50 Best Ways to Practice Mental Health Self Care

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Your mental health is vital in every aspect of your life. It affects the way you think, act, and feel about life challenges. Also, your mental health influences the way you handle stress and make everyday decisions. Unfortunately, most people believe having “good” mental health means not being diagnosed with a mental health illness or disorder. However, that is not true. 

Having good mental health means that you learned healthy coping mechanisms for daily stress and life situations. It’s about having an overall healthy state of mind when making difficult decisions and having the strength not to let it overwhelm you. 

There are many ways you can take care of your mental health. But, the best way is through self care. Practicing self care for your mental health requires a certain level of self-awareness and knowledge about what you need to heal mentally. It may mean taking a step back from a situation and coming back to it later or journaling about your thoughts and feelings about the situation. 

Regardless of what it is, using self care to care for your mental health is one of the best ways to learn your triggers, track how you feel, and how you want to respond to situations. So, today I am going to show you 50 ways you can practice mental health self care. 

Here are your 50 mental health self care ideas

Mental Health Self Care Ideas

1. Take a Nap
2. Drink Water
3. Eat a Healthy Meal 
4. Take a Break
5. Exercise
6. Journal 
7. Spend Some Alone Time with Yourself 
8. Cry 
9. Pamper Self 
10. Do a Social Media Detox
11. Mediate
12. Light Candles
13. Pray
14. Talk to a Therapist
15. Listen to Upbeat Music
16. Take a Warm Bubble Bath 
17. Get a Massage
18. Read Positive Affirmations/Quotes
    1. Confidence Affirmations
    2. Spiritual Affirmations
    3. Self Love Affirmations
    4. Positive Affirmations
    5. Happiness Quotes 
19. Color
20. Draw or Doddle

21. Scream into a Pillow
22. Text or Call a Loved One
23. Go Outside
24. Declutter Something
25. Organize Something
26. Practice Yoga
27. Practice Deep Breathing 
    • 10 Deep Breathing Exercises 
28. Practice Gratitude 
29. Watch a Comedy
30. Indulge in a Hobby 
31. Read a Good Book
32. Make a List of What Makes You Happy 
33. Try Something New
34. Spend Time with Your Pets
35. Dance to Good Music
36. Say I Love You to Yourself 
37. Learn to Say NO
38. Laugh 
39. Look at Old Pictures
40. Get Creative 
41. Take Your Meds

42. Use Essential Oils and Diffuser
43. Do a Skincare Routine
44. Get Dressed Up
45. Do Your Makeup
46. Be One With Nature 
47. Switch Up Your Daily Routine 
48. Get More Than 8 Hours of Sleep 
49. Do Something Fun
50. Go Shopping

How Can Self Care Improve Your Mental Health?

 It’s much more challenging to make decisions and go about everyday life when you’re emotionally, physically, and spiritually depleted. Self care helps make you more resilient to these stressors and makes it easier for you to know how to deal with them. When it comes to your mental health, self care will improve it by re-energizing your spirit and body. 

Mental health self care is not about making sure you’re no longer depressed or getting rid of the illness. It’s about how you use self care to make yourself feel better and to pick yourself up enough to seek help if needed. Self care is essential to living an overall healthy lifestyle and creating healthy stress coping strategies for the future. 

Many people struggle to practice self care when they are at their lowest point. They either feel like it’s pointless, or they no longer want to care for themselves. That’s why it’s more important to practice self care during these situations than any other time because it’s how you will make yourself feel better. 

Where to Learn More About Mental Health?

There are tons of free resources available to anyone who wishes to learn more about mental health or seek help. If you’re ever unsure about supporting a loved one with depression and anxiety, you can always use the resources listed below. 

If you’re looking for resources in other countries not listed above, please reference https://unitedgmh.org/mental-health-support, which has an extensive list of resources for people who have a mental illness, including those living in third-world countries. 

• The National Suicide Hotline (USA):  Call +1 (800)-273-8255
• Mind Info (UK):( Call 0 (300)-123-3393
• Samaritans: Call 116-123
• Crisis Text Line (USA): Text NAMI to 741-741
• Suicide Crisis Helpline (South Africa): Call 0 (800)- 567-567
• 24hr Substance Abuse Helpline (South Africa): Call 0 (800)-121-314
• Mental Health Helplines (South Africa) Call 0 (800)- 456-789 or 0 (800)-212-223