According to WHO data, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25% in the first year of the pandemic.
While we’ve learned to fight Covid much more effectively, other collective challenges like the war in Ukraine and looming economic uncertainty aren’t making things easier.
Now, about 1 in every 8 people in the world live with a mental disorder, which causes disturbances in thinking, emotional regulation, and behavior.
We have to fight. And this viral Reddit thread is a great reminder that everything starts with healthy habits. It asked the platform’s users, “What is something that drastically improved your mental health?” Here’s what they wrote.
Read More: People Share 30 Changes They Made And Things They Did That Greatly Improved Their Mental Health
#1
Boundaries and living alone.
Also…ANIMALS. Cannot say it enough, my dog is my savior.
Image credits: Theartichokedipsiren
#2
Deleting my Facebook account
Image credits: theStormWeaver
#3
Stopped paying close attention to the news. I realized I wasn’t going to be making a big change in the world and all it was doing was getting me upset so I stopped. The world is just as messed up and/or ok as it was then and I’m much less stressed about it all.
Image credits: rhett342
#4
Saying no to things that I don’t actually want to do instead of trying to help everyone out
Image credits: LoanOptions_ai
#5
Moving to a place that wasn’t winter 8 months of the year and I was close to the ocean. Haven’t felt suicidal in over a year and a half, probably for the first time since i was 16.
Image credits: wyrd_werks
#6
Joining a D&D group. I don’t have much free time because I’m my mums carer but getting out for those few hours a week and just having fun really makes a difference. Plus I’ve made some really great friends that have become vital parts of my support network.
Image credits: Calliope4
#7
Getting a job that paid a living wage improved my mental health 1000%.
Image credits: rigel899
#8
Getting a cat
Taking vitamins every morning
Being honest about my feelings
Setting clear immovable boundaries with my family
Image credits: MissNinja007
#9
Knowing it’s okay to leave some people behind
Image credits: -Black_Guardian-
#10
Silencing my activity on social media, and replacing my time spent on there by reading books instead. I’ve finished 6 books since the start of January. I feel so good about myself because of it.
Image credits: chick3nslut
#11
I take ten minutes a day (usually before bed) to tidy things up. I’m always surprised at how much I can get done in just ten minutes, and it’s so much easier to keep the place clean that way. When things start getting really bad, the fact that I’ve always got a clean place is incredibly helpful.
#12
I don’t read/watch the news much anymore.
Image credits: TurbulentEvening2493
#13
Exercise
Image credits: iamnobody1970
#14
Sleep.
Image credits: ortolon
#15
Being honest and transparent about how I’m feeling. “I’m not mad at you, my brain just hates me right now,” has helped mitigate lots of fights and awkward conversations.
Image credits: Nillabeans
#16
Helping people in general. Today someone dropped their credit card on the train so I picked it up and ran outside give it to her. Just hearing them thanking me makes me feel a lot better about myself and encourages me to be a good person in general
#17
Quitting online arguing. It sounds obvious, but once I started telling myself “just block it out, it’s not worth the effort” and becoming more apathetic about dumbasses online, it genuinely helped things. I didn’t realise how stressed seeing dumb opinions made me.
Also, I don’t use Twitter. Which helps. Next platform to hopefully kick is Facebook.
Image credits: NiceGuyWillis
#18
Working from home. In the office I have to be “on” for 8 hours, regardless of whether I’m on break or not. At home I can relax in a comfortable space without spending any “social energy”.
#19
Stopping hormonal birth control. Didn’t realize how much it was messing with me.
Image credits: impossibility_day27
#20
Kicking the toxic abusive ex out.
Drastically improved my physical and financial health too!
Image credits: Chance-Chain8819
#21
Taking vitamin D and B supplements and getting enough sleep. Really helped reduce excessive thinking and fixating on negative things from my past.
Image credits: AnDagdadubh
#22
Understanding how my mental illnesses worked (anxiety and depression) and noticing when I was experiencing symptoms.
Then learning how to mitigate them.
Went to therapy, and I’m now on antidepressants/anti-anxiety meds.
I’m not in therapy anymore, but I still kinda do like, therapy sessions with myself. These are basically just me going through how I’m feeling and holding up at the moment, and you know, just trying to figure out how I’m doing and then trying to solve any problems I have.
Image credits: lilithium666
#23
Eliminating negative self talk. Instead of “oh god I said something stupid, now she thinks I’m an idiot, why am I so dumb” I just tell myself “it’s ok, I misunderstood what she was asking, everyone does this sometimes and it’s no big deal” which usually stops the shame spiral before it can form.
I was severely depressed before trying this. It didn’t fix everything but it made my life a lot better. Worked at least as well as antidepressants honestly.
Image credits: emthejedichic
#24
Quit having grudges with people. Let them go and you’ll be relaxed
Image credits: Weak_Carpenter_7060
#25
Eating breakfast.
I’d often describe to my boss and coworkers that I’d have a really bad brain fog that I sometimes couldn’t think at all. I usually wouldn’t eat until around 1pm or 2pm when I’d been up since 9am. I had to start getting up around 8am or sometimes 7am and I would have extra time to get food.
Once I did, the brain fog went away and the change was immediate.
Image credits: christygl7
#26
Something small that has helped me is saying aloud “What a beautiful day, today is”. It’s small but I have better outlook
Image credits: turtlepawa123
#27
Getting rid of Instagram
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Image credits: Simplicity_D