04 Apr An “Amazing” Way to Develop Your Mental Health
There’s no doubt that most articles about creating more happiness and/or taking care of your mental health focus on pretty much the same things.
And that’s because they work.
After several decades of research into positive emotions like happiness, and managing unpleasant emotions like depression and anxiety, the findings continually point to the same effective strategies.
But, that being said, there are variants that are worth looking at and there are interesting new applications of old ideas that can help anyone trying to be happier and live better. So, if you’re interested in something just a little bit different then read on …
via Psychology Today by Stephen Hayes
KEY POINTS
- Struggling with your mental health can feel like being trapped in a maze.
- Although your struggle may be complex, you can simplify it in small steps.
- Everything in your life is connected—and it likely plays a role in your struggle.
- There are eight key areas that contribute to your mental well-being.
Parrish Freeman/Unsplash
Suppose you wake up one day, and you find yourself in the middle of a maze. The walls are too high to climb and too sturdy to break through. In front of you, however, are several openings leading down different paths—so you just pick one, hoping for the best. Every now and then, the way splits into multiple directions, and each time you have to choose anew.
Some people who have been in the maze themselves claim to have found the way out, and they tell you where to go. And then there are those who have made it their profession to guide people outside, and they have written smart books about it, filled with helpful advice.
Eventually, however, you notice there is something off. The guidance of other people doesn’t match your own experience, and you come across dead-ends where there should be open pathways.
Apparently, although many others have seen the maze before, they haven’t seen your particular maze, with its own unique outline and structure. And even worse: The maze itself begins to change. As you go along, new walls rise up and old paths disappear. The strategies that proved useful long ago suddenly no longer seem to work.
Making Sense of Your Mental Health
Struggling with your own mental health can feel like being trapped in a maze. Some days the path forward seems clear; other days you feel hopelessly stuck. And if you spend enough time inside, you may even begin to doubt that there is a way forward at all.
It’s not so much that you will find a way “out”—as long as you are alive there will be mental challenges—but there is always a way to create progress. It may look different from what you might expect, and for sure it will contain “problems”… but at least they will be new ones!
To move forward, you have to become an explorer. But don’t just stumble along from corridor to corridor. Instead, be smart and pay attention. Learn the location of dead-ends and open passages. Learn the rules within your maze. Bit by bit, notice more about what works and what doesn’t…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE