We are in a better place than we've ever been when it comes to discussing mental health.
We still have a VERY long way to go.
Besides therapy and drugs, there are simple, daily things we can all do to try to brighten our days.
Life is dark, be we have to try let in some positivity.
If for no other reason than not being trapped in sadness.
What are some of the happiness tricks of the trade we all need to know?
Redditorpissed_at_everythingwanted everyone out here to tell us what puts a smile on everybody's face.
They asked:
"What is something that drastically improved your mental health?"
Listen to music. Even if it's Adele. Listen and dance.
Good Night
"Sleep."
ortolon
"Also, learning not to stress about not sleeping when you're lying in bed and rather just getting comfy and letting it happen."
NotQuiteHopelessYet
GiphyToxic
"Knowing it's okay to leave some people behind."
-Black_Guardian-
"I did that in 2021. Cut off my toxic friends, significantly reduced my visits to extended family (they're toxic and live within half a km from my home), reduced my unnecessary interactions with my parents (I live with them) and boy my life is the best it has ever been. I have never had so much peace in my mind (apart from the time when I was in kindergarten)."
More-Masterpiece-561
Silence
"Silencing my activity on social media, and replacing my time spent on there by reading books instead. I’ve finished 6 books since the start of January. I feel so good about myself because of it."
chick3nslut
"I recommend not deleting the account, but just removing the app and posting that you’re getting off of social media, and provide a phone number in case anyone wants to keep in touch/needs to reach you!
chick3nslut
Truth Hurts
"Being honest and transparent about how I'm feeling. 'I'm not mad at you, my brain just hates me right now,' has helped mitigate lots of fights and awkward conversations."
Nillabeans
"Oh my God I went through a sort of spiritual awakening where I realized a ton of s**t about myself and I started saying things like 'I’m not mad at you I’m just mad at the situation' or 'I’m mad at myself' and even if the other person isn’t cool with that and still mad at me, I feel so much better. All the rage came from within and realizing this helped me release so much of it. Traffic still freaking pisses me off though there’s no excuse for congestion."
Rawtothedawg
Beauty
"Something small that has helped me is saying aloud 'What a beautiful day, today is.' It’s small but I have better outlook."
turtlepawa123
GiphyA smile is a start. A smile, sun and fresh air. Always good beginnings. And we have start somewhere.
Healthy Pills
"Taking vitamin D and B supplements and getting enough sleep. Rely helped reduce excessive thinking and fixating on negative things from my past."
AnDagdadubh
GiphySweat it Out
"Exercise."
iamnobody1970
"It sucks at how well it works. I used to hate my mom telling me that exercise would reduce my depression but she was absolutely right. The issue is that when you’re really depressed it’s the last thing you feel like doing. But nothing else has as much of a positive effect on my mental state as regular exercise."
Counterboudd
Given your Worth
"Getting a job that paid a living wage improved my mental health 1000%."
rigel899
"Same for me. I was fortunate enough to be able to move back in with my mother so I could go to trade school and get a well paying job when I finished. My starting pay was double the shi**y minimum wage salary I'd been making a year and a half before. It was like removing an elephant that was on my chest."
MikoSkyns
Parameters Set
"Enforcing boundaries in work."
SmartPomegranate4833
"One thing to keep in mind is that you can always leave. If you are finding yourself dreading work, or a specific aspect of it (like a certain task or awful coworker), you can go elsewhere. Unless you have a signed contract that says otherwise, you don't even need to give notice; that two weeks is a courtesy, not a requirement. Don't ever feel like you're trapped, because you're not."
Coygon
location, location...
"Moving to a place that wasn't winter 8 months of the year and I was close to the ocean. Haven't felt suicidal in over a year and a half, probably for the first time since i was 16."
wyrd_werks
GiphyToxicFace
"Deleting my Facebook account."
theStormWeaver
"Same. My happiness and general development shot into the stratosphere the moment I stopped using that cesspool. My mental health still needs a lot of work, but it surprised me just how toxic Facebook was for me."
Independent-Owl478
Education
"Graduating high school."
LLancee
"For me it was graduating college. I mean, I like learning new things, but at this point of time, I just hate all educational institutions."
Weird-Thread
"Probably had the opposite outcome for me. I haven't felt anything close to the sense of community that I had then."
dlraar
Body Functions
"Stopping hormonal birth control. Didn't realize how much it was messing with me."
impossibility_day27
"Yes!! I felt way more in tune with my body, hormones and moods once I stopped hormonal birth control."
wyrd_werks
"That's what tracking my cycle did for me. Never been on birth control, but when I started tracking all parts of my month, I am so much more in tune with my moods, appetite, libido, marriage, anxiety. I can account for the intense dread and doubt before my period, and enjoy the attractiveness and ease of midcycle. Helped my marriage 10-fold, too."
abqkat
I Can't
"Saying no to things that I don't actually want to do instead of trying to help everyone out."
