Was kann die Psyche stärken?

Whether or not something stresses us – and when it leads to an overload – depends to a large extent on our personal resistance. This resistance is also called resilience, and people who have great personal resilience are resilient.
How strong your resilience is depends on many factors. You can also strengthen it so that you are less vulnerable to what can harm your mental health in the future.
We have no control over how much our resilience was fostered in our past. But we can strengthen our resilience for the future and also help our friends and family members strengthen their personal resilience.

The following tips can help better deal with future stresses – but that doesn't mean people already suffering from mental illness should have simply followed these tips. Strong resilience cannot protect us from all mental difficulties or illnesses, but it does ensure that the threshold at which we can no longer cope with stresses is reached later, and also that we can recover more quickly from stresses and move forward. As we have already explained, many personal circumstances play a role in our mental health – and building resilience is an important foundation for all of us to pay enough attention to ourselves and our psyche and to properly deal with the warning signs.

How to strengthen your resilience:

• Surround yourself with people you like and who are good for you:
  You can inspire each other, support each other, and share beautiful moments together. Meet with people who have similar interests as you. You can accomplish a lot together – and through that, you can tackle the things you want to change together.
• Give your day a structure: 
  Some of us can "live for the moment“, but for most of us, it's good to be able to follow some structure in our daily lives. This is especially important if you're having trouble with your sleep or if you'd like more stability. If you plan at the beginning of the day what you want to accomplish and when there is time for the nice things, then it will be easier for you to complete your tasks and not forget your free time. It is important that you set realistic goals for yourself – otherwise you will overwhelm yourself.
• Allow yourself to have time for yourself:
  This sounds obvious, but for many of us it is not. When you plan your day, consciously divide up periods of time in which you only do what you want and what is good for you. It is great that you are there for others! But if you're always there for others and never for yourself, you'll feel worse in the long run – and that's not good for anyone.
• Reward yourself for every little success:
  We often praise or admire our friends when they have achieved something – but forget that we also deserve this praise from ourselves when we have achieved something. Imagine you were a friend of yours: what would you say to her or him? Would you want to give her or him a little joy? Then direct that recognition and reward to yourself for a change!
• Take the things that are bothering you seriously:
  If you notice a change in your feelings or behavior, don't take it as a small thing, but get to the bottom of it. Take care of yourself and talk to someone about what's bothering you. If you don't want to talk to anyone you know about it, there are many places you can go to talk to professionally trained people about your concerns – anonymously and with a professional. contact points, bei denen du mit professionell ausgebildeten Personen über deine Sorgen sprechen kannst – anonym
• Make sure you get good, enough sleep:
  How much sleep is enough varies from person to person. Too much sleep is also not good for us. It´s important that you feel refreshed and well-rested in the morning, but don't curl up in bed even though you've actually slept enough.
• Get moving:
  Yes, we know we've all heard this tip many times before. Still, there's something to it: you don't have to exercise every day, but even a short walk can make you feel better, because when we move, happiness hormones are released. It's not good for our bodies to sit or lie down all day. We´re sure we've all experienced back pain or sluggishness after a day at a desk. Consciously plan an activity that gets you moving, or move things you enjoy outside: meet friends outside, play a game, or eat your lunch on a park bench. You'll notice: The combination of exercise and fresh air can only do you good.
• Eat a balanced diet and drink enough water:
  What we eat has a great influence on our metabolism. It is responsible for which hormones are released, how much energy we have available and how our physical well-being feels – in other words, things that influence our psyche on a daily basis. This doesn't mean that you have to change your eating habits according to a specific method, but you might notice after which food you feel well and after which not. You may also become aware of what you often crave: This may be a sign from your body that you are lacking certain nutrients. Find out for yourself what good food is for you, and maybe look at the nutritional values that food provides you with from time to time – then you will find your personal balance.