What is a bad mental health day? Well, do you ever have days that just feel impossible to get through?
Where your energy is low, nothing goes as planned, and every little thing irritates the hell out of you?
Here are some things you can do to get through a bad mental health day.
11 Ways To Get Through A Bad Mental Health Day
When you battle things like anxiety and/or depression on a daily basis, you will have days where you don’t mentally feel strong enough to fight them off.
Some days they will win and that’s OK.
I know for me, I’ll feel on top of the world one day and the next I’ll shut down and wonder what the heck is wrong with me. Nothing around me will actually be wrong, but my thoughts convince me otherwise.
I just don’t feel my best, no matter how much medication I take, how much mindfulness I practice, or how much I exercise.
That’s because some days, my depression just isn’t willing to see the good in things. It wants to keep me down, and that’s when I realize it’s a bad mental health day.
I like to relate it to having a broken arm. You can do all the right things, like physical therapy and resting. But, at the end of the day, your arm is still broken and it just takes time to heal on its own.
I’m not saying your brain is broken, but depression and anxiety are not always easy to manage. You will have times when you won’t feel so great. That doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you, though.
What I want you to know is when you choose to work on your mental health, you’re committing to it for the long haul.
11 Ways To Get Through A Bad Mental Health Day
There is no easy quick fix for anxiety or depression. Some days you will make huge strides in your journey, and others will feel like a setback.
Remember, there is a certified therapist standing by to talk or text you at all times here.
1. Practice Acceptance
When you start to realize today is just not your day, one thing you can do is practice accepting it.
Tell yourself “Obviously today isn’t going quite as I planned. My brain doesn’t want to work with me, and that’s OK. I can go easy on myself today and hope for a better day tomorrow.”
Acceptance helps you come to an agreement with your brain. You stop the resistance that is telling you that you should be happier than you are.
This is a way of practicing mindfulness in your everyday life. Mindfulness slows down your racing thoughts and allows you to be in the present moment. Accepting things you can’t change and reducing anxiety in the process.
Be sure to download your free mindfulness activities so you can quickly go back to having a better day!
2. Let go of Your Own Judgement
On a bad mental health day, you want to avoid making yourself feel worse than necessary.
It’s very frustrating when your mind doesn’t want to work with you, trust me I know. But, there’s also not much you can do in that situation.
Instead, you can stop telling yourself “I’m such a failure for not being able to control my anxiety/depression right now.”
Stop making yourself feel worse! Your self-talk on a bad mental health day is so important in helping you get back on track.
Stop the judgment. Don’t call yourself any names or get frustrated because you aren’t improving. Forgive yourself and be patient with the process.
3. Continue to Take Action and Try Not to Sulk
When I have a bad day or a bad week, I want to avoid everything on my day off. I shut the blinds and stayed in bed all day.
This is okay to do for a small portion of the day, but not the WHOLE day.
Whenever I do it for the whole day, I feel awful. Like I gave into my depression and gave it exactly what it wanted… isolation and negativity.
- Don’t give into your current mindset. Work on taking action even if you aren’t feeling it.
Practice things that you know will help. I deep clean my home because when things are clean, I feel a lot better. Or blast some good music to release the tension.
4. Do a Quick 8-Minute Workout
There are a lot of quick workouts nowadays that you can do in less than 10 minutes.
The benefit of this is later in the day, you can tell yourself “I worked out today!”
Also, it improves your mood on a subconscious level. Remember, accept that today isn’t your best day. You don’t have to challenge yourself too much, and a quick workout still ensures that you’re practicing self-care even on your worst days.
5. Cook Your Favorite Meal
There’s a lot of peace that comes out of cooking. If you enjoy it, that is.
If it’s not something you enjoy doing, then you can skip this step. I personally don’t have a lot of energy to cook but when I do, I really like it.
The creativity that goes into it can help inspire you. And when you treat yourself to your favorite meal, it’s a great form of self-care.
6. Vent to a Close Friend
On your bad days, let your closest friend know what’s going on. Communicating how you’re feeling will definitely help you feel better. Suppressing how you’re feeling only makes it worse.
