Mental Breakdown

 Hi everyone!

Welcome to HAPPY DAYS Podcast. I am Kelly Ward - Your host.

I hope you have had an amazing week! My week has also been good, however a few days ago, I had a mental breakdown, which usually happens now and then, but basically you know that feeling when nothing seems to be going right and you just get to a point where you feel overwhelmed, well my own anxiety plays apart in that as well and I decided that I want to discuss mental breakdowns today because I don't feel like it is something to be ashamed of. We're human, we experience moments in our lives when we do feel defeated and we do feel knocked down and we do feel overwhelmed and that is normal, don't shy away from those emotions or try to suppress them, what you need to do is feel them, understand them and then get back up again. I should probably pay my dad a fee for all of the times he's helped me through a mental breakdown, because he usually knows exactly what to say. So if you do feel alone and if you don't feel like you have someone to help you through those emotionally draining times in your life...I am here for you and today we are going to speak about how to get through a mental breakdown. So I do want to advise that this is not professional advice, if you do suffer from mental breakdowns more frequently and you feel you need professional help, don't be afraid to reach our to someone who can assist you on your journey towards healing, I highly recommend it because it is a healthy thing to do. Today, I am speaking from my own experiences and what works for me when I am feel defeated and really low mentally. 

So what is a mental breakdown? Well...it has to do with when you feel extreme mental and emotional stress. The usual symptoms of a mental breakdown include nervousness, worry, stress and fear. 

So let's discuss 7 healthy and helpful ways to get through a mental breakdown.

1. Make the effort to socialize more with good friends and family. When you spend time around positive people who want the best for you, you will feel more supported and not so alone. Spending time around people also boosts your happiness, reduces your stress levels, you feel a sense of belonging which is something all humans crave and your self confidence improves. So enrich your life by spending time with positive, happy people. 

2. Take the time to exercise. I don't always have the energy to work out and sometimes it can be hard to remain consistent, but this is a healthy habit that needs to be maintained because of the powerful benefits it has towards your own mental health. When I start feeling stressed out and I feel overwhelmed, I go for a walk or go for a run on a regular basis and I start to take that time for myself to release feelings of worry and stress. Every time I work out, and I absolutely love cardio, especially jump rope - when I actually make the effort to remain consistent with exercising or even doing an online yoga class, I feel so good about myself and I feel so good mentally. So release your stress in a healthy way and do it for your own mental and emotional health. 

3. Add more relaxation techniques into your lifestyle, for example meditation, journaling or breathing exercises. I can feel when I am overwhelmed or starting to become stressed out and when I reach that point of stress, where I feel super anxious and unhappy, I try my best to avoid it in my every day life by adding these relaxation and self care techniques into my life because I don't want to get to a point where I feel super stressed out. It is so important to be self aware enough to recognise when these feelings start to surface so that you can start focusing on taking a break and reflecting and just taking time for yourself. Meditate on what you are grateful for in your life. Expressing gratitude towards all of the good in your life, helps to relieve those feelings of defeat. Go for a mindful walk in nature or even lay down in your bedroom, put off the lights and simply stare into the darkness and that sensory deprivation will hopefully help you to calm your mind and body. 

4. Be mindful of what you eat and drink. I love coffee in the mornings and sometimes if you feel overly stimulated, try and drink more herbal teas instead of coffee every single day, so now I enjoy matcha which is a green tea latte for those of you who aren't perhaps aware and it is a lovely substitute for a coffee too. I am a tea person but who doesn't enjoy coffee in the mornings? haha. So ensure you are mindful of nourishing your body, feeding your body with good food in order to keep it going and so that you don't feel hungry or fatigued. Food is meant to fuel us, so take care of yourself. 

5. This is one of the best ways to get through a mental breakdown, taking a relaxing bath and heading to bed to get a good amount of sleep. When you get enough sleep, your mood improves, your productivity increases and you feel happier and well rested so you make better decisions for yourself. 

6. Take time to enjoy activities that make you happy. Why spend all of your life stressing everyday at work when you don't take much needed time to do things that bring you joy and make you feel good. So whatever activity makes you happy, do more of that. 

7. So I have an episode all about alone time and spending time alone is sometimes needed to really sit with your own thoughts, reflect, understand your emotions and what you are feeling so that you can work out a positive way to move forward and also better understand yourself. When things become too overwhelming for me - I enjoy taking a moment for myself and spending time alone. It is a positive thing to be comfortable in your own company so embrace it. Sometimes we get caught up in wanting everyone else to be happy instead of taking the time to also focus on our own happiness. 

Self care and positive lifestyle changes will improve your life tremendously. All it takes is the willingness and determination to make those changes for your own well-being. Something I learned this year was understanding that making myself a priority is not selfish. If someone does not respect what makes you happy then those are not the right people to have in your life. You need to be strong enough to realize that it is time to focus on you and to let go of what others may think of you and to follow your dreams. We all experience low moments in our lives...that's life. What happens the most is that you keep getting back up and that you keep going. 

I hope today's episode has inspired you and uplifted you because you are not alone. 

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Have a beautiful week and I love you!!

Goodbye :)