12 Secrets That Could Massively Improve Your Mental Health

Your mental health matters. If you want to start prioritizing it more than you have in the past, here are some helpful tips from real people who have improved their mental health in unique ways:

“What helped me the most was realizing that in most instances, I’m not responsible for the feelings of others. It took a lot of self-blame off my shoulders. For clarity: This is not a license to be discourteous. Here is an example: You are 35 and single. Your mom really wants you to get married, but you have no desire to do so. This really upsets her, but this choice of yours and you don’t have to carry the burden of her feelings.” — Actuaryba

“Identifying toxic people and cutting them out of my life. It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t pretty, but it was necessary. And I’m world better for it.” — Spodson

“Drinking lots more water. I suffered from brain fog and lack of emotion for a little bit, but now I think it was just my brain slowly closing down after being severely dehydrated for months. Drink water.” — doatmal422

“Silencing my activity on social media, and replacing my time spent on there by reading books instead. I feel so good about myself because of it.” — doatmal422

“Nature. People still overlook this simple thing, and it’s hard for many to find nature where they live. I took a trip to the mountains and had never felt more relaxed in my life. Then I moved near the water I instantly saw my mental health improve after living in the city for many years. I think when you realize that so much is alive all around us, it makes you stop and think how small we really are.” — carolynnmae

“Quitting social media like Facebook. The days of spiraling because I saw something severely depressing and/or infuriating are few and far between these days.” — saltedcube

“Exercise. It sucks at how well it works. I used to hate my mom telling me that exercise would reduce my depression but she was absolutely right. The issue is that when you’re really depressed it’s the last thing you feel like doing. But nothing else has as much of a positive effect on my mental state as regular exercise.” — CriticalCople

“I got a cat. He sits with me. I’ll rant and say all kinds of stuff to him and he just sits there like go ahead and get that off your chest man. Life gets lonely especially if you don’t have family, a partner, kids. It makes life a little easier.” — nimijen425

“Knowing that just because I don’t have a romantic partner doesn’t mean I’m not loved. Friends can also love you.” — Miserable-Bonus-313

“The act of letting go (people, situations, overthinking, over analyzing, whatever it is, if it’s not in your hand, let go. Worrying isn’t going to turn the situation around).” — Batulisonreddit

“I stopped allowing myself to negotiate with myself about the things I had to do. Gym: no ifs, ands, or buts. Just go. Food: stop allowing yourself every craving, veggies and protein first. Doctors: stop waiting for things to get worse. Anxieties: don’t dwell on it, do it faster and then it’s over with or decide and accept never to do it. I learnt that pretty much everything I needed to do I physically could and that my mind was the only barrier, so I stopped letting myself debate it.” — KeepingSecretsInHere

“Realizing someone just being related to you does not entitle them to your time, and it’s okay to not like them.” — shameonyounancydrew