Over the last number of years at SELF, we’ve provided no shortage of mental health advice. Many of the stories our editors and writers publish aim to offer practical, accessible ways to give yourself the mental health care and support that you need.
However, we know that there’s a ton of mental health and self-care information to sort through on the internet—and while you may have read some of our pieces, finding the service you need at the moment you need it is much easier said than done. So for SELF’s Guide to Caring for Your Mental Health, we had an idea: What if we culled all of our best, most useful mental health tips and put them together in one single article? The result is what you see below: an extensive but still skim-able and digestible list of mental health tips for a variety of situations and feelings.
If you’re having a bad day, you can pick a tip you’ve never done and try it out. If you’re looking to pay attention to your mental health more regularly, you can find a new ritual to incorporate into your daily routine. You can even print out this list and keep it as part of your self-care tool kit—stash it somewhere you can easily find it so you can expend as little effort as possible to use it, especially when you’re feeling low.
Now let’s talk about other best practices when using this guide: If you see a tip you’re curious about, we’d strongly encourage you to click through to the original article on SELF we sourced it from. (These articles are clearly linked throughout.) This will help you practice the tip in the most effective way possible. Plus, you can learn more about whether it might actually be a good fit for your needs.
We know that many of these tips are easier said than done, especially when you’re also dealing with depression, anxiety, loneliness, or any other issue. You certainly don’t need to do all of these things all at once. On a similar note: There’s no pressure to do any of these things, especially if you don’t find something useful. Self-care advice can feel daunting and overwhelming, and the last thing we want to do is add to that feeling.
If there’s something you think is really great that we’ve missed, we’d love to learn more about it! Shoot us an email at [email protected]—we’re always looking for new topics that can help our readers feel their best.
And finally, we want to remind you that these tips can go a long way, but they aren’t a replacement for therapy or medical care. If you are concerned about your mental health, are just not feeling like yourself, or think you may be in need of additional treatment, consider seeing a mental health professional if you don’t already.
Activities to Try When You Feel Down
1. Check out a mental health podcast. Mental health podcasts can provide self-care in multiple ways: You might learn something new about how to deal, feel less alone, or get a healthy dose of distraction at a time when focusing your attention on a book or a movie feels impossible. We compiled a list of our favorites to get you started—check out all of them here.
2. Take on a small, doable, uplifting home project. Giving your space a little upgrade can create a nice, comforting sense of control—especially helpful when you’re feeling anxious or uncertain. Plus, at the end of the project, you’ll have a happier, healthier space, which can do wonders for your mental health too. Read more about this tip here.
3. If you’d like to lean into distraction, might we suggest doing so with silly, entertaining, and downright engrossing TikToks? Yes, this is an ode to the social media platform taking over the internet. And no, it’s not just for Gen Z’ers! Give yourself the gift of scrolling (and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling) through a never-ending parade of pleasant, funny mental stimulation. “It’s the opposite of doomscrolling,” former editor Anna Borges writes. “It’s escapism scrolling.” Read more about this tip here.
4. Or…color! Art can be healing in many ways. You can use your creations to process trauma or your emotions, you can zone out from the world by doodling or scribbling, or you can get out your energy by pouring it into something physical. Basically, coloring is always a good idea. Read about coloring book apps you can download on your phone here, adult coloring books we recommend here, and more about art therapy overall here.
5. Dig into nostalgia, or the people, places, songs, games, and movies that have comforted you in the past. There’s always a chance that your self-care methods of yore won’t ground you as much as they used to. But taking a moment to remember what helped you back then—whether it’s five, 10, or 20 years ago—can ignite a sense of compassion for your old self—and a sense of hope that you will make it through to the other side once again. We highly recommend it. Read more about this tip here.
6. Jump around! Move in a way that makes you feel happy, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Yes, exercise can boost your mood. But that doesn’t mean you need to do a painstaking workout if you’re feeling down. Put on your favorite song and dance, walk the dog on a slightly longer route, or go for a swim. Finding an activity you truly enjoy is an excellent piece of a self-care tool kit. Read more about this tip here.
7. Make a list of things to look forward to in both the near and far future. Sometimes it can feel like there is nothing to look forward to, so we’ll start by saying we know that this is easier said than done. That’s why we’re proponents of creating things to look forward to too. That might mean reframing your thinking (you can look forward to something as simple as the next warm sunny day, or getting into bed with clean sheets) or adding something to your calendar for next week, month, or year. Read more about ways to create things to look forward to here.
