influences our ability to do our jobs, making it more likely that we will work extra hours to finish what we didn’t accomplish that day. This cuts into our personal time where we can relax and recharge, which is vital to maintaining good mental wellbeing.
So how can we cope with the stress of our modern lives?
Managing our mental state should be thought of like an exercise routine. The same way you might commit to the gym a few times a week to keep yourself physically fit, there are several things you can do to keep yourself mentally in shape and therefore in the best position to cope with everyday stressors:
Prioritise – You don’t need to do everything you just need to do the things which are important to you. If you are constantly denying yourself the time you need to recharge you will never be able to perform at your best.
Commit to good sleep hygiene – You’ve undoubtedly heard about the benefits of good sleep for your physical health, but sleep is also extremely important to your mental state. Getting enough sleep is crucial for reducing stress and improving mood.
Practice self-care – Wherever possible take some time out for yourself, go get a massage, catch up with a friend, whatever makes you feel good.
Be compassionate to yourself and ask for help – if you do notice that you may not be in top mental shape, be kind to yourself! Think of how you might be able to relieve some of the pressure you’re feeling and never be afraid to ask for help from family, friends or a mental health professional.
Keeping up with your mental health routine isn’t easy and it takes practice! The difficulty is that it is easy to resort to unhealthy coping mechanisms when stress kicks in (e.g. procrastination, stress eating, alcohol) but if you practice and make a mental commitment you’ll reap the rewards by experiencing more productive time at work, a better headspace and more time spent doing things that you actually enjoy. Because at the end of the day when we aren’t feeling our best we can’t perform at our best in any area of our lives.
So, take a moment to think about your mental wellbeing, what is one thing you could commit to doing today to improve your stress levels?