Bad Mental Health Habits To Avoid

While there are some amazing daily habits and rituals that can help improve your mental health, there are also some that might be more damaging than you realize. Many of these are subtle, but can make a difference in the long run.

Lack Of Exercise & Proper Diet

Okay, so we all know this, so let’s get this one out of the way, since it’s both really important to keep in mind, and probably the one you don’t want to accept. Yes, your daily exercise and eating habits can make a difference in how you feel emotionally and mentally. I am in no way saying you need to have a rigid workout routine or stick to a restrictive diet. But you do want to take good care of your body.

Healthy, nutrient-dense foods help you feel better and give you more energy. Plus, some eating habits can actually make anxiety worse, including having a lot of caffeine or sugar. Exercise is a wonderful way to reduce your anxiety, help with stress, and clear your mind.

Perfectionism & Taking Yourself Too Seriously

Many people joke about how they are perfectionists, including myself, and everything needs to be perfect and done exactly how they want. But when the laughing stops, you might find that it is actually severely impacting your life, and not in a good way.

Now is the time to stop expecting perfection and feeling like a failure just because you didn’t do everything on your list or you didn’t do it exactly 100 percent perfect. No human being is perfect, so this is completely unreasonable…I know, try telling yourself that on a bad day! Just take it day by day. We don’t live in a black or white world – we live in a gray world. Find what is in the middle. A comfortable place where you know you work hard and have responsibilities, but you also let yourself have some fun and are open-minded about the results.

Hiding From Your Anxiety Or Depression With Drugs Or Alcohol

It is not uncommon to deal with mental health issues by avoiding them entirely. Far too many people do this, again, including myself, and don’t even realize the ramifications. But if you are relying on drugs and alcohol to deal with your emotions or mental state, like smoking, drinking heavily, or relying on caffeine for energy, you’re actually hurting yourself in the long run. With alcohol, it is a depressant, so it might be fun while drinking, yep, it is,  but once you sober up, your depression and anxiety is much worse. It’s just a never-ending cycle doing this to yourself.

Overuse Of Social Media

While using social media definitely has its merits, it can also be a bad habit that is actually hurting your mental health. If you are someone that just checks in every once in a while or when you get notifications, it’s probably not a bad habit for you. But people who check it constantly and whose notifications stress them out, it is definitely something to start reducing in your daily life. There’s so much negative on social media too and that can be a real downer. I definitely limit myself to what I call “doom scrolling.” If I don’t, it can really bring me down for the day, or night, depending on when I look at it. 

So, there you have it. While I know these are all common sense and you’re probably told all the time, sometimes it’s good just to actually read it and let it sink in. Hey, we all have bad days and that’s totally okay. You can do some of these things, just not all the time if you want to feel better about yourself and your outlook on life. 

That’s it for now! 

Until next time,