8. Give meditating a try, even if you’ve never done it before. Mindfulness meditation is beginner-friendly and an excellent place to start. It largely revolves around drawing your attention inward to the present moment, letting go of any judgment about what you’re thinking or feeling. Research shows that it may be helpful in combating anxiety, depression, and even chronic pain. (We wrote a whole explainer on the science behind mindfulness meditation—you can read that here.) Here’s your sign to give it a shot. Sit in a chair, lie on the couch, or even try it on the subway. All you need is a few short minutes. And if you’re not sure where to begin, you can try a guided meditation. Here, we rounded up our favorite meditation apps, many of which have guided meditation options.
9. If you don’t like meditating but are looking for that effect, try knot tying. It’s an active way to focus your mind when sitting with your eyes closed isn’t your thing. It’s satisfying, it gives you something to put all of your attention on, and it allows you to notice your extraneous thoughts when and if they do arise. Read more about this tip here.
10. Try an easy-to-follow guided breathing video. Breathing is so powerful. It’s one thing that we do have control over, even though anxiety can make it feel like we don’t. Harnessing your breath through a guided breathing video is a great way to take a beat when you’re stressed or calm yourself down in a moment of anxiety. Plus, the benefits are proven by science—by slowing your breath, you can change your body’s entire parasympathetic nervous system response. See 17 of our favorite guided breathing videos here.
11. Tap into your “bad day plan.” When you’re in the throes of a bad day, it can be hard to take a step back and think clearly. A bad day plan can help you navigate what you’re feeling—even if that means soaking up your bad day, but doing so in a way that’s a bit more safe, comfortable, and hopefully leads to a better next day. There are five key components every bad day plan should have—read more about them here—then create one when you’re not feeling too down so you have it when you need it.
12. Take a bath. It might actually help…a little. It’s common relaxation advice—and it won’t fix every problem, but it can actually help a bit. Rest is necessary, and if it’s hard for you to get yourself to slow down, a more calming, sedentary activity like a bath is an excellent self-care experience to pencil in your calendar. Read more about this tip here.
13. Turn off your social media notifications. This is a great tip for anyone looking to make their relationship with social media healthier and more positive. It’s natural to find validation in comments, likes, and replies—but those shouldn’t be the only metrics we use to feel good. Turning off those notifications can help you interact with your apps more mindfully—checking them when you feel like it, and not because you’re hungry for judgment from others. Read more about this tip here.
14. Make a list of all the hard or uncertain times you’ve already gotten through. If you’re reading this, you’ve survived 100 percent of your bad days. Surviving isn’t always easy—usually, it’s not—but reminding ourselves of this can encourage further resilience. Plus, if you’ve gotten through that, who’s to say it’s impossible that you’ll get through this too? So write down the hardest times you can recall. Perhaps you can use some of that same resilience now. Read more about this tip here.
15. Create one thing you can control and do that thing. Doing something you have control over can be helpful when uncertainty is firing up your anxiety. But sometimes, that isn’t enough—so create something you can control, like a particular project or activity that exists for the sole purpose of helping you focus on what you have the power to do. A new home project counts, as does knitting a new blanket, making a daily commitment to doing your hair, separating beads by color, etc. Read more about this tip here.
16. Read a mental health book (or workbook) that can help you through your feelings. For many of us, the scariest part of feeling negative emotions is realizing that we don’t know where they come from and we don’t know how to “fix” them. Mental health books and workbooks are excellent, budget-friendly ways to learn new coping skills and mental health practices that will guide you through those feelings. They’re like textbooks for self-understanding, if you will. We compiled a list of our favorites—you can check them out here.
17. Distract yourself with a free phone game. Here’s another distraction idea you can try. “There’s just something so soothing about zoning out to the pointless, repetitive therapy of tapping my phone screen when I’m stuck in an anxious loop—kind of like a slightly more engaging fidget cube,” Borges wrote in this article from 2020. We put together a list of 29 free mobile games perfect for quelling anxiety—see them all here.
18. Write down all of your negative thoughts. This tip comes up again and again. The practice is useful when you’re managing anxiety and practicing mindfulness; it’s also great for emotional regulation and self-care. Using it can help you identify patterns, find greater distance or perspective from what you’re feeling, and more. Read more about this tip here.
