| By Tara Shekouri |
As a student, maintaining one’s mental health during the summer months may be a struggle due to routines falling apart, increased screen times, job-related pressure, among others. With the multitude of changes that occur after the school year comes to an end, it is important to maintain your mental health during this transitional period. In this blog post, we will discuss a few simple self-care tips and strategies to incorporate into your life for taking care of your mental health this summer.
Spend more time outdoors
Incorporating more of the outdoors into your routine and exposing yourself to more sunlight offers many benefits to the human body, such as increasing serotonin and vitamin D, which aid in improving your mood. Others include promoting more physical activity, improving social interaction, as well as improving sleep. A simple first step for spending more time outside is completing certain tasks/activities outdoors that you would otherwise complete indoors. For example, you may choose to read a book at a park, go on a walk while you call a friend, eat your meals on a patio, etc. Another approach could be adopting a new outdoor hobby such as hiking, gardening, skateboarding, cycling, etc. By integrating these simple changes into your routine, you can enhance both your physical and mental well-being.
Maintain a healthy sleep schedule
Sleep is a vital contributor to one’s mental health, and it is easy to lose track of it during the summer. Students in elementary/middle school should be receiving 9–12 hours of sleep a night, whereas adolescents should be receiving 8–10. Sleep serves as a tool to aid with brain function, allowing the formation of new pathways to learn and recall information. In order to plan your individualized sleep schedule, you need to take into account your needs and lifestyle. Furthermore, you need to be honest and realistic with yourself in order to create a sleep schedule that you can stick to every day. This consistency reinforces your body's sleep-wake cycle, a process composed of three different phases: rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep, and waking up.
Limit your time spent on social media
In our modern society, youth spend multiple hours of their day scrolling and swiping on social media, which is particularly normalized during the summer when it is common to feel bored; serving as an accessible tool to entertain oneself. Overconsumption of social media can not only lead to consequences such as anxiety, depression, addiction and so on, but it hinders one’s motivation to build meaningful relationships. However, summer offers a valuable opportunity to deeply appreciate precious aspects of life such as nature, hobbies, face-to-face interactions, quality time with loved ones, etc. Excessive social media usage can strip away our concept of time, trapping us in an endless loop of fast-paced content. It is essential to remove ourselves and live in the moment–appreciating what life has to offer.
Therefore, there are multiple ways to care for your mental health during the summer. By incorporating more outdoor activities into your routine, ensuring a consistent sleep schedule, and limiting time spent on social media, you can maintain your mental health and live your summer feeling more fulfilled and satisfied.
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