Mental Health Awareness Month 2022: Using SKILLR to Help Your Mental Health
It’s Mental Health Awareness Month and here at SKILLR, we’re focusing on the ways we can tend to and be gentle with our minds. As a knowledge-sharing platform, this year’s theme, Together for Mental Health, really resonates with us as it highlights the importance of community in facing mental health issues.
With this in mind (pun intended), we’ll explore ways to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month and how you can add the SKILLR App to your mental health toolbox.
Here’s what we’ll get into:
Ways to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month
Why community matters when it comes to mental health care
How to use SKILLR to be kind to your mind
Ways to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month
Be kind to your mind by focusing on mental health education, your daily routine and social media consumption this month.
Educate yourself about mental illness
Education is key when it comes to wanting to raise awareness about mental health! If you’re new to tending to your mind, a good place to start is with education. There are plenty of resources out there (and some misinformation, so be sure to find credible sources).
Finding a trusted therapist or reading up on common mental health conditions could be a great way to educate yourself this month. You can also check out media about mental illness—from movies, books, TV series and art. Mental illness affects so many of us and seeing and understanding other people’s stories is so important in providing the appropriate support to our community and creating a more empathetic world.
Even if you’re not struggling with mental health problems right now, it’s good to know what the people around you might be dealing with or how you can deal with mental illness should it arise in the future so you can fight stigma and gain a better understanding of how to cope.
Reevaluate your mental health care routine
Ask yourself how you’re feeling about life right now. Are you burned out? Are you taking on too much? Do you need to socialize more? Do you need to heal from a past trauma? Perhaps, you want more time to dedicate to self care or hobbies.
Now could be the time to start some mental health care practices like going to therapy, seeking treatment for a mental illness, starting a meditation practice or finding a support group for trauma survivors or for people with the same mental health condition as you.
Take social media breaks
Tech has played a huge role in our lives in the last couple of decades and isn’t going anywhere. That said, it can be overwhelming at times and you may find yourself indulging in habits that aren’t super helpful and may even be downright detrimental to your mental health.
Counteract this by implementing breaks or more mindfulness into your social media usage. You can do this by taking actual breaks away from your fave social apps and websites, or by monitoring your usage and considering setting limits.
Making use of the screen time feature on your smartphone can be one way to do this. You can also consider unfollowing accounts that activate your nervous system or get you into negative thought spirals.
Why community matters when it comes to mental health
When it comes to mental health, being in community can go a long way. Having a support system of loved ones, a trusted therapist and support groups can help us fight stigma, ease our suffering, give us hope and encourage us to seek treatment for conditions like post traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and other mental health problems.
This month, consider talking to friends and family about mental health. Opening the conversation in our circles is just one way we can invite more safety and vulnerability into our lives and promote well being in our communities.
Use SKILLR to be kind to your mind
Mental health care is a little less daunting when we leverage our communities. The SKILLR App connects you with experts from a variety of skill sets to help you get advice, get coached or be entertained on the fly.
Here are a few ways you can use SKILLR to support your mental health and well being this month and all year long.
Get zen
On those days when your mind just can’t seem to get quiet, it’s important to take some time for yourself. Open up the SKILLR App and match with a guided meditation pro who can lead you through a meditation. If there’s a specific kind of meditation you want to try or a certain topic you want to focus on, let them know at the beginning of your session so they can personalize your mindfulness time. You can also work with a yoga instructor for an impromptu class. For the spiritual among us, a tarot card reading, reiki session or energy healing is just a call away too.
Get coached
Struggling with a specific issue? Perhaps one of our coaches can help you get it sorted so you can have a little less stress in your life. Our sober coaches can help support you on your journey towards sobriety. And, our dating coaches can be there to help you navigate the emotions that come with dating, relationships and breakups because you deserve to have peace.
Get fit
Sweat away the stress with some physical activity! On SKILLR, you can match with personal trainers, yoga instructors and nutrition experts anytime, anywhere. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise can help keep anxiety and depression symptoms at bay. Research suggests that 30 minutes of exercise three to five days a week can be effective in helping ease symptoms.
Get advice
Problems are best solved in community. That’s why when you need some advice, our Skillrs are there to help. Need a little guidance on going through a divorce? Ease the distress and pain just a bit with our divorce experts. Want to learn how to use cannabis to support your mental and physical health? Match with a cannabis concierge to learn about how you can use this magical plant on your healing journey. Or, make the job search process a little less hard on your mental health by meeting with a job interview expert. We’ve got you covered.
Download the SKILLR App today. Want more SKILLR? Check out our blog page to learn more about how to make the most of the app. Follow along with us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn for all things SKILLR.
