By Amanda McIntosh
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It was established in 1949 to increase awareness of the importance of mental health and wellness in Americans’ lives, and to celebrate recovery from mental illness.
It might seem like everywhere you turn, there is someone or something reminding you to check in on your mental health or perhaps to have a #RealConvo with someone about your mental health. There is a good reason for that. Your mental health is just as important, if not more so, than your physical health.
In pre-pandemic days, “mental health awareness” was easily dismissed if you had never experienced mental illness; it was a buzz word. However, studies show that one in five people will experience a mental illness during their lifetime, so mental health awareness has never been more important.
This last year has been hard on everyone in one way or another – getting sick, worried about getting sick or getting someone else sick, physically distancing, being able to work or working from home, getting necessities from your local grocery store, finding childcare when schools were dismissed, becoming a stand-in teacher, getting medical attention, missing weddings, funerals, births – the list goes on and on. Our lives were/are interrupted. It can be easy to neglect our mental health when all these external forces are threatening our basic hierarchy of needs
So, how can we refocus our energy on our mental health? The theme for 2021’s Mental Health Awareness Month is “#Tools2Thrive.” There are six elements included in this; (1) adapting after trauma and stress, (2) processing big changes, (3) getting out of thinking traps, (4) radical acceptance, (5) taking time for yourself, and (6) dealing with anger and frustration. You can read more about these by going to www.mhanational.org.
The HOPE Squad of Carbon, Emery, and Grand Counties would like to focus on “taking time for yourself.” “Taking time for yourself may seem unimaginable, but there are small things to make self-care a little easier. Using #Tools2Thrive in our everyday lives can help us practice self-compassion in practical ways to take care of our mental health and well-being.” How?
- Maintain uninterrupted sleep for eight hours each night.
- Avoid sugars, greasy foods, salts, processed foods and saturated fats.
- Consume more whole grains, greens, unprocessed foods, lean meats and unsaturated fats.
- Eat 2-3 well-balanced meals per day.
- Drink at least three liters of water per day.
- Consume natural probiotics such as yogurt, miso, sauerkraut, kefir and kimchi.
- Engage in a physical activity for at least 30 minutes per day.
- Stay away from toxic thoughts, toxic people and toxic conversations.
- Engage in positive thoughts and conversations.
- Practice mindfulness or meditation on a daily basis. Focus on your breathing for five minutes.
- Learn how to manage your stress.
- Stay present in your daily relationships.
- Avoid “screen time” and engage in more “in person time.”
- Visit your doctor for preventative health and cancer screenings.
- Practice accepting yourself as you are – stop comparing yourself to others.
- Focus on the basics – shower, brush your teeth, move your body, eat food for fuel and not out of boredom.
- Discover what makes you happy – try new things.
- Make small and achievable goals.
- Set healthy boundaries.
- REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
Throughout the month of May, the HOPE Squad of Carbon, Emery, and Grand Counties will be hosting a contest called “Self-Care Selfies” and there will be a grand prize! There are four banners around each county with different self-care techniques listed on them, including physical self-care, emotional self-care, social self-care and environmental self-care.
When you perform an act of self-care (whether it is listed on the banner or not), send a selfie to amcintosh@utah.gov or to the HOPE Squad’s Facebook page. The more selfies you submit, the more entries for the grand prize – a self-care survival kit. The prize will be awarded in June to someone in each county. Take a walk everyday? Send a selfie everyday. Just got your nails done? Send a selfie. Went for a bike/ATV ride? Send a selfie. The possibilities are endless!
For more information on Mental Health Awareness Month, self-care tips/tricks/ideas, or to find out more about the HOPE Squad of Carbon, Emery, and Grand Counties, please contact Amanda McIntosh, the Suicide Prevention Specialist with the Southeast Utah Health Department by calling (435) 636-1153, email her at amcintosh@utah.gov or reaching out through Facebook by searching HOPE Squad of Carbon, Emery, and Grand Counties.
If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. It is available 24-7 and you can text them at 741741. This number is for any age and will put you in touch with a crisis worker.
https://www.thekimfoundation.org/blog/get-prepared-may-is-mental-health-awareness-month/
https://www.seuhealth.com/health-education
https://www.facebook.com/hopesquadcarbonandemery
