This document discusses various strategies for maintaining strong mental health and building resilience. It describes resilience as the ability to adapt well in the face of challenges and stresses in life. Developing resilience involves behaviors, thoughts and actions that can be learned. The document outlines nine strategies to stay emotionally healthy, including being optimistic, developing supportive relationships, practicing gratitude, finding purpose, gaining a sense of mastery, exercising, practicing mindfulness, using EFT tapping, and maintaining physical health through sleep, nutrition and limiting alcohol. It emphasizes the importance of perspective, hope, social support and stress-relieving activities in retaining mental wellbeing.

1. AASRA-Help Talk
Johnson Thomas
How to secure your Mental Health

2. AASRA-Help Talks
Johnson Thomas

3. Developing a greater level of
resilience
doesn’t stop difficult or
stressful things from
happening, but it can reduce
the impact
these events have on our lives
and the time
taken to recover from them
Ted Tierney,

4. Being resilient does not
mean…ignoring your
emotions or feelings, but rather
experiencing
grief, sadness, disappointment
or anger
whilst maintaining perspective
and continuing
on with life with a sense of hope.

6. We all experience challenges and
disappointments at some point in our
lives.
Most of us will encounter l
relationship
problems, health issues, financial
stresses,
work worries, or bereavement.

7. Even wealth can’t protect us from
trauma and
tragedy — but resilience does.
More
importantly, resilience is not a trait
that
people either have or do not have.
It involves
behaviours, thoughts and actions
that can be
learned and developed in anyone.
Ted Tierney,

9. Building Resilience is developing
individual strengths
and abilities to “bounce back”
from challenges and
setbacks that life presents us
with.
It involves being able to adapt to
changes, drawing
on both our own strengths and
the available social
resources to assist us during
times of stress.
Ted Tierney,

10. We avoid such pitfalls
by tending to our
physical health, resting
and drinking water
when doing taxing
work in the outdoor
heat or making sure we
get adequate sleep on
most nights.

11. 9 Strategies to Stay Emotionally
Healthy and Avoid a Breakdown
1. Be an Optimist
Looking on the bright side increases
your ability to experience happiness
in your day-to-day life while helping
you cope more effectively with stress.

12. Having hope allows
you to see the light at
the end of the tunnel,
helping you push
through even dark,
challenging times.
Accomplishing goals,
even small ones, can
help you to build your
level of hope.

14. Self-deprecating remarks
and thoughts will shroud
your mind with negativity
and foster increased
levels of stress. Seek out
and embrace the positive
traits of yourself and
your life, and avoid
measuring your own
worth by comparing
yourself to those around
you.

15. Having loving and
supportive relationships
helps you feel connected
and accepted, and
promote a more positive
mood. Intimate
relationships help meet
your emotional needs, so
make it a point to reach
out to others to develop
and nurture these
relationships in your life.

17. People who are thankful for
what they have are better able
to cope with stress, have more
positive emotions, and are
better able to reach their
goals. The best way to harness
the positive power of gratitude
is to keep a gratitude journal
or list, where you actively
write down exactly what
you’re grateful for each day.
Doing so has been linked to
happier moods, greater
optimism and even better
physical health.

18. When you have a purpose or
goal that you’re striving for,
your life will take on a new
meaning that supports your
mental well-being. If you’re
not sure what your purpose
is, explore your natural
talents and interests to help
find it, and also consider
your role in intimate
relationships and ability to
grow spiritually.

19. When you have mastery over
your environment, you’ve
learned how to best modify
your unique circumstances for
the most emotional balance,
which leads to feelings of pride
and success. Mastery entails
using skills such as time
management and prioritization
along with believing in your
ability to handle whatever life
throws your way.

21. Exercise boosts levels of health-
promoting neurochemicals like
serotonin, dopamine, and
norepinephrine, which may help
buffer some of the effects of
stress and also relieve some
symptoms of depression. Rather
than viewing exercise as a
medical tool to lose weight,
prevent disease, and live longer
– all benefits that occur in the
future – try viewing exercise as
a daily tool to immediately
enhance your frame of mind,
reduce stress and feel happier.

22. Practicing “mindfulness” means
that you’re actively paying
attention to the moment you’re
in right now. Rather than letting
your mind wander, when you’re
mindful you’re living in the
moment and letting distracting
or negative thoughts pass
through your mind without
getting caught up in their
emotional implications.
Mindfulness can help you
reduce stress for increased
well-being as well as achieve
undistracted focus.

24. EFT is a powerful self-help
method based on research
showing that emotional trauma
contributes greatly to disease.
Clinical trials have shown that
EFT is able to rapidly reduce the
emotional impact of memories
and incidents that trigger
emotional distress. Once the
distress is reduced or removed,
your body can often rebalance
itself and accelerate healing.

25. This combination of tapping the
energy meridians and voicing
positive affirmation works to clear
the "short-circuit" — the emotional
block — from your body's
bioenergy system, thus restoring
your mind and body's balance,
which is essential for optimal
emotional health and the healing of
physical disease.

27. Eat well: What you eat directly
impacts your mood and energy levels
in both the short and long term
Proper sleep: Sleep deprivation is
linked to psychiatric disorders such
as anxiety and bipolar depression,
while getting the right amount of
sleep has been linked to positive
personality
Animal-based omega-3 fats: Low
concentrations of the omega-3 fats
EPA and DHA are known to increase
your risk for mood swings and mood
disorders.

30. Accept yourself
Get involved
Keep active
Eat healthily
Keep in contact
Relax
Do something creative
Don't binge drink
Talk about it. Seek Help

31. • Trying to keep things in perspective
– recognizing the positive aspects in
life can help retain hope for the
future.
• Strengthening connections with
family members and friends who can
provide support.
• Engaging in activities that relieve
stress and anxiety – such as physical
exercise, hobbies and sports.