Emotional health matters

While improving physical health is a priority for most people at the start of a new year, mental health goals get overlooked. Dr Nivedita Sudheer shares a short guide to embark on a mental wellness journey in 2024

As 2024 looms bright and large around the corner, it’s time again for us to take stock of the year gone by and make plans for the one that’s ahead of us. And as is the norm, most of us have already thought of ‘resolutions’ for the new year. Each one’s resolution looks different. It may take the form of a gym membership, a new eating plan or it may be to kick the (cigarette) butt. While more often than not, New Year’s resolutions involve goals targeted at physical health and wellness, let’s look at how we can get a head start towards emotional well-being in 2024. The following are a few leads on how to start the journey to emotional wellness this coming year.

Wind-down time

The fast pace of the world that we live in often overwhelms us. With work and household chores, the clock often outruns us. But one can’t keep pace with the race if we’re jaded and burnt out. This is where winding down is important. Winding down is a period before you hit the bed where you slow the pace down and prepare yourself for sleep. This can mean switching off gadgets (most of which come with a wind-down mode), taking a relaxing bath, listening to some light music or reading a book. The general idea is to avoid anything loud or overly stimulating to the senses. Winding down helps with both anxiety as well as sleep.

Gratitude 

‘Count your blessings’ is an oft-repeated adage, and one that warrants more thought. We are constantly criticising/condemning and more recently cancelling things in our daily lives. News too, be it print/ television or social media, carries a lot of negative information. And in this swarm of negativity, it is easy to lose sight of the good things. So it’s important to make a conscious effort to remind ourselves of the good things around us. Write down a few things every day you’re thankful for in a gratitude journal, or just recollect them in your mind. Try to shift the focus away from the negative and to the positive. Try to track how this influences your mood. You might find yourself in a happier and less anxious state.

Be kind … to yourself 

We all know and teach the importance of kindness and forgiveness to our children. The neighbour broke your favourite flower pot, it’s okay! That happens. Colleague forgot something, ahh never mind! ‘Forget and forgive’ is perhaps the easier way to move past strife and something we practice in our daily interactions with others around us. 

Yet, one of the most difficult things is to forgive oneself. We’re taught to be critical and analyse our flaws from a young age... self-criticism and being ‘hard on oneself’ has become a way of life. While some amount of this may be constructive, often it goes beyond that and tends to weigh one down, leading to low self-confidence, anxiety and even depression. 

So show yourself some kindness, the same way you’d show someone else. This requires considerable practice. So be it a few kilos gained over the holidays, a messy living room, bad appraisal, or a low grade in an exam — it’s alright, learn from your mistakes, make amends, and move on. Accepting that you’re human and just as likely to err as the next person is an important realisation. But being kind and compassionate to yourself can bring you peace, and in the longer run help you achieve more. 

Consume mindfully

We live in an era of consumerism. And with the convenience of e-commerce retail, fast food delivery and OTT viewing, we’re flooding ourselves with things to buy/ eat and watch. Most of us are watching a show on an OTT platform while also texting or shopping online, and holding a dinner plate. We’re not too invested in any activity in particular. Moreover, the flash sales, influencers and targeted ads often tempt us into consuming goods and articles we don’t need. This kind of lifestyle not only pinches the pocket but also results in hoarding which has shown to be associated with averse mental states. The opposite of this is to plan and be mindful. Planned spending, and planning a family holiday, all help to avoid the anxiety that leads to making last-minute decisions. Anxiety, especially with finances is something that plagues a lot of millennials and Gen Z-ers. This is also the generation that was born into a consumerism lifestyle. So help yourself by planning out finances — expenses and investments in 2024. A few extra pennies in the pocket too never made anyone sadder! Finally, consuming mindfully can also aid with climate change, and no step is too little in the battle against climate change.

Pick up a hobby

Hobbies are important is what we tell our kids, but as we grow up and enter the adult rat race, we lose sight of our hobbies. Not only are hobbies a great stress buster, but they are also a great way to socialise and make friends. With an increasing number of us moving to new places for work/ studies, hobbies can help with making friends. Another point of view, socialising doesn’t necessarily warrant going out for drinks or lunch. If this doesn’t sit with your lifestyle, hobbies can help you socialise, maybe your friends and you can join a book club/library, or meet up and paint or take a language class together. The utility of hobbies is many, and they all lead to a path of emotional wellness.

Professional help

Finally, if you find that you’ve been dealing with mental health problems, let 2024 be the year you seek out professional help. There is a lot of stigma around seeking help for mental health, but despite whatever you’ve heard why not have a chat with a professional and find out what the options are for yourself?

Here’s wishing you emotional well-being and peace in 2024!  

(The author is a consultant psychiatrist and can be reached at [e-mail])