The teenage years can be fun, lively, and exhilarating. However, they can also take a toll on your mental health. While teens are going through physical, social, and cognitive changes, they also have to experience their fair share of emotional and psychological changes.
The sheer magnitude of such changes can be overwhelming. Hence teenagers frequently have to deal with feelings of uncertainty, peer pressure, self-consciousness, and stress.
Social media is also playing a detrimental role in intensifying these feelings. Teens can also suffer from low self-esteem and body image issues coupled with persistent mood swings.
According to psychiatrists, focusing on mental health is just as important as focusing on physical health. This is especially important when going through your teenage years. Just like you make resolutions to improve physical wellbeing, also take measures to make yourself mentally stronger.
Research suggests that people are more likely to achieve their physical resolutions if they improve their mental and emotional health. Thus mental strength is the key to self-discipline and perseverance.
“Teen Mental Wellness Day” is observed every year on the 2nd of March to raise awareness about the mental health issues that trouble teenagers. On this day, let’s look at how teenagers can improve their mental health and wellbeing with simple lifestyle changes.
Here are some ways teenagers can make themselves mentally stronger this year:
Table of Contents
1. Meditate:
Sit for ten to fifteen minutes in a quiet room, and reflect on yourself. Think about your progress and how you can make yourself better—about what you need to work on and how you can gain clarity in your vision. Contemplate on your goals and motivate yourself to attain those; have a positive outlook on life.
You can meditate at any time of the day but mornings are better as they can improve the whole day. Similarly, meditating at night can help you relax and sleep better.
2. Have kind inner conversations:
If you are not kind towards yourself, why would anyone else be? The kinder you are towards yourself in your conversations, the more mentally strong you would feel. Just like external criticism can make you hesitant, likewise, inner self-criticism can also hamper your progress and creativity.
3. Be aware of your emotions:
Whenever you feel something too strongly, then try labelling this emotion. If you start being aware of strong emotion, then this practice would help decrease the force of your emotion, and tone it down.
For instance, if you are feeling excessively angry or scared, then acknowledging it and thinking about it in rational terms would decrease its intensity and impact on your behavior.
4. Have a healthy outlet for venting emotions:
Find ways to vent your strong emotions in a healthy manner. Work on your coping mechanisms so that your emotions don’t control you, rather you control them. For example, if you eat when you are nervous, then find another way to deal with nervousness and anxiety rather than binge eating.
Find coping skills that are better for you and your body in the long run. Experiment with various ways to find a skill most suitable for your personality. Examples of great coping mechanisms include: reading, exercising, coloring, swimming etc.
5. Change your reaction:
Naturally, you cannot control everything around you. However, you can control your reaction to things so that they don’t control you. Responding positively and controlling your reaction can lead you to develop great leadership skills and qualities.
6. Don’t let fear control you:
In unknown situations, it is natural to feel anxious and fearful. However, do not let fear stop you, or make you hesitate. Be mindful of this fear, and as mentioned before, use this mindfulness to your advantage and foray forwards. Great things await you when you get past this fear.
If you are struggling with mental health, and need more than tips, then book an appointment with a top psychiatrist in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi through oladoc.com, or call our helpline at 042-3890-0939 for assistance to find the RIGHT professional for your concerns.
