Covid-19 has been a challenging time for nearly all of us, and we have all been impacted one way or another. I won’t deny that the pandemic has also had an impact on me. However, I will say that I have come out of this pandemic pretty well, and my mental health has actually improved overall in this time. However, it hasn’t been easy, and there have been things that I have done that have helped my mental health in this period. I talk about these in this article, and hopefully the points I make can help some of you as well.
Surrounding myself with the right people
This is probably the single most important thing that has helped me recently. For me my family have been lovely and very supportive which helped a lot as I was with them at home the vast majority of the time. Furthermore, even though I couldn’t see my friends in person, they have been very understanding of my situation, and we have given each other motivation and positive energy whenever we have Zoom called or messaged. However, one thing I want to emphasise here is that in this period I have had to cut out people that weren’t helping me become the best version of myself or that were having a negative impact on my mental health and wellbeing. It’s important to realise that if you surround yourself with even a handful of people that have a negative influence on you, the bad impact that it can have could sometimes outweigh the benefits of being around people that have a positive impact on you.
Worrying less about what others think of me
Worrying too much about what others think of you is something that a lot of people are guilty of doing too much. But one of the biggest lessons that I learnt over time is that no matter how hard you try, you will never make everyone happy and there will always be people that will disagree with some of the things you do. One thing that I have realised is that in the vast majority of times, people’s opinions about me now won’t matter a year from now, and therefore it does no good worrying obsessively about it. For me, this shift in mindset to worrying less about what others thought of me helped free my mind immensely, and allowed me to feel better about myself. This contributed to my mental health improving.
Spending time on my hobbies
For those of you who don’t know already, my main hobbies are blogging, reading, sudoku, solving with riddles and playing games with my family. In the summer holidays I was able to spend a healthy amount of time on my hobbies, meaning that there weren’t many times where I felt totally bored. For me, my hobbies are things that make me happy, and setting aside time for them has helped maintain my morale and motivation in the tough times of the pandemic. I am giving high priority in keeping up my hobbies alongside my full-time job, as I believe that spending time on my hobbies is good for my mental health.
Taking ownership of my own problems
This is another really important and interesting point. Before this pandemic, I struggled with my mental health and anxiety, and it would have been so easy for my anxiety to get worse due to the pandemic. Therefore, I knew that my mental health and anxiety could spiral out of control if I did nothing about it. The thing I decided to do was to take more ownership of my emotions, and take the responsibility to solve my own problems. I very quickly realised how empowering this was, and I certainly felt that taking responsibility for my problems was a measure of my courage and mental strength. Moreover, taking ownership of my problems meant that I found it easier to find solutions when I felt down, and therefore meant that I was able to maintain a good level of wellbeing. The message I want to get across from my experience was that it is important to talk about your problems and struggles, but you are the only person with the power to change your situation at the end of the day.
Has there been anything that has helped with your mental health recently? Comment on the comment section below!
Loved this post Niraj. In particular I like the last point you made, its so important that we realise a lot of the time our mental health problems are just that, our problems. It can be so easy to take things out on other people, but that doesnt do much!
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Thanks for reading Olivia, and I do agree that our problems are ones only we can solve most of the time! So we need to take ownership of them
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Well said! Stay positive and focus on you what is important!
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Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Of course! I look forward to reading them!
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Powerful, thank you for sharing. You are strength and an inspiration. Be well.
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Thank you!!
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This is really good🌸🌸🌸🌸. Taking ownership of my mental health helped improve my mental health too.
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Thats so good that it helped you 🙂 – taking ownership for our mental health can be so empowering!
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It’s very interesting to see that your mental health improved during this pandemic. I would say mine did too, however lots of people have had the reverse. Would you say that you are an introvert?
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I would say that I am in the middle of being an introvert and extrovert!! Wbu? Would you say you are an introvert?
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That is probably why you thrived from being away from people. I’m introverted too, so I had a similar experience
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I did miss the social interaction with others dearly, that was the thing I missed the most I think
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Great post! I can definitely relate to all of these when it comes to improving mental health. My favourite is “worrying less about what others think of me”. It’s amazing how much better things become when you stop caring- I’ve learnt that myself recently too.
