8 Easily Overlooked Signs Your Mental Health Is Improving
The bad days don't last forever.
Antonio Guillem / Shutterstock As humans, we are bound to experience difficult days from time to time. However, for the 26% of us in the U.S. who struggle with our mental health, the better days often feel like they are few and far between. It feels as if the days are draining and dragging on at a snail's pace. However, this doesn’t mean that it will last forever.
You may notice small changes in yourself that make your days seem a little lighter, brighter, and easier to manage. These are all signals that you are on the path to even better days ahead!
Here are 8 easily overlooked signs your mental health is improving:
1. You accept it
Accepting our feelings allows us to know and trust ourselves better.
According to PsychCentral, resisting or denying our circumstances can throw our equilibrium off. For example, saying something along the lines of “I cannot stand this,” can manifest feelings of anger, bitterness, and despair.
Acceptance means that we no longer have to exert effort denying or avoiding our feelings, which promotes peace of mind. Unless your reality involves harmful circumstances that you must escape, acceptance improves your mental health significantly.
2. Small victories make you proud
It’s all about the little things. Whether you finally solved your crossword puzzle or made it to work without encountering any traffic, you may find yourself wanting to pump your fists in the air to celebrate.
Photo: mimagephotography / Shutterstock
Finding joy in these small victories can boost your confidence and well-being. Embracing these victories also encourages you to appreciate the little things in life and cultivate gratitude, fostering better mental health.
3. You don’t ignore your feelings anymore
As hard as it can be to admit when you are struggling, acknowledging your feelings is not such a bad thing. Your feelings are valid and serve as important signals about your inner state and needs. Ignoring them dismisses your own experiences and can lead to feelings of invalidation and self-doubt, which only diminish your mental health.
Recognizing your not-so-happy feelings can even prompt you to make changes to your life that will improve your overall happiness and satisfaction.
A common misconception we often hear is that ignoring or suppressing your feelings will make them disappear. Instead, they will build up over time, leading to emotional suppression. This can result in increased stress, anxiety, and even depression.
When we voice our feelings, we free ourselves of any hidden anxieties or worries, allowing us to practice self-care and prioritize our well-being.
4. You listen to your body’s needs
If you’re craving a pint of ice cream or feel like you could use an hour more of sleep, trust your body and listen to it! It usually means something.
By prioritizing our body’s needs, we value ourselves and enhance our overall well-being.
“Learning to listen to your body starts by un-learning counterproductive, socially imposed beliefs about self-image, performance, success, productivity, approval, perfectionism, and control,” Leigh W. Jerome, a clinical psychologist told Psychology Today.
“Each of us contains, within our body and mind, an exquisite and personalized mind-body wisdom. This wisdom becomes more available to us as we recognize that anything we are feeling in our body means something,” she continued.
“It’s easy to get stuck in your head and tune out essential sensations; but, every butterfly in your stomach, every headache, tight muscle, surge of energy, and flood of emotion is there for a reason, providing gentle encouragement, danger signals, and constant feedback about what is needed to keep you comfortable and perfectly in balance.”
5. You start seeing the positive side of things
One day you wake up and see that is it raining outside. Instead of being bummed by the dreary weather and puddles swallowing the sidewalk, you think to yourself, “Now I don’t have to water my outdoor flowers today!” This is a sign that your mental health is progressing by the day.
Photo: Olena Yakobchuk / Shutterstock
Looking on the bright side of things contributes to overall well-being by promoting a more optimistic outlook on life, which can lead to greater life satisfaction and fulfillment. They don’t call it the power of positive thinking for nothing!
6. You feel calm
Instead of stressing over all of your responsibilities and day-to-day tasks, you feel a sense of peace and calmness more often than not.
Calmness promotes overall well-being and allows you to enter a state of inner peace, contentment, and harmony with oneself and the world. Being at peace with what is happening in your life is a sign that things are indeed looking up for you!
7. You know that bad days won’t last forever
Just like good days, bad days are temporary and will eventually pass. Nothing in life remains static, and difficult situations tend to change over time.
As one’s mental health improves, so does your perspective. You may look back on your bad days and realize that they were not as catastrophic as they initially seemed.
With hindsight, you may even recognize moments of resilience, silver linings, or opportunities for growth that were present even during challenging times.
8. You start loving yourself again
When your mental health is poor, you likely don't give yourself much grace or compassion.
Mental health issues can erode self-esteem and self-worth, causing you to view yourself in a more critical and judgmental manner. You may focus on your perceived flaws and shortcomings, leading to self-blame and self-criticism. However, when your mental health begins to improve, so does your self-love.
You may look at yourself in the mirror and notice more of your admirable qualities rather than your flaws. You may give yourself more time to engage in self-care and the things that make you happy. You will recognize the fact that even though you struggle from time to time, that does not make you a failure — it makes you an honest human.
Even those of us who are on the mend in our mental health journeys will still have hard days, and that’s okay! It just makes the changes we notice in our lives and ourselves all the more sweeter.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.