Real Simple Real Simple Mental Health

MENTAL HEALTH IS ON everyone’s mind, and for good reason. The pandemic and its many related challenges have led to a continued global surge in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders. Even those who haven’t lost loved ones or haven’t experienced serious or prolonged illness have been profoundly affected psychologically by this ordeal. The fact that more people are prioritizing mental well-being is, for the most part, a good thing. Taking it seriously means adopting healthy behaviors and prioritizing the parts of life that matter most. Some feelings—optimism, for example—may be among the most important ingredients in a healthy, satisfying, and successful life. “Optimism is defined as positive expectations about the future,” says Tali Sharot, PhD, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London. In 2011, Sharot literally wrote…

YOUR LIFE, AT LEAST RIGHT at this moment, might not be how you pictured it. Maybe your job, bank account, or relationship has seen better days. Perhaps you’ve dropped the ball on the things that used to be most important to you, and you can’t see a way back to the person you want to be. Either way, your knee-jerk reaction is to blame yourself. Maybe a good old-fashioned kick in the pants will motivate you to get your act together. If that sounds like how you think, you’re definitely not alone. But it may be time to take stock of your self-talk and welcome a new way of thinking. A mounting body of evidence suggests that a kinder way of thinking about yourself—what researchers call self-compassion—can ease stress, decrease pain,…

CAN YOU THINK YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS? It’s not that simple, but research shows that positive thoughts and an optimistic mindset can help. If you’ve ever heard of the book The Secret, the runaway best seller that popularized the idea of using the power of thought to achieve your biggest dreams and loftiest goals, then you’re already familiar with the concept of manifestation. Manifestation is a way of describing the law of attraction—that is, positive thoughts attract positive things. This kind of magical thinking sounds nice, but it’s not real, according to Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD, a distinguished professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, who studies the benefits of happiness. “If you define it as going out and being extroverted, or expressing gratitude, or being optimistic, then yes, it ‘works,’”…

“I DON’T HAVE TIME to do anything for myself!” Therapist Nedra Glover Tawwab hears this complaint on heavy rotation from patients who are stressed out, burned out, and worn out, women who resent their families because they’ve sacrificed their own mental, physical, and emotional well-being to tend to everyone else’s needs. If this sounds like your life, there’s a solution—and it’s not changing your identity and escaping to the Seychelles. It’s setting boundaries. “Boundaries are clearly expressed expectations and needs that help you feel safe and comfortable in your relationships,” says Tawwab, author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself. Boundary setting is a form of self-care that’s just as important as eating well and getting enough sleep. “We treat self-care as an optional practice,” Tawwab says. “It’s…

WE MAY MONITOR our vegetable intake, our cardio routine, and our sleep habits, yet we rarely consider one simple act that fuels everything we do: breathing. We chug along, taking 17,000 to 20,000 breaths a day, blissfully unaware of most of them. But proponents of breathwork, the therapeutic use of breathing techniques, say the practice can chase away anxiety, increase energy, and help manage pain. Though the discipline has been around for generations, lately it’s having a moment, with breathwork artists and medical professionals alike encouraging people to show their lungs some love. “You would be astounded by how many pulmonologists, cardiologists, and other experts are exploring breathing, both for themselves and for their patients,” says James Nestor, author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, who interviewed scientists,…

AS A SOCIETY, we’re becoming more aware that mental health is just as important as physical health. But spiritual health is still absent from the conversation, says Lisa Miller, PhD, a psychologist and Columbia University professor who has spent more than 20 years studying the relationship between spirituality and depression. Miller believes that when we ignore our spiritual lives, we shut ourselves off from a world of connection, guidance, and mystery. In her most recent book, The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life, she blends research, philosophy, and personal experience to offer powerful evidence that by acknowledging the soul, we can heal ourselves. We asked Miller to enlighten us. How did you become interested in the link between spirituality and mental health? I started…