Mental health is about your thoughts, feelings, and interactions with others and the world around us. 

Actively caring for your thoughts and feelings like you would care for your physical health might seem a little unfamiliar. You’re an adult; you’ve probably been practicing taking care of your physical health for your whole life. Sleep! Drink water! Move! You likely already know that if you don’t care for your physical health, you can end up feeling sluggish, ill, or in pain. 

It turns out that if your thoughts, feelings, or interactions with others are off kilter, you can also feel run down, burned out, or in emotional pain or worry. It’s also normal that life’s ups and downs can affect our thoughts and feelings in ways we might not want.  Big emotions after something small? That happens. Negative thoughts on repeat? Yes, that too. Spent and “over it?” We’ve all been there.   

These reactions are okay, but if we want to, we can level up how we approach them and adapt to them. When you take regular action to nudge your mind forward, to react how you want to—to feel ultimately how you want to—then you are caring for your mental health and wellbeing.  

So, how do we do that? 

We get better at what we practice. Just like with your body, there are things you can practice regularly to tend to your mental wellbeing. And, since your body works as a system, your physical and mental health are deeply connected. Taking care of one part helps you tend to the others. 

Small practices can have big results.

Identify a few ways you’d like to prioritize your own wellbeing. Set aside the time you need to do it, give yourself permission to embrace it slowly if it is hard for you to prioritize yourself, and work towards adding these moments regularly into your life. Know that what taking care of yourself may look like can change over time, and it is okay to adapt to what activities you engage in to fit your needs. 

Add to your Mental Health Toolkit:

•  As a benefits-eligible KU employee, you have access to the Marathon Health Portal, which features mental health and wellbeing workshops as well as a Healthwise database of articles and videos with searchable keywords and categories.

•  The JED Foundation has a wide variety of resources to help find self-care ideas that may be a good fit for you. 

•   Building the habit of recognizing and naming your emotions—and observing how they affect you mentally and physically—can be especially helpful when emotions are strong. The Mental Health Coalition has tools for taking action to identify and navigate feelings.

•   Being well connected to other people promotes positive mental health and physical health and gives life meaning. Connecting with others is just one of the "10 Tools for Resiliency" that Mental Health America has put together to help you feel stronger and more hopeful. 

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