5 Ways To Improve Your Mental Health With Compass LISW Erica Moore
Updated: Jul 11, 2022
Compass Blog #002_By Nick Sherman
When asked about how to improve mental health, Erica Moore, a Licensed Independent Social Worker at Compass, gave me a tried-and-true encouragement to stick with the fundamentals!
1. Seek Services
2. Self Care
3. Exercise
4. Adequate Sleep
5. Healthy Eating Habits
Of course, she made the caveat that she works with everyone on a case-by-case basis, and no person is the same, but that everyone can benefit from focusing on these five areas.
Below I share some of Erica’s thoughts, and I inform the 5 ways with data that’s helpful to consider.
1. Seek Services
Erica believes that anyone can stand to benefit from counseling. Consider, in what other setting of your life can you openly and honestly bare all and sort through thoughts, feelings, and life circumstances?
A counselor can provide objective feedback. They sort through these familial and personal patterns for a living.
Alternatively, Erica points out, a family member or friend may be well intentioned with their advice but is often too emotionally invested to offer unbiased feedback.
If you want to improve mental health, you can’t go wrong with asking a trusted professional in the community. Ask around!
2. Self-Care
A popular term of our day.
So, what is it? A BMC Palliative Care Study describes self-care as “the self-initiated behavior that people choose to incorporate to promote good health and general well-being.”
For Erica, Self-Care includes a broad range of hobbies and interests, from hair and nails, to reading, napping, and walking—doing anything that you enjoy, feel recharged by.
Rather than viewing time for yourself as a selfish or guilty thing, it can be helpful to think of self- care like, “If I take a break to go on a walk, I’ll be more fit physically and emotionally fit for life when I return!”
Think of it like this: you fill your cup up, so you have something to share with others!
3. Exercise
Erica bravely suggested exercise as a third Mental Health improver, which might get a few eye roles, but before you move on to the next step, it doesn’t even have to be as complicated or rigorous as you think!
A little goes a long way.
Michael Otto, PhD, a professor of psychology at Boston University, and Author of the book "Exercise for Mood and Anxiety: Proven Strategies for Overcoming Depression and Enhancing Well-being” said in an American Psychological Association article that "The link between exercise and mood is pretty strong. Usually within five minutes after moderate exercise you get a mood-enhancement effect."
4. Adequate Sleep
An in-depth study done by the National Library of Medicine suggests that getting good sleep correlates to increased overall longer life expectancy…
This is your body’s time to recover, protect and improve that time if possible!
5. Healthy Eating Habits
Perhaps the most challenging admonition of all.
Like exercise, there are a million different suggestions and fads out there.
It’s probably best to stick to the basics. Which is to say, anti-inflammatory diets.
Nowadays, we know that diets consisting of higher carbohydrates and refined sugars leads to inflammation, which aside from making your feel bad, “can affect organs and may contribute to diseases like diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease” according to this article from Piedmont Healthcare.
Check out this cool infographic and anti-inflammatory diet they share: https://www.piedmont.org/living-better/the-anti-inflammatory-diet
Seems like a good place to start the conversation!
Erica’s 5 Ways
What I like about Erica’s 5 points is that anyone can stand to benefit, even without access to counseling services. But the even better news is, people like Erica at Compass Community Health can help you build a positive foundation of habits in your life for coping and then thriving!
Reach out to us and improve your Mental Health foundations:
-Email: info@compasscommunityhealth.org,
-Message us on Facebook @ Compass Community Health
-Call: 740-355-7102
-Address: 1634 11th St, Portsmouth, OH 45662
*Ask to speak with a Counselor.
The Mental Health Team at Compass and This Blog Series
Erica Moore, a Licensed Independent Social Worker, received her Master’s from the Catholic University of America and has been providing counseling services to Compass Community Health in Portsmouth, Ohio for 3 years, with a focus on talk therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
We’re so glad to have her as a part of the seven experts here who take pride in providing compassionate mental health care for our area.
In the twice monthly blogs to follow, we’ll present their expertise on questions and topics, while looking for ways to inform and serve anyone with an interest in our services or the world of mental health