When you don’t let it out, you may even start to believe that you’re overreacting or what you’re feeling doesn’t matter. If you don’t have someone available at the moment you need them, another good option is to write out your thoughts in a journal.
This helps you get to a spot where your thoughts don’t feel so overwhelming all in your head and they start to make more sense once you get it out on paper.
7. Take a Hot Bath Before You go to Bed
I always used to think that people telling you to take a bath was an easy fix. Like, “Just take a bath and all your problems will go away!”.
Just so you know, that won’t happen. However, it will help relax you and is a great way to put yourself first.
Hot baths are a go-to at 8 p.m. on a Friday night for me. Paired with some candles and peaceful music, I seriously feel like I’m being pampered.
If you’re a highly sensitive person like me, then taking a hot bath can help release a lot of built-up overload.
Turn the lights off and keep the music calm and quiet. Make sure the other people in your house are occupied with other things and use that time to reset yourself.
- Listen to an inspirational podcast to boost your mental health.
8. Go on a Walk
Again, this isn’t something that I’m saying just for the heck of it. This works for me, and I believe it can work for you.
I have two dogs, so I have to get out for a long walk at least once a day for their sake. When I miss a walk, I know it. It actually can be the cause of my bad mental health day. Not only do I feel guilty for not walking my dogs, but I also don’t feel as energized.
Taking a walk out in nature is so beneficial for anyone who has mental health struggles. The sounds that you hear, and the sun on your skin are just what your body needs on a daily basis. When your body is happy, your mind becomes happy too.
Do some research on good places to take a hike near where you live. I don’t like walking near busy roads because they’re noisy and stress me out.
Figure out your personal preferences for a walk, and start doing it for just 10 minutes a day. After you do that, write down how it makes you feel. You can even use a daily mood tracker to see if it’s working for you.
If you sign up for my free Mental Wellness workbook, there is a printable mood tracker in there that you can use!
9. Create a Mental Health Toolbox
Being prepared for the worst can help in a lot of ways. When you’re upset and unmotivated, it’s hard to think rationally and remember the good things in your life.
That’s why creating a mental health toolbox is perfect to have for a bad mental health day. This is something you can create today using ideas from this post, and here is a list of other things you can add to it:
- Create a playlist of your favorite songs
- Use these journal prompts to write in your journal
- Eat these foods to improve your mentality
- Practice these 5-minute meditation exercises
- Add these books to your reading list for your mental health
- Spend time around animals
- Read inspiring quotes
- Try out one of these weighted blankets to help with anxiety
10. Take a Break and Find Some Inspiration
When you’re stressed out you go into survival mode. That means doing the bare minimum to get by. That consists of eating and sleeping and the things you’re required to do, like work and school.
There isn’t enough space in your life to enjoy things when you’re in survival mode. But, when you’re having a bad mental health day, it’s good to just take a break and focus on finding inspiration again.
Take a step back and think about what things excite you. What motivates you to get up in the morning? If you can’t think of anything at the moment, then work on taking the afternoon off and coming up with something.
Think about the things you like doing in your free time, or what you used to do when you didn’t feel so anxious. Maybe that was taking a bike ride or going to a pottery class.
- Whatever it is, start doing some research and try to organize your schedule to figure out how to add more of the inspiring stuff to your life.
When you’re inspired you start to light that spark inside you. The spark that needs constant attention or else it will burn out.
Anytime your spark goes out, you lose motivation and wonder what your purpose in life is. It’s essential for your mental health to keep inspiring yourself to move forward.
11. Talk To A Professional
It’s always good to talk to a professional if you can’t seem to shake the feelings of anxiety and depression.
This is a guide for people who are able to manage their mental health for the most part, they just have certain days where they need a little help.
If you’re at a point where your anxious or depressed thoughts are taking over your life, talking to a professional can help you get back on track and feel better.
11 Ways To Get Through A Bad Mental Health Day – Conclusion
I hope these things can help you in the future for any bad mental health days that you have. Everyone is different in how they handle stress and bad days, that’s why I wanted to give you a variety of options.
If you found this article of tips on things to do when you’re having a bad mental health day, please share and pin it. Thank you 🙂
