“Well, it’s groundhog day, again.”  

Bill Murray famously said these words while playing Phil Conners in the classic film Groundhog Day. In a similar fashion, it’s the New Year, again. Yes, that means we enter another year dealing with a global pandemic, however, it also means another year of possibilities and opportunities to achieve your New Year Resolutions.  

At Bright Harbor Healthcare, we thought we’d focus on new year mental health tips. After all, 2020 and 2021 were tough years for all of us, challenging our mental and physical health in many new ways. Let’s start the new year with a healthy state of mind!

Did you know that new year’s resolutions may date back to over 4,000 years ago? Humans, societies, and cultures have been making various forms of promises for the new year for a very long time. Popular resolutions revolve around exercise, healthy eating, and financial goals.  Most importantly, they should involve taking better holistic care of yourself, including mental health.  With that said, here are a few valuable new year mental health tips for you!

Resolution Redundancy

Year after year, you may find yourself making the same resolution. This means that it’s something you really would like to achieve but haven’t quite yet. Maybe you make some progress towards it, but when it resurfaces as a resolution the following year, that suggests there is still some work to do. 

Just because this resolution hasn’t been achieved in years past doesn’t mean it should be abandoned.  However, it might need some attention to make it achievable, and even sustainable in the years to come.

New Year Mental Health Tips for Goal-Setting

Step one:  write down your goal on a piece of paper. Then write down all the resources, skills, and actions you can take to achieve it.  Finally,  write down any barriers that are standing in the way of success.  

Look at both lists. Evaluate which barriers you can plan to tackle and how to overcome them. If the barriers can’t be easily overcome, consider how you could make changes to the resolution so it is more achievable. 

Breaking the New Year’s resolution down into small, snackable steps will not only help you see the resolution through, but it will teach you how to make small changes over time. This is what makes new habits and behaviors sustainable.

Mindset Matters

Your mindset matters!  Why did you make a New Year’s resolution in the first place? Why do you or anyone else make them every year?  

Understanding what motivates you and what lies under your thought processes can help you take a better look at why you do what you do; why you make the decisions you make.  

So start by asking yourself, “why am I making a New Year’s resolution?”  Make sure it’s for reasons that will motivate and inspire you to live a healthier, happier, and better-balanced life. 

 What do you want your New Year’s resolution to do for you?  Bring about positive changes?  Improve your life, health, or finances?  

Having the right mindset towards your resolution increases the chances of sticking with it, and letting it have a positive impact on your life. 

New Year Mental Health Tips for Improving Your Mindset 

Our thoughts influence our feelings, and our feelings drive our behavior and actions.  

Now that you have thought about why you made a new year’s resolution and what it will do for your life, start attaching positive, motivating thoughts to it. 

Write down a whole bunch of positive thoughts associated with your resolution. Then, put these positive thoughts on index cards or post-it notes and stick them in places that will entice you to read them each day.  

Just like learning any new skill, positive thinking is something that must be learned, practiced, and repeated. Connecting positive thoughts to your New Year’s resolution can help you stay on track this new year and achieve that goal!

Make Mental Health a Priority

Let’s be honest: since March 2020, we’ve all been struggling. Seriously. All of us. 

And for millions of Americans, prior to the pandemic, they had been struggling for years with mental health issues. Mental illness and mental distress are very real. No one is immune. The brain is so very complex and can be impacted and changed by trauma, serious life events, medical and environmental conditions, social impacts, and world events.

We take care of so many things in life- our families, children, pets, cars, house plants, gardens, prized possessions. Yet, how often do we stop and think about taking care of our mental health? 

 Often when we think about addressing our health, what we eat and how much we exercise come to mind first. However, our mental health should actually be one of our first health priorities.

 Putting mental health and wellness first can mean working with a therapist to help you address mental health issues. It can mean prioritizing activities in your life that make you feel mentally better and refreshed or working with a medical professional to seek out therapies and treatments to alleviate depression, anxiety, or any other mental health conditions you may be experiencing.

New Year Mental Health Tips for Evaluating Your Brain  

Take a mental health inventory. How is your mental health doing? 

Spend some time thinking about how your mental health is and what things you can do to keep feeling well. When our mental health is doing well, we participate in life, and often enjoy doing it! Socializing, going to work, being with family and friends, and doing activities we enjoy are good indications of mental wellness. 

Now think about the ways in which your mental health may be suffering. What are the indicators that your mental health needs some attention?  If you find yourself dreading things such as going to work, seeing family and friends, or even getting out of bed, these all could be indicators that your mental health really needs some care. High levels of stress, anger, and frustration can also be indicators that your mental health is struggling. 

Mental Health and Wellness Resolutions

Are our new year mental health tips inspiring you to make healthy and achievable resolutions? We hope so! Before we wrap up, we have three more tips for you to give a try. Together, we can make sure that 2022 is your year of improved mental health and wellness.

Meditation Methods

Meditate!  A study completed by Johns Hopkins University examined the relationship between mindful meditation and reduction in depression.  

What did it show?

Meditation moderately reduced symptoms of depression.  Their research demonstrates that meditation is a powerful way to train your brain to increase awareness. There are many different meditation programs out there. Check them out and make mindful meditation a new year’s mental health resolution!

Professional Help

If you’ve been considering talking to friends and family about working with a mental health professional, why not make it your New Year’s Resolution? 

We will hire trainers at the gym, follow instructors on Peloton, take cooking classes, instrument lessons, and ask our doctors for medical advice.  If you have been struggling with mental health or emotional wellness, why not seek out expert advice and guidance? Hire a mental health professional!

There are many options for telehealth available now, it’s become even easier to engage with a mental health professional.  Bright Harbor Healthcare offers many services for mental health issues, and you can also use sites like Psychology Today and your health insurance provider’s website to find available mental health professionals.

Sleep Struggles

 If you are struggling with sleep, why not make a resolution to stick to a sleep routine?

Poor sleep can impact many other areas of your life and ability to function. If you just can’t seem to get a good night’s sleep, why not take a look at your behaviors and patterns to see if you need to make some changes? 

Take a few days to log what you eat, your activities, and how much time you spend looking at a screen- computer, phone, tv, tablets, etc. Once you’ve done that, see if you are eating any foods that could be impacting your sleep, and take a look at your screen time. 

Perhaps, you will find that your afternoon cup of coffee might need to be decaf or that you should end your screen time earlier in the evening. 

Develop a bedtime routine! Pick what time you’d like to fall asleep by, and start your routine at least an hour prior. Your sleep routine can include habits such as showering, washing your face, or brushing your teeth.

Maybe a little time spent on a relaxing activity such as reading, working on a puzzle, or journaling any lingering thoughts on your mind can also help quiet your brain so you can sleep. Electronic screens and other mentally stimulating/energizing activities should not be included in your sleep routine. As you practice this routine daily, your brain will start to become trained to sleep at the right time.

Practice New Year Mental Health Tips with Bright Harbor

We have one more tip for you: achieving your new year’s resolutions is easier with a little help. This is where Bright Harbor Healthcare comes in!

We offer countless counseling and mental health services to ensure that your better tomorrow begins today. Work with us as you master our new year mental health tips, achieve your resolutions, and improve your overall wellness. 

For even more mental health tips, check out our blog and give us a call! 

From every passionate professional at Bright Harbor Healthcare, we wish you a very happy and healthy new year!