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Today, seemingly more than ever, life is stressful! It’s hard to put on a happy face when we’re dealing with a chaotic outside world. But taking care of your mental and emotional wellbeing is crucial.
If you’re struggling with mental health, you’re not alone. With these helpful tools, you can start to tackle your negative feelings or stressed out mindset head-on. Best of all, you can do all of these from the comfort of your home.
Follow these three tips to improve your mental state:
1- Consider Adopting an Emotional Support Animal
One option to improve your mental health might involve adding a four-legged friend to your life, one that is an emotional support animal. If you already have a dog or other pet that you cherish, that works, too.
An emotional support animal provides therapeutic comfort to its owner. An ESA is not the same as a service animal, which requires additional training.
Instead, emotional support animals comfort their owners during times of high stress, anxiety, depression, and other emotional hardships.
The reason you want to have your animal certified as an ESA, rather than just being your pet at home, is simple. If your animal has an ESA Registration, it can fly with you on planes, live in your apartment even if the landlord doesn’t allow pets, and accompany you through many other stressful situations.
An ESA supports your mental health in various ways, and many people have reaped the benefits of animals ranging from emotional support dogs to miniature horses.
2- Look into Online Counseling Sessions
Another potential method for addressing a mental health problem is remote or online counseling.
Even as therapy becomes more common, it can be hard to find a mental healthcare provider in your area who’s the right fit for you. That’s why, for many, remote sessions of counseling are a great solution.
Online counseling sessions typically involve a video chat with a licensed professional. Some professionals offer these services themselves, and others partner with larger organizations like Better Help to connect with their clients.
Like a traditional therapy session, these appointments remain confidential. The primary benefit is they allow you to connect with a therapist no matter where in the world you are.
If you’re put off by therapy because of the cost, you can also see if your state or municipality offers any financial assistance for seeking remote mental health care. Moreover, many healthcare professionals at private practices provide a sliding scale of pricing, wherein the cost of a session is dependent on your income.
Research your remote options and take advantage of the resources and programs that allow you to connect with a therapist online!
3- Start Journaling
Lastly, if you want to start with some small at-home changes to improve your mental health, you might consider journaling.
Journaling allows you to connect with your feelings, release them onto the page, and reflect as you write. For some people, writing long introspective pieces helps them relieve stress. For others, quickly scribbling simple sentences and fragments of their thoughts allows them to release the energies and feelings they were holding inside. No matter how you do it, there is no wrong way to journal!
All in all, your journal is a place for you to let loose, organize your thoughts, and have a private space you don’t have ever to share. If that seems like it could help you, then grab a notebook or open a Word doc and get started now!
Final Thoughts
In the end, no journey to better mental health looks the same, but these are some tools we know have helped many people in the past. Cut yourself a little slack, try out some of these methods, and see what works for you.