Falling out of love, being cheated on, finding out that your spouse is not who you thought they were; all these things can play havoc with your mental health. Going through a divorce is one of the most stressful times of your life, but if you consider following these five tips, you can hopefully minimise the impact significantly.
- Communicate with others
Find your trusted friends or family members and share with them how you are feeling about your divorce, what has been happening and when you are grumpy about certain things. Communication is key, and it prevents things from being bottled up inside, leading to a massive explosion of anger, sadness and frustration at a potentially inopportune moment. Knowing you have people you can lean on who won’t go spouting their mouths off to your ex or the rest of the world is so important to your mental health.
- Seek professional support
Some people may be willing to undertake the majority of the paperwork yourself while others prefer to enlist the help of a professional. However you feel, it is beneficial to get help from an experienced law firm. They will support you to get what you truly deserve as well as checking that you get sufficient SSDI benefits after a divorce. Once you become single once more, your entitlement to certain benefits will change, so getting the experts to assist you in ensuring you are getting everything you can and thus being financially stable is worthwhile, boosting your mental health simultaneously.
- Get out of the house
Shame is still a feeling that many people have during and following a divorce. As a result, some tend to stay in the house unless absolutely necessary and this can have a detrimental impact on your mental health. Stepping foot outside the house can be tricky, but even just the feel of fresh air on your face and in your lungs can make a discernible difference. If you are concerned about bumping into your ex or one of their mates, you could go for a little drive to a nearby town or forest perhaps to minimise the risk of that happening, thus lowering your anxiety levels.
- Practise breathing
Undoubtedly, there will be moments where you will feel overwhelmed by the situation you find yourself in and you may even feel like you can’t cope with what is happening. It might not feel natural, but for many people, it is. Practising breathing techniques can really help to lower your heart rate and with it your anxiety levels. You could do this by joining a yoga or Pilates class, both of which encourage this.
- Don’t involve the kids
As tempting as it may be to talk about how badly the other person has treated you in front of the kids, please don’t do this. Involving them will never end well. Your words may be used against you in the future, and this can only pile on the stress. Furthermore, your kids are likely to be the most important beings in your life. Do you really want to hurt them and potentially damage their mental health?