The year 2020 was synonymous with anxiety, stress and depression for many people. With so many difficult and scary things happening around us at once, how can we push through and still thrive in times of difficulty? One of the secrets to better mental health during stressful periods is resilience. Cultivating resilience can help you to emerge from challenges and trying times with new knowledge and tools to succeed next time.
What Is Resilience?
Life will always be filled with challenges, but resilience is a way to learn from them and adapt your behavior over time in response. When you are resilient, your mental health can be improved over time because you will have tools to cope with hard times and new growth and knowledge as a result of making it through. People who practice resilience are not immune from facing periods of stress, adversity or difficulty. However, they will be better equipped to handle them.
How Can You Develop More Resilience?
Like many mental health skills, learning resilience is like building a muscle. Practicing it requires intentionality and time. With the right mental health care professional on your side, you can master it for your benefit.
- Create Strong Connections: Building relationships with people who are understanding and empathetic can help you to feel supported during times of struggle. When we go through tough periods of mental health, it’s easy to isolate and push others away. However, leaning on good friends can help you to overcome challenges that would be much harder alone.
- Take Care of Yourself: Mental health can be impacted by physical health, so putting in the effort to move your body regularly and eat a balanced diet can also give you great results mentally. Getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, practicing mindfulness and limiting your exposure to stressful news can all increase your resilience and improve your mental health.
- Be Proactive: Resilience is also about identifying problems before they fester into large issues and taking steps to remedy them. For example, if you lose your job, instead of agonizing over the decision and wallowing, you could spend the time you would be working on personal development, developing a new resume and applying for jobs. Acknowledging your emotions and accepting them is step one, and taking steps to improve your situation is step two.
Improve Your Mental Health
If you are interested in seeking therapy in Baltimore, we’re here to help. Contact the CBT experts at CBT Baltimore. We would love to speak with you.
Request to schedule a session at your convenience.