It is vital for us to take a break from some of our engagements that affect our health, particularly our mental health. The state of our mental health can make or mar different aspects of our lives, hence, the need to always watch out for ways how to ensure it functions optimally.  

Here are some of the benefits of having a vacation that positively affects our mental health

It makes you happier

Different studies have shown that when you travel or take a vacation, you are likely to be happier than those who do not travel at all. When you spend a lot of time in one place, you might grow to become tired of staying there, and this is when you need a change of environment.

It reduces the risk of depression

Another benefit of going on a vacation is that it may lower the risk of being depressed. When you go on a vacation, you will have less time to think of things that are not working because you’re not around them.

Rather, you will more focused on making the best out of your vacation. Some studies showed that people who went on vacation experienced a decrease in depression symptoms.

It boosts your creativity

If you’ve been feeling burnout symptoms, then you might need a vacation to clear your head. Most times, when you feel burned out, it might be difficult for you to process creative thoughts or ideas.

Hence, if you are in a place different from where you are used to, you will be more aware of your surroundings, which will contribute positively to your creativity. When you have vacation experiences, you are likely to be more creative because you are compelled to think differently.

It helps to relieve stress

Everyone gets stressed because it is a natural phenomenon that comes with life. If you experience chronic or long-term stress, it can affect your physical and mental health.

On the other hand, if you look forward to a vacation where you are cut off from work and other life demands, you will feel more relaxed and less stressed.

Exercise, a balanced diet, and a healthy lifestyle are necessary for maintaining health. It is also important to schedule regular medical checkups. A medical checkup helps you avoid diseases and notice others early on.

It also serves to keep you informed about your health, keep your physician or other doctors informed about your health, and ultimately result in a healthier life. Health checkup should be steady on your schedule for these four reasons:

• Risk of falling ill:

In a routine medical checkup, you will undergo several physical and mental tests so your body and mind will be in good shape. They are full-body checks because they examine your head to toe. So, you can discover any disease on time and prescribe the appropriate treatment for them.

• Detecting stress-related illnesses:

Considering the constant pressure at school or work, unpredictable weather, socioeconomic pressure, it is no wonder most people are stressed these days. There has been a rise in stress levels in every individual, which may lead to stress-related diseases and disorders manifesting physically or psychologically.

Regular full body checkups will help your doctor diagnose such issues and also allow you to discuss stress to get the treatment you need.

• Early detection of unnoticeable diseases:

Most people know how to recognize signs of common diseases such as a cold or a fever since these usually have physical symptoms. It may suffice for the lesser ones, but you may suffer from something that could get worse without medical attention.

That is why doctors usually recommend a blood test, which is also an essential part of any yearly health checkup (although the exact tests may differ depending on your age and lifestyle). The blood tests also aid in screening out various diseases.

• Reduction of Healthcare costs:

With regular checkups, you are aware of what your body needs timely. It makes you avoid what will make you sick and embrace healthy actions. What you are doing is saving yourself from any healthcare costs you’d have to bear if you should fall ill.

Life runs on systems. A system is a pattern established to carry out a particular purpose to achieve the desired result. There are systems everywhere, in the natural world and the artificial. For instance, how rain falls is representative of how systems work.

We build systems to maintain stability. It is not limited to businesses but even our daily lives. Creating one around your daily activities will help you stay organized and not miss out on actions expected of you.

Having a great system is not something that anyone should shy away from. It may be stressful to create but, it guarantees ease of living if set. If you want to create a system, all you need to do is to be conscious of the steps you took in completing a task and follow suit when next you’re faced with such a task.

You should have a functional system because it helps in reducing the burden of being pressured or the feeling of being overwhelmed. Since you already know what and how to do, you save yourself from the stress of performing a task. It would also help you to be able to delegate tasks and ease the burden on you.

In the business world, systemizing your business will help you develop an understanding of how every aspect of your business works. It will enable you to manage your teams more effectively. When an employee is absent, another staff will follow the system relating to the missing employee’s job responsibilities. Your business will continue to run smoothly, grow, and evolve by implementing systems.

If you want to accomplish your goals consistently, the key you need is to build a good system. It saves stress, allows for ease of work, and shields you from the risk of suffering from downfalls.

Sleeping well comes with lots of benefits. One of the benefits which we appreciate every time, is the refreshment our bodies and brain receives when they are put to rest. So, no matter the time of the day, the experience of having a good sleep is surreal.

