You might have heard about Blue Monday, a day of post-Christmas depression, festive debt, job boredom, weight gain, low motivation and broken New Year resolutions. However, it doesn’t have to be this way.
A positive aspect of Blue Monday is that it opens the discussion of the stigma surrounding poor mental and emotional health and depression, and raises symptoms awareness.
So this year, instead of giving in to Blue Monday, we invite you to consider your emotional health in order to help you manage both positive and difficult feelings throughout the year. Family Links has identified the key assets of emotional health. They are:
Self-belief - Positive self-belief makes us more likely to act on our own initiative.
Self-awareness - Higher levels of self-awareness make us more likely to build positive team relationships, regulate our emotions and behaviour, and make informed decisions.
Self-regulation - Good self-regulation enables us to manage difficult feelings constructively, supporting us to get back on track quickly after a setback, maintaining relationships, and a positive state of emotional wellbeing.
Self-agency – Good self-agency gives us the ability to influence our environment and achieve goals, as well as demonstrating higher levels of innovation and problem solving.
Beliefs about others – A healthier belief in other people, including whether or not they can be trusted and how they will respond to us, makes us more likely to view their intentions positively and means we’re more likely to ask for their help if we need to.
Social awareness – A good level of social awareness is essential for effective communication and developing meaningful relationships, whether we’re at home, at school, or in the workplace.
Relationship skills - Good relationship skills help us to communicate effectively, express ourselves, and respond to conflict or challenge. Enhancing our relationship skills is essential for a happier and more successful personal and professional life.
How can you develop these assets? Organisations like Family Links deliver emotional health training to a range of settings – at home, in the community, at schools and universities, and in the workplace, helping people to realise their full potential by teaching them how to improve and maintain positive and robust emotional health. You can find out more about our work, and how we can help you on our website or getting in touch info@familylinks.org.uk