Mental Health is Health, and it’s vital to care for our overall well-being. However, many of us tend to overlook or neglect our mental health. It’s a common belief that evaluating your mental well-being requires complex courses of action, including appointments with professionals, in-depth discussions, and journaling through your life story. However, our Capital EAP Clinician, Denelle Abel, LMHC-SAP, suggests an easy seven-step process for self-evaluation.

  1. Self-Awareness: It’s time to get real. Reflect on your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors and how they affect your well-being. Identifying negative patterns can help you make changes to improve your holistic wellness.
  2. Physical Health: Consider how your physical health impacts your mental well-being. Are you getting adequate sleep, exercise, and nutrition? When was the last time you drank a glass of water? These factors can significantly impact your mental wellness, so make sure to take care of your body.
  3. Emotional Balance: Evaluate how you manage your emotions regularly. Can you express your feelings healthily or are you about to explode the next time you get cut off on the Northway? Mindfulness and breathing activities are effective ways to achieve emotional balance and improve well-being.
  4. Stress Management: Evaluate how you cope with stress. Do you have effective strategies to manage and reduce stress? Building techniques like mindful walks, yoga, or deep breathing exercises into your daily routine can help reduce the impact of everyday stress.
  5. Support System: Consider your support network and relationships. Do you have positive people you can rely on for guidance and support? A network of supportive individuals can help you feel less alone and more empowered to care for yourself.
  6. Life Satisfaction: Reflect on your overall happiness and satisfaction with life. Are there areas where you feel fulfilled, and are there areas where you would like to see improvement? Outline some goals to work towards making positive changes. I personally like taking this wheel of life assessment on occasion to assess the areas of my life easily.
  7. Professional Help: Seeking help from a mental health professional is always an option if you are experiencing persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety or other symptoms that are impacting your daily life.

Remember, taking care of your mental health is a journey, not a destination. Prioritizing your mental well-being and investing in yourself can lead to creating a happier and more fulfilling life. Capital EAP clinicians, like Denelle, can help you through your daily life problems and provide completely confidential solutions for creating a happy and fulfilling lifestyle. If you are ready to collaboratively work towards making a plan or discussing challenges, our intake team would be happy to connect you to one of our couselors. Our intake team can be reached at 518-465-3813 to set up an appointment.

By, Lorraine LaRock, EAP Account Manager and Denelle Abel, LMHC-SAP, EAP Clinical Supervisor