Why is Mental Health Self Care So Important?

The importance of mental health self care

We all know the importance of taking care of our bodies. When we neglect them, we become ill. Eating right, getting adequate rest and exercise, managing any chronic conditions — these are critical to maintaining good physical health.

But what about mental health?

Studies show that mental health is just as important as physical health. And little things like taking time for self care can make a huge impact.

So why do so many of us neglect this aspect of our wellbeing?

We asked Achievement users how often they made time for mental health self care, what types of activities they typically did, and what keeps them from practicing self care as often as they’d like.

What did we learn? That while many of our users do practice regular self care, the majority of them don’t do it as often as they’d like.

Why?

The most common responses (in order) were:

• Not enough time
• Pressures of daily life
• Financial burdens

We also discovered that while many of those who responded said that self care was very important to them (almost 75%), and almost 70% said they would like to practice self care daily, only 27% do.

So, in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we’d like to share some quick, easy, free ways to practice regular mental health self care!

10 tips for working mental health self care into your daily routine

1. Take a quick (5–10 minute) walk or bike ride
2. Download a free meditation app — most have practices as quick as 1–2 minutes!
3. Look in the mirror and tell yourself one thing you like about yourself
4. Reach out to someone who helps you feel good about yourself
5. Sing your favorite song
6. Draw or color something
7. Go to bed 10 minutes earlier than usual
8. Close your eyes and focus on your breath for 1 minute
9. Hug someone
10. Write down 5 things you are grateful for

These are just examples of some of the ways you can practice mental health self care daily. We encourage you to find ways that work for YOU!

Mental Health Resources

While taking the time for mental health self care can improve overall wellbeing and keep us feeling good, sometimes we need more.

The following resources are available to you or anyone you know who may be struggling.

Crisis Resources

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Veteran’s Crisis Line

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline

OK2Talk Helpline Teen Helpline

Crisis Text Line

The Jed Foundation

Help Finding Treatment

American Psychological Association

SAMSHA’s Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

American Psychiatric Association Foundation

LGBT National Health Center

The Trevor Project

Office of Minority Health

Additional Resources

Mentalhealth.gov

Nami

Mentalhealthfirstaid.org

Don’t let summer pass you by this year! We chatted with our team and consolidated some of our favorite activities.

1. Connect with brainy folks all around the world with Atlas Obscura’s Trivia Night! Rally together a virtual team and participate for $7.
2. Celebrate Blues Artist Mavis Staples and listen to other folk artists including Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, Ben Harper, and Phoebe Bridgers for a Livestream concert. Tickets cost $12. Tune in this Friday, July 31st at 8:30pm EST.
3. Join host Saleem Reshamwala as he goes on global expeditions and learns from people around the world who are creatively working to make their communities better. Tune into this Ted podcast to transport to another world virtually in the absence of travel.
4. Host a virtual book club with friends. The benefit of talking about your latest read via Zoom or video chat is that you can connect with friends across time zones.
5. Jump on the geocaching bandwagon. We recently heard from some Achievers that they’ve been geocaching with their family members for an active, outdoor treasure hunt.
6. Make a box fort/cat castle for your cat children if you’re a cat mom or dad. :)
7. Set up a socially distanced front yard hang! Dust off your lawn chairs and pick up some of your favorite snacks and head outdoors.
8. Choose a road trip and safely travel to a closeby spot! Know you’re not alone in opting for a road trip as a staycation during these unusual times. Read up on some of the best road trips in America.
9. Host your very own hot sauce competition with your “quaranteam.” Find some new hot sauces you’ve always wanted to try online and order them in to have a mini hot sauce competition. Pro tip: the Heatonist has some of our favorites.
10. Channel your inner artist with a paint by number kit. Tune into a favorite playlist and enjoy a leisurely weekend art hour.

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We know that the last few months have put everyone into a new funk. Work, lifestyles, and exercise are all uniquely different than they may have been back when 2020 started.