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100% agree!! We cannot please everyone and sometimes we should worry less about opinions from people that don’t really matter
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Thank you for the nomination!!
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I also thought my mental health would deteriorate during isolation. But I was quite surprised how I’m really well during these times. I cut ties with people that is not good for my well being. I find hobbies like playing ukulele, and writing.
But the thing you said about taking ownership of our problems is true and yes, seeking for help and talking about it truly helps but if you’re not willing to help yourself then it’s all nonsense.
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I am so glad to hear that you are keeping well! Cutting ties with people that are negative for your well being is something which is good as well 🙂
And yes absolutely , seeking help and talking about it is useful but not enough on it’s own!
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As someone with anxiety I can really relate with this. Especially with letting go of what people think of me.
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I am glad yo u could relate to it!
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Great post! As a person with C-PTSD I also found that sheltering in place was exacerbating my condition. I was trauma triggered by the continual onslaught of distressing news that greeted us each day. Taking ownership is vitally important. I found that life’s simple pleasure helped me to rebalance and refocus —- blogging, going for walks and being out in mother nature helped me the most.
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Yes definitely, appreciating life’s simple pleasures such as nature can make such a big difference!
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Excellent post Niraj!👍 I really liked the last point of taking ownership of our problems. I do believe that when we become accountable for our own life then we can tackle the problems better without getting stressed or worried.
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Absolutely!! I found it made such a difference when I became accountable for my own problems and worries 🙂
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You have nice hobbies. I only wish I can figure out sudoku. It is lovely to hear you are taking care of yourself in this time, and that your family and friends are supportive. This pandemic is certainly making life hard for everyone, but we all try to cope, don’t we?
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Sudoku is a lovely way to relax. And I agree that this pandemic has made lives hard and we are doing our best to cope! I wish that society were more together though in this fight
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Nice post. I can relate to all of them. I’ve just decided to let go of people that were draining me and I feel so much better as well as giving time to my hobbies and not caring about what others think of me.
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The people that drain you are never good for you. Letting go of them does wonders for your happiness and wellbeing!
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Yes it does. 💯
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Once we realize we hold the key to our own happiness, the journey becomes less cluttered. It’s still a tough journey, but wisdom becomes our ally. 👁👁🍃
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I couldn’t agree more!!
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One thing that I have learnt about mental health is that never think that caring for yourself is selfish of you. Self care is very necessary!!!
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It is certainly vital to practice self care! Thanks for reading and commenting!
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4 brilliant tips for life 🙌 🔆
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Thank you!
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This is beautifully written. You are right about focusing your energy into doing what makes you happy! Cutting out people from your life who isn’t letting you become the best version of yourself is the best thing ever. We are so much better without the negative energy in our life.
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Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I agree that it is a waste of energy being around negative people, and cutting them off now helps a lot
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Great post
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Thank you!
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Great post.👍Really brilliant points and well written.
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Thank you for reading and commenting!
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My pleasure💐
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Hi! I love this post and the tips are so helpful! And this was so well-written and beautifully conveyed with so much innocence and power! I was wondering if you could checkout my new blog post on mental health and overcoming the pressures created by society. And I would really appreciate it if you could comment some feedback. Thank you 😊
https://kiranninprogress.wordpress.com/2020/11/06/an-ode-to-feeling-many-emotions/
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Thank you so much for reading and commenting on my post! I will check out your post 🙂
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Yes please do!!
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I have just commented on your blog post 🙂
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absolutely, and first amongst all comes from the people you choose to surround yourself, to really focusing your triggers of what you are seeing, hearing, noticing on daily and most importantly again to what you are feeding your body with. Very important Neeraj. Thank you.
Nara
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Thanks for reading and for your kind words!
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Pleasure Niraj. Thanks for writing.
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Impormative.. nice post
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Thank you!!
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so important 🙌🏼
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Thanks!
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so helpful
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Thank you!
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