Summer and Your Mental Health
Summer is a wonderful time to spend with family and friends. It’s the season of sunshine, BBQs, vacations, and the beach! Most people find they feel better during the summertime. However, it’s important to realize the different ways summer can impact our mental health and how to make it the best summer for you and your family.
Dealing with the Heat: Everyone responds to heat differently, with some people loving it and others having low tolerance. However, it’s important to note that it can impact your mental health. Hot temperatures are often associated with irritability, fatigue, increased anxiety, and even depression. While most seasonal affective disorders occur in colder, dark months, it’s important to realize summer can pose risks too. Exercising the same precautions for physical health like staying hydrating and limiting exposure to extreme heat is helpful. Sleep may also be impacted by hot temperatures as it interferes with your circadian rhythm. It’s important to regulate your indoor temperature as much as possible during hot nights.
Extra Free Time: Summer calls for more time off from work. A break from work is very beneficial to your mental health, but it can be challenging for people who thrive off structure. This can be especially challenging if you work in education and have school-age children. We all remember the excitement we had on the last day of school, but after a week we were bored and missed our friends. This lack of structure can really interfere with your mental health. I suggest blocking off time for a variety of activities if routine is what you and/or your family does well with. I suggest mixing it up with adventurous activities, outdoorsy time and plans for a rainy day indoors. What hobbies do you enjoy? Maybe you finally get to that museum. The list is long, and there’s a lot more to do than you might think!
Social Pressure: Social pressure, FOMO whatever you want to call it, it’s real and it hurts a lot of people. Society has a certain image of what summer should look like and social media puts it all on display. It might seem like your friends are always on vacation or at the beach. This can lead to a variety of problems as you go in the comparison loop. It’s imperative to remember summer is what you make it and everyone’s memories are going to look different from other people's. It’s about speeding this time to do what you love and what feels right for your family.
Vacations: Vacations are an amazing time to create new memories and explore a different place. We take vacations to better our mental health. But taking a vacation can also be stressful. Unfamiliarity might be a cause of increased anxiety. In the age of the internet, we can familiarize ourselves with destinations through a simple search. It that doesn’t do the trick, try seeing if you know someone who's been to that destination. Try asking yourself important questions before booking a trip. Also finding a balance between enjoying attractions and downtime is key to a trip that helps mental health. Avoid getting yourself in a situation where you come home more overstimulated than before you left.
I hope this helped. Summer is an amazing time to take it easy, have fun, and make new memories. But it’s crucial to realize there can be a fine line between what helps and what hinders your mental health. Staying attuned to what your and your family’s triggers are can help you identify where to place boundaries. If feel like this is something you are struggling with, click here to book your free discovery call!