19. Reframe your regrets by writing them down as the lessons you’ve learned. Regret can be upsetting, but it can also be helpful in teaching us lessons about how to live, act, and move forward. If you’re drowning in what you could’ve done or should’ve said, consider listing what you’ve learned and how you’ve changed instead. Or, if all you can see is how life stinks right now as a result of your mishap, you can use the present moment to find the lesson. Read more about this tip here.
20. Make a new playlist to boost your mood and help you reflect. Music is the best—and it’s loaded with emotion. Creating a playlist is an excellent way to reflect upon how you’re feeling and yet also stands as a great activity to potentially take your mind off the intensity of what you’re feeling. If you’d like, you can listen back to it and hopefully feel a bit more understood. Read more about this tip here.
21. Use a mental health app to cope, work through what you’re feeling, and maybe find some calm and release. Like mental health workbooks, there are tons of mental health apps available that can guide you through what you’re experiencing or even help you maintain a regular self-care routine. Download any of our favorites next time you’re in a rut and give it a go—see a list of great options here.
22. If you can’t fall asleep, don’t fight yourself. Instead, do something soothing. Lying in bed thinking about how you can’t sleep can end up causing more stress…that only leads to less sleep. Instead, listen to your body and get out of bed. Do something relaxing, like reading or coloring, for just 10 or 20 minutes. Then, give sleep another go. Read more about this tip here.
23. Change your sheets. Why? It will help you feel productive, it’s good for your hygiene, and it will make getting into bed that much more pleasant. You deserve clean sheets. In the same vein, we have a bunch of other low-lift ideas that might help you feel better, too. (Open your window! That’s it. That’s the tip.) See more of them here.
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Tips for Decoding Your Feelings (and Finding a Solution)
24. Have a real out-loud conversation with yourself. Another way to figure out what you need: Ask yourself out loud what you’re feeling. Try saying, “How do you feel?” or “What do you need to feel more relaxed?” Then think about what your body or mind would answer. You might be surprised by how having a real conversation with yourself can help. Read more about this tip here.
25. Decide whether you want to find a solution to what you’re feeling or if you want to just let the feeling run its course. This technique comes from the one and only Kristen Bell. When her daughters start to get upset, Bell will ask them, “Do you want a solution to this problem you’re crying about, or do you just want to let this feeling pass through you?” Sometimes our feelings are so overwhelming that finding the right solution to them can be difficult in the moment. In those cases, it can be best to just feel them—cry, journal, etc. Other times, we may be craving a more concrete solution or action. Decide which of those you need and act accordingly. Read more about this tip here.
26. Remember that nothing lasts forever—not your best feelings, but not your worst feelings, either. This too shall pass. In reflecting upon living alone during the pandemic, former SELF editor Patia Braithwaite wrote about how remembering that nothing lasts forever helped her get through her hardest moments: “The only thing I know for sure is that nothing lasts forever. Every horrendous low has eventually lifted. Every good feeling mellows out. The ups and downs are part of surviving this pandemic.” Of course, this applies to everything in life—outside of COVID-19 too. Read more about this tip here.
27. Give yourself permission to distract yourself from how you’re feeling. Distraction isn’t necessarily the same as denial; it’s not always negative or indicative of failure. In fact, it can be an extremely legitimate way to survive. A mental reset can also help you return to what you need to do—process your emotions, confront the thing that’s making you anxious or upset—with renewed energy and perhaps a new outlook. So yes—it’s totally okay to indulge in a few nights of Netflix. Read more about this tip here.
28. When you’re being judgmental or hard on yourself, try a RAIN meditation: Recognize, allow, investigate, and nonidentify or nurture. Recognize your thoughts and feelings as they’re happening; allow the thought or emotion to exist without pushing it away; investigate by asking yourself why you might feel that way or what the emotion is trying to tell you; and then remove that emotion from your sense of self-worth—in other words, un-identify with it. Read more about this tip here.
29. When you start to think about what you “should” be doing right now, reframe your thoughts in terms of what you actually want, would like, or can do. “Shoulds” often come with judgment and guilt—not great for mental health. Instead of telling yourself “I should do X,” tell yourself what you actually would like to do in the moment, want to do in the moment, or can do in the moment. It will help you meet yourself where you’re at, setting realistic goals for yourself that can, hopefully, lead to you feeling a bit better. Read more about this tip here.
