How To Stay Sane In An Insane World

Mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. Mental Health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Mental health is anything that impacts your mental state of mind. There is no health without mental health. Take care of yourself because you matter. Below are just some ways to stay sane when you feel like the world may be falling apart.

Stress Relief Options

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1. Get Active

and no I don't mean you have to be doing intense lifting and cardio on the daily but rather get up and do something that gets your heart pumping. Not only is it good for your physical health but there are some wonderful chemicals in your body such as endorphins that get released as you are active. Those chemicals being released are your "feel good" chemicals. Sometimes they just get thrown out of whack and getting active will help balance you out a bit more. When those guys are in balance, you can concentrate more, sleep better and just overall feel better.

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2. Essential oils

These oils are definitely essential for your body, in my opinion anyways. Put a few drops in a diffuser and not only does your home smell better, your mood starts to feel better as well. The things that a few drops of frankincense, lavender, and lemon can do are astonishing. Some of my favorite combos are lemon, peppermint and lavender. Mmmm. Apparently that specific combination can be taken as an "allergy shot." I have yet to try it but doTERRA swears by it. Nothing more relaxing than coming home to a house filled with natural, chemical-FREE essential oils streaming through the air. It's like taking a spa get away but at home.

3. Grab friends and do something

In this particular case, a group of friends decided to take on a curd crawl. Wait, what, those exist? Yes, yes they do. Cheese curds are a Wisconsin favorite and the options seem unlimited. So why not get together with your friends of all shapes and sizes to try different cheese curds of all shapes and sizes. Follow the endeavor by viewing this link:http://www.buzzfeed.com/tessb49bfbd06e/an-ode-to-curds-madison-edition-1ibck

Not feeling all those calories, have your friends do something else fun and productive with you. Maybe combine getting active and go on a hiking/camping get away. You can also play some intense video games for a while and just have fun with it. People are born social mammals. so embrace yourself and socialize. Feel free to meet new people while doing something. It all works and is stress relieving.

4. Get Crafty

I by no means am crafty at all which makes for more comical relief. However, some people can really express themselves through arts and crafts. No no no, you do not have to be a young kid to play with arts and crafts; and no no you still can NOT eat the dried macaroni and glue. Working with your hands and actually creating something is a beautiful thing in itself even if it looks a bit abstract. Remember those fun chemicals in your brain we talked about earlier, well completing a task also helps release some of those "feel good" hormones. Gimme. Gimme.

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5. Musical therapy

Listening to music is not only fun but you can also get up and dance to it. I think you can dance to anything that has a beat so why not, right? Music helps you relieve stress because it allows your mind to focus on the things going on with the jam. Play some Maroon 5 in the background and I think you would be imagining Adam Levine as your sugar, that's stress relief enough for me! Not only listening to music is a good but again getting your hands on an instrument allows you to be active in creating music. You don't have to be good at playing music, just grab a pen and try to interact as the bass to whatever you're listening to and you will find yourself a bit happier by the end of the song.

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6. Sleep

Yesssss, more reason to take a nap! Sleep has such a huge impact on your mental health. When you sleep, that's actually the time when your mind says okay peace out, i'm going to recharge for the day. It's so important to get enough sleep and good sleep. You don't want to sleep too much either, so it's important to find a good schedule and bedtime routine. Hide your electronics for a solid hour before bed, and your sleep efficiency will increase. Your mind will thank you in the morning and in the long run. That's why the baby looks so happy in the photo, right?

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7. Extra Extra

Soo I'm just throwing these few options out there, I don't think they have been scientifically proven but they sure do help me feel good. I tend to enjoy singing in the shower. So grab that shampoo bottle and use it as your mic while you pretend to be the superstar that you are. Can't sing? Well a nice hot shower usually helps as well. Then after that, you can dress up, get your make up did, put on a nice outfit and take a bunch of selfies if you have no where to go. Yep, I definitely do it and i'm not afraid to tell the world!!! Okay, maybe a bit embarrassed but if it works, well it works. I also tend to reorganize and that helps me as well. Clean out my closet, do some feng shui with my furniture. Those new energies can definitely be felt. Try it, maybe it will work for you too.

On a more serious note...

8. ASK FOR HELP

This is very important so keep reading. If you or a loved one are really struggling with your mental health, please please ask for help. Reach out to somebody you trust, a hotline, or even me! Join a support group and talk about whatever you have on your mind with other people in a safe environment. There are lots of resources and I'll list some below. You are important. You matter. We all struggle sometimes but the tough times don't last.

The resources as promised:

http://www.nami.org

http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org