That’s why we decided to look at how Evidation Members were resting and perhaps coping with some of these changes. To better understand our community, we decided to look at members who logged fitbit data in 2019 and 2020 between January and April to see if the pandemic was causing people to change up their nap schedule (hopefully for the better). Total number of naps per user per day were counted and the average nap count per day was calculated across our Evidation population. See the figure below:

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It appears that members are indeed napping far more than they were in 2019, beginning at about the time shelter in place orders began (which was around March 15, 2020, see grey in graph). On average, after shelter in place began, Evidation Members napped 14.37% more compared to the previous year during this time period. That’s many more naps! And hopefully, people are using this time to rest and recuperate.

We know that being mindful of sleep is one way people can take care of their health. However, we also observed in the news that fostering dogs has been at an all time high. It has become so popular that there’s even a waitlist.

So, in addition to users napping far more compared to last year, we delved more into what other things users are doing differently during this uncertain time. We released a survey a few weeks ago asking our members about their dogs, what type of relationship they have with their pets, and their activity habits with their pets. We received over 35,000 responses!

The first thing we wanted to know about our members and their pets was whether they had recently fostered a dog. It turns out that many people have begun to foster dogs, likely due to the pandemic. In total, 1,500+ Achievers indicated that they fostered their dog in between February and April of this year. Compare that to only 450+ Achievers during that time period last year. It definitely appears that the pandemic is causing people to go out and lend a helping hand to a homeless dog.

Of the people who recently fostered a dog, 55% indicated that they are now working from home due to the coronavirus. 39% said that they are still going into work, and 5% indicated that they had worked at home prior to the pandemic. These newly remote workers appear to be helping keep these shelters empty.

You may be wondering, can owning a dog help you live a bit healthier? It turns out that new dog owners in general are a promising sign of better health! For those that got their dog in 2019 or 2020, we found that members walk on average about 350 steps more per day, comparing the 30 days prior to getting a dog with the 30 days post getting a dog. Even in pandemic times (though members are walking far less than their 2019 dog owner counterparts, by about 1000 steps per day for those that got their dogs in March and April), members with new dogs are getting a 200 step increase in steps pre vs post dog ownership! Of course, this is expected, and we’re happy to report that dogs can help you get more steps. This trend turned out to be especially true for the older folks in our population. The 50+ population increased their steps by about 500 steps on average, compared to the ~200 step increase for those who are less than 50. Take a look:

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Another interesting question we asked our members was whether or not they sleep with their pets and how often per week they sleep with their pets. While we didn’t see a necessary difference in sleep quality or total time when our members had their dog buddies snoozing with them, we did see many people report that they sleep next to their dogs. In fact, 73% of Evidation Members said they nap or sleep next to their dog, at least once per week. For members who said they nap or sleep next to their dog, over 19,000 reported to nap or sleep next to their dog at least 4 times a week! This may sound surprising for the folks who may not have furry pals, but many can attest that sleeping next to their dogs can be a comforting ritual.

The last thing we wanted to explore was whether we could learn anything about our members who had reported that having a dog had helped them manage with their health-condition (heart condition, limited mobility, etc). We found that 1000+ members agreed that having a dog helped. It seemed as though having a furry friend was very helpful for emotional support and well being. We did not find any concrete information around managing conditions, but were glad to hear that those who had self reported with many conditions (specifically anxiety, asthma, chronic pain, depression, diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension and migraines) and who had a higher resting heart rate found having a pet to be supportive.

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This week, we celebrated Earth Day on April 22nd. While this year brought a fresh perspective on the day, we still found some great ideas on how to be involved even if some swaps to celebrations meant staying indoors.

We hope that these tips will help you lead a more climate-friendly lifestyle all while safely sheltering in place!

1. NASA created all kinds of resources online to give Earth Day the proper 50th year celebration it deserved. Check out everything from satellite views of the planet to global archives of photos capturing hurricanes, wildfires, icebergs and more!
2. Try planting something and create a little garden. For simple tips, read more in this USA Today Article.
3. Experiment with a plant based meal. If you have a sweet tooth, check out these quick, easy swaps.
4. Make a grocery list via any of these apps (AnyList, Mealime, Bring! to name a few) to more easily keep track of home food needs.
5. Small actions can have a big impact! Switch to paperless bank statements where you can and make sure to unplug electronic devices and appliances when you aren’t using them around your home.

