How to Take Care of Mental Health

Mental health is a fundamental and essential component of health. The constitution of the World Health Organisation states 'Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not just the absence of a disease or illness.' An important consequence of this definition is that it considers mental health rather than the absence of mental health disorders or disabilities. 

Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which people perform according to their abilities and are able to cope with the ordinary stress of life, work productively, and contribute to their community. In this positive sense, mental health is the foundation of individual well-being and effective functioning of the community. Well-being and mental health are fundamental to our collective and individual ability to think, express feelings, interact with others, earn a livelihood, and enjoy life. On this basis, the promotion, protection, and restoration of mental health can be seen as vital concerns for people, communities, and societies all around the world. 

Here are a number of tips on how to sustain mental health

• Maintaining healthy personal relationships: social contact is associated with oxytocin, a neuropeptide that provides a sense of well-being. It is therefore important to take care of family, friendships, and relationships. Their support is helpful in psychological disorders and in fighting anxiety. 
• Avoid Isolation: this is related to low self-esteem and the expression of depressive symptoms
• Taking care of sleeping schedules: Depending on each person, it is important to sleep approximately 7 to 8 hours each day. Also, it is desirable to sleep at the same time and follow the same routine
• Take care of your diet: select the foods that make up your diet well. Avoid fatty or excessively sugary foods, and eat lots of fruit, vegetables, and fiber-rich foods
• Organize your routines and activities: Learn how to prioritize, know your capacities and the resources (material and time) you have for each task
• Managing our emotions: it is important to express our feelings and not be distressed by every circumstance that is outside the norm. It is good to open up to others and not to keep your worries to yourself. 
• Having time to relax or a hobby: keeping the mind active and busy in a hobby helps us to be aware of our own abilities, to work productively, and to better cope with normal every day tensions. 
• Exercise: doing a physical activity around 2-3 times a week has a very positive effect since it helps us to release endorphins and serotonin, hormones related to our well-being
• Setting goals: setting short-, medium- and long-term goals helps to structure and make sense of life
• Be positive: adopting a constructive, positive attitude, with self-acceptance of one's own person and what surrounds that
• Seek professional help: in cases where problems significantly interfere with normal personal, social, family, and/or school-to-work functioning