How Brain Training Can Improve Your Mental Health
When thinking about mental health, people don’t pay that much attention to the “health” part. Unfortunately, most people believe that the only way to treating mental health issues is taking pills and talking to psychotherapist in long sessions.
However, we can train our brain like the way we train the body for increasing capabilities.
In reality, the brain is a changing, flexible, and living organ. The more you put it in use and find out different ways to work it out, the more adaptive and flexible it becomes.
Mental problems like anxiety and depression may be result in foggy thinking. Someone with anxiety disorder suffers from chaotic and rigid thinking pattern, whereas someone with depression feels their thoughts (brain activity) are slowing down. Despite their nature, both of these conditions are responsible for preventing meaningful and reasonable decision making abilities.
Brain scans of different young adults show that many of them are feeling the impact of cognitive impairments when it comes to executive functioning, attention, decision-making, and memory.
The primary problem when you are going through a spell of mental disorder is that you feel rigid and could not settle for a single problem solving method. For instance, someone with mental illness may appear to think that they are not good at making friends or that they are a terrible person. At some point, it becomes kind of an obsession deeply rooted in that particular person’s mind.
Brain training, however, can re-wire your neuropathways to help it become more flexible, which will leave you with more space for thinking differently. The purpose of a brain training regime is enabling you to approach a problem from varying angles.
Consider it a way to challenge your brain, in the process of which you are working through multiple neuropathways to enhance your capability to cope with changing situations in a more efficient way.
Below are four brain strengthening techniques that are a nice way to get started in the first place.
Always try to do something new.
Every day, take on new tasks to challenge yourself. It is as simple as taking a new route while going to work, trying a new recipe, or reading a new book. The primary advantage of working on something new is that it brings you out of the autopilot mood. You are noticing things and feeling alive and vibrant – which is totally new for you. It significantly helps you explore your opportunities through new neuropathways.
Consider multiple options at hand to pick from.
Before making any decision, go through hard brainstorming sessions. Allow yourself enough room for discovering new approaches that are out of the box. Go over the pros and cons only after developing a series of possibilities. Such an approach is more conducive for getting rid of rigid thinking and opening up creating new avenues toward an attainable solution.
Make yourself work hard while doing something.
Being too much dependent on technology is something that you want to avoid at any cost. For example, you can simply start with remembering phone contacts, rather than copying just digit for digit. Also, make use of your hand to calculate something; instead of using your PC, use a normal calculator as your backup. Such simple but effective activities put your mind at work. As a result, your brain will be rewired and strengthened for sure.
Do a lot of exercise.
There is no alternative to physical exercise to develop your body and mind. Regular exercise sessions increase the flow of oxygen and blood to the brain, the most energy-sensitive organ in the human body. Moreover, exercise helps a great deal with executive function of the brain as well as attention and memory.
Final Words
As the World Mental Health Day is approaching, you, by now, may know that the number of people around the world with mental health issues is rising alarmingly. To fight this epidemic, brain training programs could open a new window of relief to those millions in distress. Below is a list of groups which could be of great help regarding mental health issues:
- Existential Depression and Anxiety Group
Phone: (323) 284-2261 - STEP UP ON SECOND STREET: DANIEL’S PLACE
Phone: (310) 392-5855 - BRIDGES
Phone: (626) 350-5304 - AV WELLNESS & ENRICHMENT CENTER
Phone: (661) 974-8400 - Attacking Anxiety and Destroying Depression
Phone: (424) 531-7685 - LIVE Neurofeedback Clinic & Treatment
Phone: (855) 937-4949