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Given how tumultuous a time it has been for all, we found this podcast with episodes that will lift your spirits. The Happiness Lab podcast is narrated by Dr. Laurie Santos who is a Yale professor who teaches a class called “Psychology and the Good Life.” Through various episodes, Dr. Santos references the latest, relevant scientific research and relates them to everyday experiences and some unusual moments.

In this specific series, she’s curated a variety of content related to coping with the coronavirus. We found a lot of the commentary relatable and useful.

The content specific to coronavirus includes the following:

1. Beat Your Isolation Loneliness
2. Coach Yourself Through a Crisis
3. Rising to a Challenge
4. Calm Can Be Contagious
5. Help Others to Help Yourself
6. Keep Your Relationship Happy
7. Checking in with Susan David
   Susan David is a Psychologist at Harvard Medical School who offers ways to manage fear and panic through healthy strategies that anyone can adopt.
8. Laurie’s Personal Tips

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Though many people generally exercise at home, we know that there are many others who have had to recreate their regular exercise habits during this time of sheltering in place. We polled our Evidation community, and 70% of members who responded said they have been finding new ways to exercise or stay active during the coronavirus pandemic. We then asked our members to share some of their exercise tips, routines, and links to their favorite home workout videos and helpful stretches to inspire others.

Here are a few ways you can exercise at home:

1. If you do not have a home gym set up or any weights, you can find ways to use household items to get a great exercise in.
2. Similarly, instead of buying separate weights to create your own home gym, you can also purchase exercise video games for the whole family to join on the fun.
3. Online videos and streaming sites like YouTube are common places that Achievers are getting exercise routines from. Here’s a list of fitness gyms and studios that are offering free classes.
4. Fitness apps like Fitbit or MyFitnessPal also offer exercise tips for at home workouts and is also an easy way to keep track of your progress as well.
5. Pinterest has been a popular site for inspiration and tips since Achievers are able to pin multiple resources to one place. Here’s an example of the many you can find.
6. Zumba is an exercise-dance program that has been great to do in groups or by yourself. Here’s a resource to do Zumba at home.
7. You can search social media platforms to find inspiring fitness instructors or live exercise sessions. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat are easy places to start!
8. Create your own workout routine or do the alphabet challenge by doing bodyweight exercises that spell out your name. You can start out with your name, your pet’s name, or anyone else in your household!
9. If you’re looking for other ways to get your cardio in, you can try jump rope exercises. It’s a simple, but effective way to increase your heart rate and work out multiple areas.
10. Another helpful exercise is stretching your muscles, it’s a great way to start or end your exercise session.
11. For Achievers who may have limited mobility or who have chronic pain, these exercises and stretches are a great way to keep your body moving.
12. If you’re looking for other ways to improve your flexibility or range of motion, yoga and pilates can be a fun way to stretch your muscles. It’s great for anyone at any difficulty level!
13. Other exercises like barre offer a mixture of isometric holds to increase strength and also improve posture. Barre also requires little to no equipment!
14. Whether you own a regular bike or a stationary bike, biking is one exercise that is easy on the joints and helps reduce stress. Here’s a few tips on how to make biking more fun.
15. Practicing tai chi and breathing exercises offers many benefits for both your mental and physical health. You can stream videos to follow along and do them on your own once you learn the motion.

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We know that together we can always achieve more. That’s why we were glad to hear from so many members when we sent out a poll about self-care tips during coronavirus.

We received over 75,000 responses and decided to consolidate some of the top themes we saw across our community to gauge how Evidation Members were practicing self-care during this time.

Here’s a list of the top 20 activities and suggestions that we saw!

