Gone are the days newspapers and magazines posted positive content in amongst the gloom and despair, now it can feel like it’s nothing but doom. It appears that the gloomier and more horrific the story, the more it’s discussed.
It’s little wonder the number of people suffering from depression and anxiety is increasing if this is what we are hear and see each day. It’s estimated in Australia, 45% of people will experience a mental illness at some point in their lives, which is why it’s so important to help strengthen your mental health.
The benefits of having healthy mental health include feeling resilient, better able to handle stress, less physical health issues and finding more joy in life. The more we educate our conscious mind to think positively, the more our subconscious minds will begin to mirror this mindset and it will become part of our normal day to day life to think this way.
Below are three quick and easy strategies that you can use right now to bring positivity back into your day and help create a healthy mental health mindset.
1. Use positive words
Make a conscious effort to only use positive words, don’t say “I can’t, I’m stupid, I’m not good enough or I’m useless”. Acknowledge that yes, things may be difficult at times but that doesn’t mean you should beat yourself up about it. You are still you and when things go wrong, that isn’t a reflection of who you are as a person. Change the thoughts in your mind to be positive and use phrases such as “I’m going to do my best, I’m worth more than the thoughts in my head, I’m loved and I’m proud of what I have achieved in my life”.
2. Make a conscious effort to challenge your negative thoughts
When you find yourself having a negative thought about yourself, a situation or another person, challenge it. Ask yourself why you believe that too be true and then provide a reason why it isn’t true. Our thoughts are just thoughts, which means they aren’t necessarily true and may be driven by fear, our ego or past experiences. Challenging them often helps to break the power they have and gives you time to refocus on the here and now.
3. Use Positive Affirmations
Affirmations are statements that you can use to tell yourself something that you know to be true, but your mind is having difficulty with accepting the truth. Your mind may be telling you negative thoughts such as you deserve to feel this way or that you will never get better. These aren’t true and therefore you need to remind your mind of this. Try saying positive affirmations throughout the day to reinforce all the great things about yourself. Examples include:
- “I am healthy and in control of my own mind”
- “My thoughts are controlled by me and therefore I choose only good ones”
- “I deserve to be home, well and happy”
- “I am proud of myself for all I have achieved”
Try to use these three simple strategies to start challenging the negativity chatter in your mind and focus on building a healthy, positive mindset.
