For many people and their families, the summer months are a time to get out there and adventure. People spend these months in their favorite vacation spots, relaxing in their backyards for a barbecue, or enjoying time whenever and wherever with the people they love most.
Unfortunately, not every day can be summer, and there comes a time when the kids get back in school and the summer vacation season comes to an end. This doesn’t mean we can’t still foster a strong environment for our mental health. A lot of hardworking Americans get back to the office in the fall and slowly feel themselves falling into deeper anxiety and depression. There’s a reason for this, and we want to explore those reasons and how you can break out of it even when it’s not summer.
Mental health is how you take care of your emotions
We’re slowly aging out of stigmas surrounding mental health, but there is still work we can all do for ourselves and for others. With stigmas slowly fading away, however, we’re seeing more and more people who claim to be mental health experts giving misleading or confusing advice. So, let’s simplify.
Mental health is how you take care of your emotions. Your emotions are going to happen to you regardless – these are our thoughts and feelings. There’s no way to shut them off, but there are plenty of ways to react to our emotions and be proactive in preventing negative ones from overwhelming us.
Our emotions are an internal experience meaning they don’t have anywhere to go except to our own bodies. This causes physical manifestations of our emotional experiences. You may start to experience migraines, back pains, become tired, and more when you let your emotions go unchecked.
Work won’t help us run from our feelings
These physical manifestations of our unchecked emotions can get in the way of many of life’s biggest tasks. Some people decide they’re going to put their heads down and go to work to focus on their career instead of their emotions.
Even if you think you’ve successfully tucked your emotions away by focusing on your work, your coworkers may notice what you don’t. Do you find yourself expressing frustration at work? Maybe you’re particularly anxious about a simple task or a deadline that’s far into the future? These experiences and others can be a sign of emotions inside yourself that you never took care of. Letting them impact your work could cost you more than just your mental health – compounding your problems and setting yourself up for failure.
If you find yourself doing this frequently, you’re creating a habit of letting temporary feelings overwhelm you because you never learn how to handle your emotions. Our mental health journeys are just like any other aspect of living: we learn through trial and error.
Your workplace may offer in-house therapy or provide insurance benefits that allow you access to free or affordable therapy sessions to tackle these temporary issues. This, along with finding small ways to tackle day-to-day stress, can keep your personal life and career in tune and on track. Don’t be afraid to set up little rewards for yourself during the work day. Maybe when you finish a task there’s chocolate on your desk, or maybe when you get done with that big meeting you take a walk outside to your favorite cafe or restaurant.
Repetition forms healthy habits
There is no one true solution to the days when our emotions seem out to get us. We will fail in the journey sometimes but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying. You may feel this is all especially true this time of year when we’re back in the office and our kids have to get to and from school and extracurricular activities.
Part of forming healthy habits can include making a schedule and sticking to it. Instead of letting all this happen to you, you actively engage with it and learn better ways to react when the time comes. Repetition can include the small victories each and every day being repeated over a long period of time.
At Integrated Therapies, we know sometimes it’s just about getting through today. Some days will be harder than others and it’s okay if you grasp at whatever gets you by. Eventually, we need to face these days head-on and understand that we’re not alone in the hectic schedules of the fall. There are other working parents focusing on healthy habits – just like there are other working parents struggling to get through today.
We want to be a part of your solution to the thoughts and feelings that overwhelm you. It’s okay to need help, especially during the busy times of the year. If you’re ready to discover your true self and not the one that’s burdened by these nasty emotions, contact us and we’ll get you on the right path.