It is important to prioritize the mental health of your family. Fortunately, some tips can help improve your family’s mental health, and we’ll discuss them below. The tips you should consider if you want to improve the mental health of your family include:
1. Contact Comfort
Physical contact usually increases the amount of dopamine and oxytocin in the brain. Each of these hormones positively impacts a person’s mental health. Oxytocin is a feel-good hormone, and it helps strengthen the bond that normally binds people to each other. It also enhances trust and relaxation and promotes psychological stability. Dopamine normally regulates feelings of satisfaction and pleasure. Your biological rhythms will keep functioning properly because of these two hormones.
Babies enjoy being rocked, swaddled, and held. Contact comfort is the main reason why hugs are essential. Holding hands with a loved one is a hallmark of a trusting and intimate relationship.
Families should incorporate contact comfort when engaging in physical touch through the following ways; playful wrestling, hugs, holding hands while praying, and sharing back rubs. Pets are also essential to the family since they can offer emotional support and contact comfort.
2. Sleep
New parents can attest that sleep is important to a person’s mental health. If you fail to rest adequately, your biological rhythm will be out of sync, and you’ll become depressed, irritable, unfocused, and inattentive. You’ll also struggle with regulating your emotions and dragging through the day while being grumpy. The disruptions also include sleeping too little or too much. When our hibernation is disrupted, we tend to become grouchy.
Sleep plays an important role in our brain storing memory. When you get enough sleep, your sparkle is restored. Ensure you have a set bedtime and a specific time to wake up for the entire family to ensure that your biological rhythms are steady.
3. Keep Your Fears and Anxiety at Bay
Have you ever dealt with excessive fears or intrusive thoughts that cause anxiety? Regardless of your concerns, you need to speak to someone if you are having any fears or anxiety that is keeping you from living your life. It is important to be aware of the impact caused by your anxiety on your life. If you need professional assistance, one of the options you should consider is online psychiatry for your family in order to overcome your fears and anxiety.
4. Quick Meditation and Reflection
To improve your family’s mental health, you can create routines that will ensure time for meditation and quiet meditation at a family and individual level. Within the family, we also learn how we can become resilient overcomers. We also learn how to process our emotions, such as grief, fear, and anger. Also, we learn how to deal with conflict. Through family interactions, we gain emotional intelligence, which promotes healthy interactions.
Individual time can be spent memorizing scriptures for religious families and journaling. Such activities help to deal with negative thoughts that can affect your family’s mental health.
5. Schedule a Playdate
You can incorporate a play date into the family routine. The playdate can take place once a week, and it can be in the form of a bike ride through your neighborhood or a hike. Unstructured play is highly encouraged since it ensures time for creative self-expression, and you’ll enjoy your time together as a family. Such memories usually last for a lifetime. Also, when struggling, such moments help to sustain a person since one is bound to encounter some struggles from time to time.
6. Eat Well
After exercising and playing with the entire family, it is important to stay well-hydrated. Dehydration is bad for your health. When you’re hydrated, your brain can function well. Regarding eating well, parents understand that too much sugar is unhealthy. As a result, limiting the amount of sugar your children consume is good. As for adults, alcohol usually affects the brain negatively. Nutrient deficiencies can also impair brain function.
Ensure you have chosen nutritious foods since they’re the best building blocks for the cells in the body. The brain also relies on a steady intake of nutrients. Our mental health is at stake when the brain lacks the necessary nutrients. Nutrients usually ensure our biological rhythm is in check.
Final Thoughts
The mental health tips we have listed above are tried and tested, which means their efficacy level is good. Try out each of these tips, and your family will benefit significantly.
The image source is Pexels.