TODAY'S live mental health forum on improving your mental fitness attracted a range of great tips from the experts.
Just as everyone needs to work to maintain physical fitness, staying mentally fit requires a bit of effort - even if it's just a reminder to yourself to take a break.
The Friday Forum is a joint initiative of The Land, the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program (RAMHP) and NSW Farmers.
The online forum was guided by a panel of experts in the mental health field.
Claire Elligett from the Act-Belong-Commit program at the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health (under the RAMHP banner), Sophie Potter from ReachOut, Lucy Richards from Smiling Mind, and Nic Newling, youth engagement lead from Bite Back, sat on the panel.
Claire Elligett, the Act-Belong-Commit project officer, has three principles work to positively enhance
mental health.
- Act: Challenge yourself physically or mentally by doing a crossword or going for a run.
- Belong: Join a group or club or simply catch up with old friends and stay connected.
- Commit: Make personal commitments to do good things.
"Volunteering has a positive effect on your mental health and helps others," Ms Elligett said.
"Helping others provides a sense of personal satisfaction."
Ms Elligett said farmers and their families could think of ways to get connected with their communities and
give something back.
"Everyone knows about the benefits of keeping physically healthy but there's not so much awareness of keeping mentally healthy," she said.
"It's really simple stuff but people can take it one step at a time.
Ms Elligett said people should engage in pursuits that interest them.
ReachOut.com is Australia's leading online youth mental health service, where you can get the help you need, where and when you need it.
Every year ReachOut.com helps hundreds of thousands of people under 25 tackle everything from finding motivation to getting through really tough times.
ReachOut.com has tools and tips, apps and factsheets for making everyday life a little easier.
Smiling Mind is a free mindfulness app that offers modern meditation for young people.
The app is supported by many health organisations and is designed to help bring balance, a sense of clarity, calm and contentment to young lives.
Bite Back is a Black Dog Institute initiative that is an ever-changing space where you can discover ways to amplify the good stuff in life, share real and personal stories with others, check out videos, blogs and interviews of interesting people, check and track your mental fitness, and get your teeth stuck in to a bunch of activities.
Tell us what you think about the forum at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/fridayforumsurvey