Depression and anxiety is so common these days. It is seriously affecting people across many cultures and ages around the world, leaving them with devastating feeling of sickness and paralyzing mental and emotional imbalances. For decades, experts have been trying to figure out and provide effective ways to handle and cure these mental health problems. Some are effective but some ways are not. But, what is bothering is that many psychiatrists or mental institutions offer methods that are worsening instead of solving the problem such as giving psychotropic drugs that are in the long run, very dangerous and damaging to the patient. This is the reason why people need to be educated about alternative ways to handle these problems.
To a person suffering from any of these mental illnesses, thoughts and emotions are usually overwhelming that is why they need to learn proper coping strategies for them to help themselves feel better. So to help them do this, here are some ideas and tips from the group called “The Icarus Project”, an organization that started in New York City providing support for people with mental health issues.
How to cope with overwhelming emotions:
- Validate the emotion
- Share your emotions with others
- If you do not want to be alone, find ways to be with others
- Create a safe environment
- Obtain accurate information about your reactions
- Realize that you cannot control everything
- Maintain mindful communication with others
In addition to this, they also provided some ideas on how to take care of our basic physical needs for us to have a healthy mind and body:
- Organize your schedule
- Get enough sleep
- Eat and drink properly
- Get support from families or friends
- Stay embodied with your self
- Play and have activities that you enjoy
- Talk and listen to others
- Create a safe space for your self
- Connect with other people that help you become healthy, mentally and physically
So if you or someone you know is suffering from depression, anxiety or other kinds of mental illness, try to share this article to them. Or, even if you have no mental health problems at all, it would be so helpful to try these strategies for you to remain mentally and emotionally healthy most of the time. These may not work sometimes to others but for sure most of these tips will work to many people. Always remember that taking care of our mental health is very important for us to have a better relationship with other people and have a better sense of self-functionality for our families and community.
Reference:
