Depression and anxiety are common mental health issues in society today. Home improvement solutions such as a weighted blanket for anxiety and insomnia help to alleviate mental health problems. Creating awareness of the problem and ways to tackle mental health can help to reduce cases of mental health.
What is Good mental health?
The ability to feel, express, learn, or cope with emotions describes good mental health. Being able to deal with uncertainty and cope with changes also helps to enhance mental health. Mental health affects one’s emotional, cognitive, and behavioural aspects. Some home improvement solutions that may help improve mental health include:
1. Having a functional Home gym
Some of the main benefits of regular exercises are decreasing anxiety levels and improving one’s mood. Exercises also improve one’s self-esteem for people struggling to lose weight. They also help in enhancing cognitive development. With a small budget, one can still afford a home gym. Basic requirements in a home gym are an exercise mat, resistance loop bands, and squat racks. Having weight plates, a workout bar, and a jump rope are also important. The ideal space to set up a gym is in the attic or the basement. Regular exercises are one of the simple ways to combat mental health problems.
2. Invest in gravity blankets
Weighted blankets provide deep pressure touch on your body to enhance relaxation. Relaxation promotes the production of serotonin, the hormones that make us feel good. Another aspect of weighted blankets that help promote better sleep and relaxation is that they help to ground one while asleep. Grounding will help to reduce cortisol, the stress hormone. Excess production of cortisol leads to anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Some studies show that it can also lead to weight gain.
How to choose a weighted blanket
• Choose the right weight. Your body weight determines the ideal weight of the blanket, but, on average, it should be around 6 to 9% of your body weight.
• Opt for natural fibre weighted blankets
• Consider your health condition and age
• The temperature and respiratory aspects you require
3. Change the lighting conditions of your home
Artificial lights affect one’s comfort. They may cause headaches or make one squint often and that adds to discomfort at your home. The use of coloured bulbs in the bedroom is relaxing and may help one fall asleep faster. For other rooms, one may use LED bulbs but ensure they adopt the blue light filtering technology. As much as possible, one should let in natural light during the day. Doing so also helps your body to absorb more vitamin D. When you get enough vitamin D, your mental and physical wellbeing will improve. It is also a simple way to prevent seasonal depression.
4. Get house plants
Apart from enhancing the beauty of your home, house plants also help to increase oxygen circulation in your house. You will develop a routine to tender and care for the plants. One will also be able to see some living plants in the house. All these factors impact positively on your mental health. Remember to put the flowers at a strategic place in the house to reap the maximum benefits.
5. Decluttering
Too much clutter in your home will lead to loss of focus, anxiety, and stress. Mental health experts recommend that one should declutter their living spaces and offices regularly. Clutter also leads to disorganization that consequently leads to high-stress levels and the urge to eat junk food commonly known as comfort foods. When you reduce clutter in your home, it also becomes easier to clean. One should get rid of things they no longer need. You may make donations, sell them online, or recycle such items. It is also good to invest in more storage spaces so that it’s easier to organize your home. With proper organization, you will find things faster, and you can focus more and reduce stress. One should aim to create a relaxing home. One of the simplest ways to do that is by decluttering and organizing your home.
6. Create a relaxing spa at home
The best relaxing space in your home is the bathroom. There are many things you can do to make your bath time relaxing. Investing in aromatherapy oils during bubble baths, adding Epsom salts in your baths, and replacing bathroom lights with more subtle dim lights can help you relax while taking a bath. You may also opt for candlelit baths that are also very relaxing. Hot baths are also good since they increase blood flow. It’s also relaxing to breathe hot vapor that clears your respiratory system. Remember to have a warm long bath at night to help you sleep better. Creating a relaxing bath time will help your body to release feel-good hormones that reduce stress.
7. Get Bigger Windows
The more natural light you are letting into your house the happier you will feel. Results of several studies have sugged that natural light at any level (particularly in the mornings) can improve your mental health especially if you suffer from depression or SAD (seasonal affective disorder)
8. Touch or Colour
Look around your walls and ceilings? Would you say you have a touch a colour here and there? If not why not bring some bright reds and sky blues into the mix and really bring a smile to the face. Too much Magnolia can really make you feel down, especially if it covers the main areas you live in such as the living room and your own bedroom.
9. Try Different Flooring
When was the last time you changed the following in your living room or bedroom? If it was a long time ago why not try a different texture to bring a little more happiness into your life. Even something simple like a change in carpet texture can really snap you out of a low point, so try and mix it up a little especially between rooms.
10. Fill Empty Wall Voids
One of the simplest of tips we can all do is to add a few pictures here or there to find empty caps on your walls. Another thing you can do is hang affirmations around the home with powerful messages on text reminding yourself how lucky you are to even have a home in the first place or just something to make you smile like a meme. If it makes you smile it might well be worth hanging up, but the best thing to hang is photos of happier times to remind you they do exist.
These few home improvement solutions can help in maintaining good mental health. Change of flooring, maintaining the optimal temperature at home, and having healthy food are also simple ways to improve your mood and consequently improve your mental health.
