Everyday habits that could harm your mental health including procrastination
An expert revealed the seven everyday habits which could be harming your mental health.
Most habits are fairly harmless, however Vanessa Gebhardt, Mind Coach at Freeletics, said there are some that could be having a huge impact on our lives, including relationships, motivation and mood.
Talking to The Sun, she said that changing the pattern or breaking these unknowingly harmful habits can help to have a hugely positive effect on you.
The first of these is being glued to out phones and checking them without even thinking about it.
Vanessa said: "This mindless checking promotes the expectation of immediate gratification; in other words, looking for notifications which make us feel good and more connected.
"Spending too much time on your phone and on social media can diminish self-esteem and breed negative thoughts."
Research by De Montfort University recently also found that checking your phone regularly can make you more distracted and forgetful.
Vanessa said to overcome the problem, you should monitor your screen time and be mindful of who you choose to follow and which online conversations you get involved with. She also recommended focusing on positive posts, rather than the negative ones.
Another bad habit to avoid is being inside all day.
Obviously, with lockdown, it hasn't been easy to avoid this, however now restrictions are easing Vanessa said there's no reason not to go out and get fresh air.
She said: "Spending the majority of your day indoors can significantly increase your risk for depression, with lack of sunlight and vitamin D contributing to depressive symptoms."
The third habit to avoid is sleeping too little, as she said this can leave us with low mood, difficulty concentrating, irritability, and getting more easily overwhelmed, which can negatively impact your mental health.
While the fourth was a bad diet, with high-sugar, processed foods like cakes, bread, and biscuits, as well as red meat can substantially raise the risk for depression.
Lack of exercise was also warned against as exercising can reduce stress and produce feel-good endorphins.
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While slouching also isn't a good habit, as again, it can lead to depression and fatigue.
Lastly, Vanessa warned against procrastinating as it can lead to stress.
She said: "Procrastination will make you stressed because you feel the burden of the thing that you have not done, but you must do, therefore, leading to increased anxiety and stress which negatively impacts your mental health."
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