Take Mental Health Breaks

It is very common to get caught up in your day to day life without checking in with yourself to make sure you're doing okay. A lot of the time, you may get overwhelmed as your feelings all pile on at once. You may discover that you're very unhappy with your job, life, or future that's planned ahead. However, due to a plethora of factors, many people accept their slowly deteriorating mental health instead of doing something to remedy it. Although it can be difficult to find the time to take a mental health break, they can be very beneficial to becoming happy with your life.

What are mental health breaks?

A mental health break is simply taking a break from whatever it is that has you stressed out or overwhelmed in order to recharge. Depending on the person or situation, one could take an hour break while others may need weeks.

During this time, you could do anything that you find relaxing in order to recover from a busy lifestyle. If what's overwhelming you is something that you hate, this break could be used to avoid it and spend the day away from something that causes so much negative energy. Common activities could be going for a walk, visiting your favorite spot, meditation, drawing, talking to someone you love, and more. Perhaps, you could write yourself an affirming note so your later self could see it and feel better. Do something that you enjoy, savor your favorite foods, and write down what you're grateful for. Adding some positivity into your life will make you happier in general. Once happier, the quality of your work could even improve.

A change in pace can truly help your mental health, especially if that change involves taking a break from negativity. When you come back from your break, you'll feel more energized and motivated to engage in whatever you needed a break from.

How do you know if you should take a break?

There are a few ways to tell if you need a break:

1. If you are feeling burnt out. This means if you feel like your responsibilities are draining you of any energy you had, causing you to feel exhausted all the time.

2. If you are struggling to stay motivated. If you feel like that what you are doing is something that doesn't get you excited, then you'll feel less willing to do it. That'll make it harder to complete any necessary tasks or cause you to complete them at a lower quality.

3. If you are losing yourself. What I mean by this is, if you feel like that you've have basically become what you've been stressed about, then you could be losing yourself. If you stop caring for yourself or for others you're close to, this could be because you need a mental health break. You may become easily irritable and lose relationships that you once held so dear.

Design.org has another list if you'd like another resource.

How can taking a mental health break help?

Taking a break can help you feel more rejuvenated, help calm down some negative emotions, and get you more motivated for your future endeavors. If you make sure that you're happy, then those around you will be happy as well. Breaks can restore your energy, whether that's physical energy or emotional energy.

Taking a step back from the stress can help you see the bigger picture of your life. If you are stuck in a routine and haven't had a chance to reflect on what you're doing with your life, a mental health break can help you with this. You can truly think about if what you're doing makes you happy and if you want to decide to take a different path with your life.

It can help your physical health as well. When someone is stressed out all of the time, they can develop sleep disorders, fatigue, or heart disease, or any type of physical sickness linked with stress. Personally, I get very nauseous when I'm stressed and it causes me to take breaks from eating, which is not healthy at all. Every person is different and could develop different physical ailments.

Your Mental Health is Important

Your mental health is important because you are very important. You matter to so many people who want to see you thrive in everything you put your mind to. When you get in a rut, that's okay, it happens to everybody. Just make sure you are taking some time for yourself. It isn't selfish to care for yourself, and caring for yourself is also caring for others. When you care for yourself, you will be a happier and more fun to be around person. Things will get easier, and taking mental health breaks isn't a bad thing to do.