5 Ways to Improve Your Mental Health Now

Silver Cross Hospital - 5 Ways to Improve Your Mental Health Now

Everyone feels anxious or sad at times, but when those feelings become chronic or overwhelming, it’s time to get help from a professional.

“We give ourselves permission to be physically ill, but when it comes to mental illness, we just throw our hands up,”said Dr. Imran Shakir, a psychiatrist and Medical Director of Silver Oaks Behavioral Hospital on the campus of Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox.

In a Silver Cross IMatter Health Podcast, “Improve Your Mental Health with Five Simple Actions,” Dr. Shakir also explained the difference between a clinical concern that needs treatment, and a mental health struggle that we all deal with at times.

Our mental health is something that routinely affects our function and well-being. The vast majority of people experience some sort of anxiety, and that can be a plus at times. For example, anxiety before a test can make us study harder.

But anxiety becomes detrimental when it interferes with our everyday functions, Dr. Shakir explained. Clinical anxiety, often combined with depression, is an insidious disease that develops slowly over a long period of time, causing people to become more isolated and not feel joy in the things they used to.

Dr. Shakir said there are ways to alleviate, and help prevent, day-to-day anxieties.

Measures to Minimize Anxiety

“What’s an easy way I can improve my mental health right now? Exercise,” Dr. Shakir said. “That’s a physical activity. The same endorphins we’re trying to activate with medication are being released naturally.”

Then, there’s the gut-brain connection. “What we eat affects our mental and physical health,” he explained. “Healthy eating is scientifically proven to affect your mental health; they are connected in a biological way.”

“Sleep is also important,” Dr. Shakir added. “Sleep is one of the top three things to address.”

If someone has generalized anxiety disorder or clinical depression, Dr. Shakir said, sleep issues increase the problems exponentially. Quality of sleep is most important. People have to gauge for themselves what the right amount is.

People should also be aware of what effect screen time has on our sleep patterns. “We have to limit screen time. That blue light to our brains means ‘blue sky.’ That chemically reverses the melatonin, the natural things our brain does to shut itself down.”

Also critical to a good night’s sleep, he said, is making sure we’re not using caffeine, because that sends a message to our brain that it’s not time for sleep.

But what happens when you wake up? Dr. Shakir said those first few moments are key to setting the tone for the day.”Maybe we wake up anxious or sad; why? Often, we carry emotions with us and half-way through the day, we say, ‘I’m not having a good day.’”

Assessing our feelings first thing in the morning is key to a good day.

“Taking an inventory of our emotions and putting meaning to them takes seconds. But it takes practice. I can’t tell you any other advice that can be more powerful. When you do it, it’ll help your whole day.”

Dr. Shakir appreciates the awareness of mental health, which he says is breaking down the stigma that has caused so many people to avoid treatment.

“Mental health is biological. It has been costing our country more due to physical illnesses,” he added.

To listen to Dr. Shakir’s full podcast or to watch his video podcast, visit silvercross.org/imatter-health/ and select the Podcasts link.

For more information, visit silvercross.org.

Silver Cross Hospital logo