Mental health matters. Especially right now as we all face challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our lives have changed overnight, and everyone is adapting. While some may experience the changes we’re facing as inconvenient, for many, they are a major upset. Limited income, mental, and physical health barriers place many in vulnerable situations. The crisis associated with COVID-19 places further risk to those who were already struggling.

How are you doing during these unsettling times? Do you find that your normal self-care tips and tricks are working? Or are you looking for ways to cope? No matter what you’re feeling, you’re not alone. While 1 in 5 people will experience a mental illness during their lifetime, everyone faces challenges in life that can impact their mental health, especially during a global pandemic. The good news is there are practical tools that everyone can use to improve their mental health and increase resiliency - and there are ways that everyone can be supportive of friends, family, and co-workers who are struggling with life’s challenges or their mental health.

For May is Mental Health Month, Mental Health America is highlighting #Tools2Thrive - what individuals can do daily to prioritize their mental health, build resiliency in the face of trauma and obstacles, support those who are struggling, and work towards a path of recovery.

One of the easiest tools anyone can use is taking a mental health screen at mhascreening.org. It’s a quick, free, and private way for people to assess their mental health and recognize signs of mental health problems. You would get screened for heart disease, or diabetes, right? Then consider getting screened for mental health.

Mental Health America also explores topics that can help you build your own set of #Tools2Thrive - recognizing and owning your feelings; finding the positive after loss; connecting with others; eliminating toxic influences; creating healthy routines, and supporting others - all as ways to boost the mental health and general wellness of you and your loved ones.

When it comes to your feelings, it can be easy to get caught up in your emotions as you’re feeling them. Most people don’t think about what emotions they are dealing with but taking the time to really identify what you’re feeling can help you to better cope with challenging situations. It’s ok to give yourself permission to feel. We also know that life can throw us curveballs - and at some point in our lives we will all experience loss. It may be the end of a relationship, being let go from a job, losing a home, or the death of a loved one. It is natural to go through a grieving process. By looking for opportunity in adversity or finding ways to remember the good things about who or what we’ve lost, we can help ourselves to recover mentally and emotionally.

It also is true that connections and the people around us can help our overall mental health – or hurt it. It’s important to make connections with other people that help enrich our lives and get us through tough times, but it’s equally important to recognize when certain people and situations in life can trigger us to feel bad or engage in destructive behaviors. Identifying the toxic influences in our lives and taking steps to create a new life without them can improve mental and physical health over time. And we know that work, paying bills, cleaning, getting enough sleep, and taking care of children are just some of the things we do each day - and it is easy to be overwhelmed. By creating routines, we can organize our days in such a way that taking care of tasks and ourselves becomes a pattern that makes it easier to get things done without having to think hard about them.

For each of us, the tools we use to keep us mentally healthy will be unique. But we want everyone to know that mental health matters. Finding what works for you may not be easy but can be achieved by gradually making small changes and building on those successes. By developing your own #Tools2Thrive, it is possible to find a balance between work and play, the ups and downs of life, and physical health and mental health – and set yourself on the path to recovery. You are not alone. Learn more about Mental Health's America's #Tools2Thrive at https://www.mhanational.org/mental-health-month.