1. Make sure to eat and drink immune boosting food and beverages. For a list of suggestions, check out this article from CNN Health.
   Teaser: Carrots, kale, and apricot are good sources of beta carotene and oranges, strawberries, and broccoli are good sources of Vitamin C.
2. Take the time that you need when possible to squeeze in a nap to get enough rest.
3. Make a morning and evening routine to help create some structure during your day.
4. Watch a comedy show to make sure to create laughter during your day. Check out some of the top stand up comedy shows on Netflix.
5. Create a gratitude list or even download a Gratitude Journal app to document positive things that happen throughout your day.
6. Take out your favorite board game to play with friends or family. Check out a few ideas here!
7. Plant some seeds or work on a gardening project. Watch this YouTube video from Epic Gardening for ideas (including how to use a water bottle to make a container garden)
8. Take a long bath and grab a face mask or two! If you’re feeling adventurous, you can make a natural face mask with ingredients at home.
9. Check out one of these online resources to print out coloring books to take a mini break in the middle of your day.
10. Spend time catching up on reading. If you’re a parent, check out some free content and stories that Audible has made available here.
11. Stretch daily! Here’s a quick yoga video for when you need a mid work-day break.
12. Work towards a goal even if you’re stuck indoors. For example, try a new recipe every week or make it a point to connect via video chat with a friend or family member every few days.
13. Up your podcast game! Check out this list from Esquire on top 2020 podcasts to listen to.
14. Find a class that you can take online! Here’s a list of popular classes from Coursera that are available for free online.
15. For parents — rally kids together to write chalk messages on the sidewalk! We’ve heard about neighborhoods spreading positivity to others through sidewalk chalk messages, and we’re inspired by trending #chalkwalks.
16. Try a crafting project like knitting or crocheting to calm your nerves. Check out this tutorial on how to learn how to knit.
17. Limit your news intake. Try and stay updated, but not inundated with new stories.
18. Be sure to drink lots of water!
19. Have a dance party at home or virtually with co-workers! Our team has a weekly 5-minute dance party.
20. Jump on the jigsaw puzzle bandwagon. Grab a puzzle from your local bookstore.

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We know that this particular time is unnerving and challenging during the coronavirus, so we wanted to share some tips and tricks from our team to help you find some calm throughout your day.

• Connect with your friends and family through virtual lunches or even a happy hour! Regularly check in with your loved ones to see how they’re doing. Video chat can help you feel more connected.
• Download a mindfulness app to get a daily or weekly moment of meditation in! Don’t forget that Stop, Breathe, Think connects to Achievement, so you can continue to track your progress! We were also glad to hear that Headspace has unlocked a series of specially curated content for consumers who have an account called Weathering the Storm. You can preview content here. Mindfulness app Calm has an online portal available that you can check out as well!
• Stuck inside most of the day? Schedule a quick walk or grab some time to be amidst nature. Be careful to maintain social distancing during this break. Don’t forget that if you have a backyard, it can be a quick escape during the day. One of our team members played “I Spy” with her little ones when they did a walk around the neighborhood.
• Take a virtual tour of a museum while you’re staying in. Read about how these 12 famous museums offer tours that you can take from the comfort of your couch.
• Give Bullet Journaling a try to help organize thoughts. Follow this Pinterest board for ideas or prompts. Journaling can be a relaxing way to express how you’re feeling and prompts can help you take the time to reflect.
• Take breaks from reading and viewing the news and grab your favorite book or listen to a good podcast. Check out this list of podcasts for book lovers.
• Livestream music from famous venues like the Metropolitan Opera and keep an eye on Global Citizen on Instagram to hear about live concerts that famous musicians are live streaming for fans.
• Tune in to an online workout! Check out 15 Minute Relaxing Yoga for Anxiety and Stress Relief, 5 Best Chair Cardio Exercises, or this 7 Minute Ab Workout to catch a good healthy break when you’re indoors.

