Your mental health isn’t just about what goes on inside your head or how your mood is, your physical activities or lack of them can affect your mental health too.
But on top of that, some of your everyday habits can have an effect on your mental health too.
Here are 9 habits that are bad for your mental health.
9 Habits That Are Bad for Your Mental Health
They may not seem obvious, but these nine bad habits can lead to poor mental health because they mean you’re not going to be operating at the top of your game.
Read on for 9 habits that are bad for your mental health.
1. You Don’t Exercise Regularly
A sedentary lifestyle is one of the worst habits you can have. Some studies suggest that it is even worse than smoking.
If you sit for more than four hours a day, you must incorporate exercise into your day to avoid problems. Lack of exercise can lead to depression.
If possible, take your exercise outdoors in nature to boost your serotonin levels.
2. You Have Bad Posture
You might not think your posture has an effect on your mental wellbeing. But if you have a tendency to slouch or sit in a bad position, your mood might go with it.
Back pain is a common menace in modern life because we spend so much time sitting, so sort your posture out for both your mental and physical health.
And try to get up and move around at least once every hour.
3. You Don’t Get Enough Sleep
If you tend to stay up late and not sleep enough, it’s time to focus on getting the recommended 7 to 9 hours a night.
Everyone needs a different amount of sleep, but if you’re always or often tired, it will affect your mental health and make it harder for you to deal with issues as they arise.
Lack of sleep can cause anxiety and contribute to depression, so if insomnia is the cause, seek help.
Read more: 5 Natural Ways To Improve Your Sleep
4. You Don’t Drink Enough Water
Drinking enough water each day is an important component in ensuring good health.
If you feel tired often, start monitoring your water intake. When you feel tired, it can affect your mental health and make you foggy and unable to make good decisions.
Not drinking enough water can also affect your brain’s ability to retain memory, and even make social anxieties, fears and insecurities worse.
5. You Have a Negative Mindset
As bad as these physical habits are, good mental health starts on the inside too.
If you are naturally pessimistic or you’ve allowed yourself to develop the habit of always thinking negatively about things, it’s time to turn that around.
Negative thinking leads to anxiety and depression and feelings of powerlessness.
There are plenty of self-help books out there to start with, but you should seek help such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy if you need it.
Read more: How Positive Thinking Can Change Your Life
6. You’re a Perfectionist
Perfectionism may seem like a good quality leading to attention to detail and a high quality of work.
But the truth is, having perfectionist tendencies can be debilitating. It can often mean that you procrastinate too much, or it may mean that you are fearful in life, both of success and failure.
Try to work on your perfectionist tendencies and become mroe laidback about detail and doing everything perfectly.
7. You Feel Guilty
Guilt is one of the worst emotions that you can experience, and is often a useless emotion.
If you feel guilty regularly you need to work out why and then spend time workign to change your mindset.
Most of the time, guilt is a useless emotion not based on any real reasons to feel guilty.
If you feel guilty regularly, you probably don’t feel loved or cared for enough, which can badly affect your mental health and wellbeing. Therapy can help with this.
8. You Use Social Media Too Much
By its nature, social media is full of people living their best life, eating perfect food, and doing everything amazingly. Step away!
Or at least take it all with a very large pinch of salt.
There is also a lot of negativity about the world such as politics etc.
Scrolling through social media posts is a proven bad habit for mental health, particularly when you could be doing something more worthwhile or allowing your brain to rest before sleep.
Either stop completely or set strict time limits on your scrolling.
Read more: How to Have a Good Night's Sleep Every Night
9. Too Much Screen Time
If you transition from your work computer to your home computer to your TV, with your phone constantly in your hand in-between, that’s way too much screen time.
The light screens emit can interfere with your circadian rhythms, causing night-time insomnia and daytime sleepiness. Try to avoid all screens for at least an hour before bed.
During the day and in the evening, take time to relax in other ways, such as reading a book, taking a bath, gardening or taking a walk.
These nine habits can cause problems that affect your mental health.
Being aware of them can help you check yourself regularly to ensure that you’re not experiencing negative mental health issues based on your bad habits.
If you want to boost your wellbeing and ensure your mental health is as robust as possible, take the time to stop or reverse these bad habits.
The change you see and feel will be well worth it.
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