Mental Health

We tend to think of health as purely physical: the knee injury that is preventing us from running, the heart disease that runs in our family, the factors that are influencing our ability to have a child. Many times, however, we forget that our psychological well-being is a huge part of our overall health. Stressors, both good and bad, and how we cope with them are part of healthy living. What are these stressors and what are healthy ways of dealing with them? We give you tips on how to be mentally strong throughout your life.

In Your 20s
Being in your twenties is a time defined by work—and we’re not just talking the nine-to-five. “By the time you get to your twenties, you are working on intimacy and closeness with people around you, friends, or romantic relationships,” says Eduardo Colón, vice chief of psychiatry at Hennepin County Medical Center. “You are also working on sense of professional identity.”  

Although this work at times can be trying and stressful, it helps us to define who we are as women, what roles we want to have in our lives, and how to keep everything in balance: Will we be working professionals? Will we be stay-at-home moms? Will we do both? Do we even want to do either?

This time in life can be very exciting as there are endless options, but that can also be a burden. In order to help you make decisions, Colón suggests the following:

1. Clarify, if you can, what your hierarchy of priorities is, knowing it might change.
2. Diversify your coping strategies, such as reading a book or exercising; don’t just rely on one—you don’t want to get caught in a situation where you can’t use the coping strategy you always rely on (such as an exercise enthusiast getting injured).
3. Identify a social support network. Having people you can rely on and bounce ideas off of is extremely important.
4. Manage your time for priorities and emotional well-being, whether this means joining a book club or making time to go hit the gym to burn off steam.
5. When you are faced with choices, don’t think about what is right or wrong; think about what fits you best.

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