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We’ve all been there — the “new year, new me” mindset where the first few months of the year we quickly shift our habits in order to become a better version of ourselves. However, right as the ball gets rolling, the progress suddenly stops. Why am I not running as far? Why am I not losing any more weight? What am I doing wrong? Here are 5 key points we found that might have you stuck with your health goals (hint: it’s not your fault!)

1. The Inevitable Plateau

According to a Washington post article, once you gain the initial traction, there will be an inevitable plateau. It’s actually part of the journey. You didn’t do anything wrong, but rather you hit a milestone. Once you achieve your small goals, the journey is just beginning!

The plateau is your body’s way of telling you that you may need to switch up your fitness or eating regime to keep your body stimulated and get the most benefits from your efforts! Remember that health does not have an endpoint, it is a journey with a myriad of challenges and achievements that help sustain healthy behaviors.

2. Having grit: make a plan and stick to it!

To overcome the plateau, it’s important to analyze your goals. But first, what are they? Why do you want to achieve these goals? What steps can you take right now to achieve your goals? Having grit shows that you are resilient, able to persevere through tough situations, and keep your eye on the prize.

Remember that your journey towards better health may be nonlinear and may come with obstacles. But it’s important to create a system that works for you and make your goals attainable. According to Plunkett of the Washington Post, “the main difference between an average adult and a high-level athlete isn’t a lack of talent or willpower but rather a lack of a system.” At Achievement, we’re here to help you reach your goals no matter how big or small. Whether it is walking 5,000 steps or 25,000 steps per day, you will be rewarded for your healthy actions!

3. Have someone nudge you — accountability and buddy system

A few health experts like Dr. Arefa Cassoobhoy found that she does better when she shares her health goals with someone else. It’s important to have someone support you and be able to share wins and losses during your health journey. Having someone join you will also hold you accountable to reach your goals, and you may be helping someone else reach theirs! Win-win!

Additionally, digital health trackers are a great way to help hold you accountable to health goals and track your journey. Our in-house research team looked at thousands of individuals using digital health trackers and found a positive association between activity tracking frequency and weight loss. Just one more reason to try out a new health and wellness app for some extra accountability.

4. Rethink, don’t sink.

Perspective is key — making healthy choices shouldn’t be seen as a chore, but more of making everyday incremental investments to be a better version of yourself. Instead of having the same routine for months straight, mix it up. Try a new exercise, mix up your sleep routine, or try adding daily meditation to your day to see what works for you. This will stimulate more progression and get you out of the plateau sooner.

If you dislike running, try substituting running for something that still keeps your heart going like swimming. If you dislike eating certain foods, try substituting those foods with other ones you like that offer the same nutrition. Your health journey is not a race to the finish line — remember that this journey is about learning and creating the best version of yourself.

Cultivating confidence and finding the reasons behind your goals will help motivate you through the journey. PennState Extension Educator Lynn James stated building confidence, praise, and support are key factors in motivating you to reach your health goals. Furthermore, take time to thank your body. Akin to health expert Samantha Heller, a registered dietitian and exercise physiologist, shares that your body is working 24/7 to keep you alive; therefore, we should appreciate our body and hone in on practicing positive body image.

5. Pat yourself on the back: reward yourself.

Lastly, recognize that you are making strides and meeting milestones in your journey. For all the hard work you put in, you deserve to treat yourself! Through the Achievement app, you can connect and earn points for cash for your hard work! Woo-hoo! Our research team notes how incentives can help form habits. In this case, we want to reward you for the healthy actions you take to form healthy habits.

You can make a reward system that best suits your lifestyle, such as going to the movies or going out with your loved ones after completing your week’s workout. If you have been diligent in preparing your meals and enjoy making your own meals and drinks, use your Achievement reward to treat yourself to buying the nice blender that you wanted for your smoothies or slow cooker for your weekly meals. If you have been sticking to your exercise routine, use your rest day to spend some time hanging out with your family or friends and share your journey with them.

At Achievement, we strive to support you along your health journey and make it enjoyable. We hope that these key points and tips will give you the boost you needed to carry on and continue to progress. Was there something that we missed that made it on your motivator list? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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