Do not deprive yourself of everything you love in pursuit of optimized health, as this often does not lead to the best mental health. Instead, actively seek out and prioritize doing things you genuinely love, as there is an inherent benefit for your mental health.
To overcome apathy and build motivation, make the initial cost of an activity very small (e.g., 5 minutes), as this makes it easier to start and eventually become a self-reinforcing habit.
Focus on fundamental aspects of health like sleep hygiene and regular exercise, as these can significantly enhance resilience against mental health challenges and improve overall well-being.
Laugh with friends to release endogenous opioids, which can reduce pain, increase physical endurance, and lower physiological stress signals during conflict, enhancing social cohesion.
Practice tuning into your body’s own internal signals (interoception) to understand your physical and emotional state, as this can have a profound impact on your well-being.
Seek temporary relief from painful symptoms to change your interpretation of those signals, making them feel less permanent or all-encompassing, which is key to overcoming them.
Understand your chronotype (morning person vs. night owl) and modify your work schedule to align with your most energetic and motivated hours for better output and personal well-being.
When increasing movement for mental or physical health, prioritize activities you genuinely enjoy, as it’s a much easier and more sustainable path than forcing yourself to do something you dislike.
Practice mindfulness-based therapies or simple exercises like training to attend to your heartbeat to boost interoception, which may be a key mechanism for improving anxiety and depression.
Practice detecting subtle physiological differences, such as stomach rumbling, to distinguish true hunger from emotional states like irritability, which can be mistakenly interpreted as ‘hangry.’
Engage in activities that might unexpectedly bring pleasure, creating a ‘positive prediction error’ that can help integrate a more positive outlook into your model of the world.
Engage in interoceptive training, such as controlled breathing during heightened physiological signals, to learn to control your body’s responses and potentially stop panic attacks.
Pay attention to your body’s internal signals of hunger and fullness, as a deficit in interpreting these interoceptive cues can lead to dysfunctional eating patterns and negatively impact physical health.
Engage in brief discomfort, such as very cold water immersion, to induce endogenous opioid release in the brain, which can acutely boost mood and help push through pain.
Clinicians should recognize the immense power of the placebo effect and prioritize how they communicate with patients, as their manner and words can significantly influence patient expectations and treatment outcomes.
If using health wearables, be aware that negative data (e.g., poor sleep quality) can have negative repercussions on your subjective well-being, potentially more than your own perception.
To enhance learning and retention, identify one new insight to apply to your own life and one to teach to someone else.
Take ownership of your health, understanding that making lifestyle changes is always worthwhile because feeling better leads to living more.
Understand that the body and brain are not separate entities; physical health is consequential to the brain, and artificial divisions between physical and mental health are misleading.
Be aware that mental and even physical symptoms can be transmitted or enhanced in social settings, especially during adolescence, due to unconscious social contagion.