Below are some important points that show why it is good to sleep:

• Stress reduction: Sleeping is one of the best ways to combat stress. Whenever your stress levels are high, it is important for you to sleep. So, no matter how rigid your lifestyle could be, sleeping well is needed to keep you in check. If you want to be continually refreshed, then you need to make sleeping a priority.

• Memory improvement: Your memory definitely improves when you have a good sleep. Do you know that anytime you are tired, it is difficult for you to recollect events stored up in your brain? However, if you have a good sleep, you will discover that these memories would flood you immediately you are up.

• Weight maintenance: For those who are looking to lose weight, it would interest you to know that it can be achieved by sleeping properly. Alongside with a good nutritional plan, it becomes great to chase the goal of weight reduction and maintenance. Closely related to this is, sleep helps to regulate the unnecessary appetite you might have for food.

• Mood improvement: People who do not sleep well often tend to be restless an uncomfortable. This happens because their bodies have not been refreshed. On a regular basis, it is important to be calm, controllable and reasonable and this is what good sleep does for you.

• Healthy heart: It is important to have a good sleep so that your heart can be healthy. In addition to lowering stress levels, the chances of inflammation are reduced and this means you will not have heart-related problems

• Proficient painkiller: For people who have fresh injuries, having enough sleep contributes to helping you reduce the pain.

It might not be easy to stick to a good nutrient plan probably because of the ease of access and cost as well. However, for a good nutrition, it is essential for you to make commitment to improving your health and one of the ways you can achieve this is by eating healthily.

Good nutrition involves that you do away with foods that have a high sugar content and saturated fat. These foods are easily gotten from snacks and fast foods and this is why some people prefer them to well-cooked meals.

Below are some important points associated with a good nutritional plan:

• Increase in productivity: For you to step up in productivity, it is important for you to eat healthily. Your brain needs a supply of fuel that would enhance its creativity and enhancement. So, eating healthily helps you to achieve this purpose and as you can expect, this avails you the chance of landing mouth-watering job opportunities and contracts as the case may be.

• Enhancement of mood: The food you eat has a say on how you feel for that period. That being said, you need to always bear in mind that food can either positively or negatively impact your brain. Based on research, there is no anti-depressant meal but there are some foods that lack certain nutrients that increases the prospects of being depressed.

• Reduction of weight: If you are overweight and you need a change, it is important for you to watch what you eat. One of the reasons why people are obese is because they eat too much. And what they take in is not great for their health.

• Increased life expectancy: With a good nutrition, you are certain to live longer than usual. You would not be vulnerable to other health diseases because you have a fortified immune system. This is one of the major reasons why people live longer than the other. The paraphrased quote: You are what you eat, is very profound. The number of years expectancy greatly lies in your hands.

Art therapy in the treatment of addiction has been proved to be effective. It is a form of non-verbal communication which avails the artist to employ any form which they deem fit. Addiction to either alcohol or drugs has various origins. It could be as a result of traumas at childhood, depression, stress amongst others. Due to the fact there are lots of delicate factors enmeshed in this, there are also lots of treatments in place.

Art therapy aids the patient in coming to terms with incidents which occurred in the past, and also reduce the amount of shame which often serves as a side-effect to searching for help. The creation of art is exclusively the work-function of the artist.

Addicts in recovery can communicate their thoughts and feelings in the following categories:

1. Visual and Fine art: This is a form of arts which involves painting, sculpting, cut-paper art and drawing. This requires lots of creative thinking from the individual.
2. Performance arts: For this category, the individual would either have to be a performing dancer, a music artist, an instrumentalist, or an actor. This requires the addict to put in more action and physical action
3. Applied art: This category involves sewing, cooking, woodworking and jewelry making
4. Literature: In this category, there is only one example, which is creative writing

Taking a permanent break from addiction happens to be a very difficult decision to make, based on the fact that it could be quite disorienting, wherein all sorts of emotions could surface. No two persons can have the same reaction in the same way, this is why there are various forms of art therapy which are excellent for counsellors, and therapies who want to put to trial, different methods. A Luxury Treatment Center is the kind of programs that typically incorporate Art Therapy.

One of the features of putting art to use in order to cope with addiction, is the fact that it can be used irrespective of the age. It takes a lot of patience to know what works well for you, and learning what you have the capacity to handle in a safe and healthy environment¸ is one of the most appropriate ways of recovering from substance abuse.

Channeling your energies in a beneficial way is a good habit which must be imbibed.