30. Remind yourself that it’s okay to hit pause on your goals. In times of crisis, it’s always a good idea to take off as much pressure as we possibly can. Doing so isn’t easy, but the truth of the matter is that life changes, our circumstances change, and we change—and sometimes, the plans we had or the goals we hoped to achieve must change too. If you’ve been looking for someone to tell you that it’s okay to hit pause on that nonessential thing you said you’d do—well, it certainly is. Read more about this tip here.
31. Pinpoint your triggers. This comes in handy when you’re working to overcome anger that feels uncontrollable—though it’s helpful in navigating other negative emotions too. Write down the last few times you felt this way, and see if any patterns or links emerge. Was there an overlap in language that ticked you off? A specific traumatic behavior from the past? Knowing your triggers can help you avoid them in the future, understand why you’re feeling this way (which is always comforting), and communicate to others why you’re feeling or acting the way you are. Read more about this tip here.
32. Don’t fight your urge to cry—let it all out. Unfortunately, talking yourself out of crying often won’t make you cry any less—or fix whatever is making you upset in the first place. Crying can be cathartic, and while crying all of the time can certainly be a sign of a larger issue that needs professional attention, having the urge to cry when you’re upset is a normal and natural physical response to our emotions. In fact, crying in and of itself can go a long way in helping you process. Read more about this tip here.
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Things to Try When You’re Spiraling
33. Rely on a self-care checklist to use in times of crisis. In December 2020, former SELF editor Patia Braithwaite created this checklist for Black people to use when the news cycle was too much to bear. A baseline self-care checklist or toolbox is always a good idea. If you’d like, you can use this long list as part of yours!) It can help you remember to take care of yourself in the most important ways (like eating and sleeping) when you really just can’t. Read more about this tip here. Then create one in a moment you’re not spiraling so you have it when you need it.
34. Sit in your car. Bear with us: If you don’t have a car, try your bathroom or your closet. Finding pockets of private space away from spouses, children, roommates, coworkers, and the rest of the world can be instrumental in giving yourself the mental separation you need to truly decompress. Just take five minutes in the quiet and breathe. Sometimes, your car is more of a blessing than you thought. Read more about this tip here.
35. Dip your face in cold water. This grounding technique can go a long way in shifting your mood—and there’s science to back it up. The temperature “helps to counter that sympathetic response to stress, and it helps bring your body down to a calmer place,” Mona Potter, M.D., medical director at the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program, tells SELF. Another idea: Take a cold shower. Read more about this tip (and other grounding techniques to use when you’re spiraling) here.
36. Nestle yourself under a weighted blanket. While the science behind weighted blankets isn’t exactly clear, experts theorize that deep pressure (like that from a hug, swaddle, or weighted blanket) can help reduce the physiological arousal associated with anxiety by acting on the autonomic nervous system (ANS). In other words, it calms the physical anxiety response, which in turn can signal to your brain that it’s time to relax. Plus, who doesn’t love being cozy and comfy? If you’re curious, we rounded up the best weighted blankets—you can see them all here. And read more about this tip here.
37. Disconnect from the world when you need to. With the barrage of bad news that’s come out over the last two years (hello, global pandemic), being constantly online can most certainly exacerbate feelings of anxiety and hopelessness. Staying informed is important, but there are times when the doomscrolling does way more harm than good. It’s all about finding that healthy balance. If you need to delete Twitter from your phone or stay away from the news for a bit, that’s okay. Read more about this tip here.
38. Fact-check yourself. Existential anxiety and other anxious thoughts or fears can have us believing things that simply aren’t true. When these thoughts occur, try asking yourself, “What proof do I have for this thought?” This can help you separate worst-case scenarios from realistic situations that you likely have more control over. Read more about this tip here.
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Self-Care Habits to Consider Practicing Regularly
39. Try not to stay up late making up for lost free time during the day. Staying up at night for no reason other than rebelling against work and other commitments is called revenge bedtime procrastination. While indulging in it might feel great at first, it’s not so great for you. A tip everyone can use: Get the sleep you need when you’re able to get it. Read more about this here.
40. When you’re having trouble being productive, make a “done list” instead of a to-do list. To-do lists are helpful, but when we’re not feeling our best, they can also be daunting. Reward yourself for all of the things you have accomplished at work, home, or elsewhere in life with a “done list,” keeping track of everything you’ve finished during a certain day or week. This way, instead of slowly chipping away at a mountain of tasks—or not getting to any of them and feeling awful—you can acknowledge small accomplishments as they happen. Read more about this tip here.
