3 of 3 Part Series: How to maintain mental health when working full time & having a family

I’ve never shared this but I’ve struggled with symptoms of anxiety and depression throughout my entire life.

There are certain things I know trigger me and that I can do to stay mentally healthy and resilient which I wanted to share with you today. 

Please note I am not a professional in this field and I am touching only on things that I personally do that works for me.  

​These things have helped me immensely with reducing the occurrence of anxiety and depression episodes and keep my life balanced:

Keeping on top of stress

I find if I am stressed for long periods of time anxiety will kick in and make it worse. 

Clearing my mind, clearing my schedule, being organised, letting things go, breathing (5 seconds in and 5 seconds out for 1-2 minutes), a good B vitamin supplement helps with this.

Reducing stress is key to overall health as it affects not only our mental health but also our gut health, heart health, affects fertility and can contribute to weight gain.​​  

Dealing with stuff vs letting it fester

We all have things happen to us whether it’s within our control or not and it's how we deal with these things that make the biggest difference to our mental state.

When things come up for me I focus on knocking them on the head. As hard as it is I have those uncomfortable conversations, I look at what I can do to fix/resolve the issue, if it’s something out of my control I look at what I can control (my attitude, my response, what action I take).  

It’s not easy to do, but once it’s done you feel so much better for it. Sometimes the stuff that has us in knots is not something we can unravel on our own and it's ok to ask for help from a professional.

Check in with self daily

Each night when I'm laying in bed I do a body scan (from the top of my head to my toes) where I feel into and focus in on each body area. This helps me connect back into my body and identify if I have any pain, tight muscles, aches that needs my attention.

I also check in with how I am feeling emotionally and give myself the space before falling asleep to look at what I can let go of, see from a different prospective, forgive or put things in place moving forward. 

This stops those little niggly issues growing into bigger issues. 

As mentioned, I am not a professional in this field and what I have touched on are things that I personally do that works for me. 

Have a think about what things you can put in place that works for you to maintain your own mental health and build/continue to build mental resiliency.

​This is the last of the 3 part series! I hope you found what I had to share with you helpful in your own life.