Do you consider emotional and mental health to be the same things? They're not. There are differences between the two. For any family caregiver, taking care of your mental and emotional health is crucial. To do that, you need to better understand what they entail.
Differences Between Emotional and Mental Health
While emotional and mental health are linked, they are not the same. Emotional health is all about how you express discomfort, pleasure, and other emotions. It's a stage that follows mental health.
Mental health is all about how you process information. When you learn something, how your brain processes it is essential. It leads up to your emotional expression.
For example, your child is injured while climbing a tree. Can you stay calm, or do you deal with anxiety that impacts how you process the information? If you suffer from anxiety, a common mental health issue, you might overreact and start to cry (emotional).
Your emotional response raises the alarm with your child. Plus, your emotional health is now impacted, making it harder to figure out the next step to take.
If you're calm, you can take the time to assess injuries and take appropriate actions. Your child isn't going to see your reaction and become worried. Plus, you have a clear mind and can take the next step.
How Do You Improve Mental and Emotional Health?
Many aspects go into mental and emotional well-being. You have to take time for self-care. Self-care is a process where you take steps to improve your mental, physical, and emotional health. To do this, you need to have time to de-stress, eat healthy meals, get enough exercise, and socialize with others.
Start with a healthy diet. For a healthy mind and body, you need to supply it with healthy foods. If you're focusing on grab-and-go style meals, such as fast food, it's not full of essential nutrients. It's full of saturated fat, sodium, and sugar.
Eat a balanced diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean proteins. Many doctors recommend following the Mediterranean diet due to the ease of meal planning and focus on those four essential food groups.
Get enough exercise. Make it a goal to take a walk each day for at least 30 minutes. If possible, mix up activities during the week. Walk a few times, take a yoga class, swim, and lift weights.
Finally, visit friends often. Go out for meals or have a game night with them. Stay social!
Have you considered the best way to have time to take care of yourself? If you're always helping your parents, how can you fit self-care into the schedule? Call a home care agency and ask about respite care services.
With respite care, you get breaks as needed. If you need a few hours or days off, call the agency and have them send a home care provider while you're away. A home care specialist helps you understand pricing and schedules, so make that call today and get started.