41. Create a transition ritual, which can give you some room to breathe when going from one part of your day to another. Transition rituals are small moments that signal to our brain that it’s time to switch gears. They come in handy when we’re moving between bigger blocks of time. For example, commuting to your office everyday might be your transition ritual. Or maybe it’s your afternoon tea, or your walk around the block. These rituals can go a long way in giving us time to unwind throughout the day, while adding structure and routine—and they can be especially helpful when you’re spending a lot of time at home. Read more about this tip here.
42. Make “downtime lists” to add some structure to your free time. This one is great for people who are “bad at doing nothing.” Downtime can be hard, especially if you’re dealing with anxiety, loneliness, or another mental health issue. For many of us, downtime can also be hard to come by, so when we do have it, we’re left feeling like we could always be spending it more wisely. If any of this applies to you, make a downtime list—the to-do list’s chiller cousin. Read more about this tip here.
43. Don’t worry about creating an elaborate morning routine. Instead, set yourself up for a good day by starting off with a few small habits you enjoy and find useful. For many people, routines provide necessary structure. But they’re thrown around a lot in self-care talk, and creating one (and sticking to it) can feel like one more thing to add to the list. Instead, select a few simple morning habits that make you feel good, like making your bed. They can go a long way in setting the rest of your day up for success. Read more about this tip here.
44. The same goes for bedtime—find a few nighttime habits that make you feel good and commit to doing them regularly. No hour-long bedtime routine, no problem. Dedicating some time to figuring out what habits help you relax can ultimately help you get better sleep. So spend a few nights experimenting, see what you like, and try to make a habit out of it! Read more about this tip here.
45. Try one small way to practice gratitude daily, like spending a couple of moments before bed thinking about what you’re grateful for or going out of your way to thank someone else for something they did. A 2010 meta-review published in Clinical Psychology Review found that people who have higher levels of gratitude are also likely to experience less depression, greater well-being, and more social support, among other things. There is also research suggesting that gratitude practices can lead to real, measurable benefits for our mental health. It’s almost like…magic? Read more about this tip here.
46. Try to maintain your social relationships. SELF previously reported that when we feel lonely and isolated, we’re less likely to see things as they are. If you find yourself isolating from those around you more than usual, take a step to connect with someone close, either virtually or in person. Having a sounding board may help you feel more grounded—and can also bring you closer to ending the issue that had you isolating in the first place. Read more about this tip here.
47. Make journaling a habit to see its greatest benefits. To get the most out of journaling, it’s important to do it regularly. Doing so gives you built-in moments to check in with yourself, helps you stay a bit more clear-headed between journaling sessions, and allows you to track how the habit truly helps you. Read more about this tip here.
48. Schedule a mental health day—and actually unplug from work when you do. Just like how it’s best to take a sick day when your body isn’t well, it’s best to take a mental health day when your mind needs one. That might be for any reason—you’re dealing with a mental health condition, grieving, feeling burned out, going through a breakup…the list goes on. When you do take a mental health day, be sure to make the most of it by truly unplugging from work. Even though it may be hard, you’ll reap more benefits. For more tips on how to take a mental health day that actually helps, read this.
49. Write down a to-do list at the end of your workweek. This can help you avoid those dreaded Sunday scaries. Make sure you get everything down—from unfinished tasks to thoughts or feelings you want to come back to later—so that you don’t spend your off time mulling over everything in your mind. You’ll feel more prepared for your return to work and hopefully less anxious too. Read more about this tip here.
50. Put rest and relaxation time into your calendar. When we don’t schedule things in advance, we tend to pass over them more easily. So if you wait to relax until you have time to do it, you might find yourself having way less rest time than you actually need to feel healthy and well. Whether it’s a weekly chunk of time or a 15-minute break in the middle of your day, put that time in your calendar. It can go a long way. Read more about this (and other clever ways to get yourself to relax more) here.
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See more from our Guide to Caring for Your Mental Health here.
As we mentioned above, these tips provide useful, accessible ways to take care of your mental health. However, they are not a replacement for medical care or the direct guidance of a mental health professional. If you’re in crisis or in need of urgent help, check out some of the helplines below.
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255 (Available 24/7)
- The National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233 (Available 24/7)
- Crisis Text Line: Text SUPPORT to 741-741 (Available 24/7)
- Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network: 800-656-4673 (Available 24/7)
- National Alliance on Mental Illness: 800-950-6264 (Available Monday–Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET)
- The Trevor Project: 866-488-7386 (Available 24/7)
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