LoanOptions_ai
"I need this right now."
failure_singlemom
No Way Beer GIF by BuschGiphyEarly Eats
"Eating breakfast."
"I'd often describe to my boss and coworkers that I'd have a really bad brain fog that I sometimes couldn't think at all. I usually wouldn't eat until around 1pm or 2pm when I'd been up since 9am. I had to start getting up around 8am or sometimes 7am and I would have extra time to get food."
"Once I did, the brain fog went away and the change was immediate."
christygl7
Voice Within
"Eliminating negative self talk. Instead of 'Oh God I said something stupid, now she thinks I’m an idiot, why am I so dumb.' I just tell myself 'it’s ok, I misunderstood what she was asking, everyone does this sometimes and it’s no big deal' which usually stops the shame spiral before it can form."
"I was severely depressed before trying this. It didn’t fix everything but it made my life a lot better. Worked at least as well as antidepressants honestly."
emthejedichic
Do Stuff
"Adult hobbies. Surfing. Fishing. Running. Mine are solo activities, but you just need something challenging that you have to work at to get better. It gives you little things to look forward to so you’re not focused on all the depressing crap."
musashi-swanson
"I suffer from anxiety, and can honestly say that taking up needle point as a hobby has really helped me control it better."
justjk18
A Few Ideas...
"Getting a cat."
"Taking vitamins every morning."
"Being honest about my feelings."
"Setting clear immovable boundaries with my family."
MissNinja007
Queen Of Rap GIF by FuseGiphyA Little Time
"I take ten minutes a day (usually before bed) to tidy things up. I'm always surprised at how much I can get done in just ten minutes, and it's so much easier to keep the place clean that way. When things start getting really bad, the fact that I've always got a clean place is incredibly helpful."
future-unperson
I love this list. I will try them all. Wish me luck.
- People Explain The One Change That Drastically Improved Their ... ›
- People Break Down The Forms Of Mental Abuse No One Really ... ›
- People Describe The Worst Cases Of 'Toxic Positivity' They've Ever Witnessed - George Takei ›
- Mental health: How we've improved and where we need to do better ... ›
- How to Improve Your Child's Mental Health ›
- How Mental Health and Cleaning Are Connected ›
- Four Reasons to Cultivate Patience ›
- Journaling for Mental Health - Health Encyclopedia - University of ... ›
- Moving from self-destruct to self-care | Mental Health Foundation ›
- What Is Mental Health? | MentalHealth.gov ›
- Home Publications How to look after your mental health using exercise ›
- How to Improve Mental Health: MedlinePlus ›
"What is the craziest conspiracy theory that you secretly believe in?"
Or The Singers Just Wanted To Travel?
"Ireland began deliberately entering bad songs into the Eurovision Song Contest in the 90s."
"After winning it consecutively for a few years it began getting too expensive to host so they sabotaged their chances of winning it."- Houlilala
They Weren't That Cute...
"Build-A-Bear came out with a bunch of new toys that were all the same shade of yellow right after their Minion launch severely underperformed."
"They had stockpiled yellow fabric in anticipation of the Minion toys selling well and getting a big production run and had to find a way to use it all."- everlasting1der
Be Careful What You Ask...
"I believe r/AskReddit is actually a data farming operation that is being used to feed AI algorithms in order to produce more effective propaganda, social control mechanisms, etc… but what do I know…" - Sackerson-502
Search Engine Instagram GIF by GiflyticsGiphyBut Where Do The Beans Go?
"This is dumb, but my mother believes that the coffee grinder machines at the gas station are fake..as in they make a lot of noise just to make you think what your getting is fresh coffee."
"When it's 'grinding' the beans, you never see the beans move."
"We called the gas station and the employee said he doesn't know how the coffee makers work since a 3rd party refills them up or changes the flavors."
"I've called her crazy but slowly i'm getting sucked into it, simply because it's fun."- james_castrello2
Which Would Be More Embarassing?
"Paul Pierce sh*t his pants during the 2008 NBA Finals."
"He sat on the floor apparently injured until he was taken off the court in a wheelchair and returned minutes later completely fine."
"Sitting on the floor and leaving in a wheelchair stopped anybody from seeing his dookie stains."- pierremanslappy
paul pierce GIFGiphyNot Exactly Helping Anyone...
"Micro plastics are making people dumber."- blackbeautybyseven
When They Could Broaden Their Client Lists...
"That the weight loss industry sets people up to fail, because if their products worked they wouldn't have return customers."- Funky_chicken89
What's Important, He's Out There...
"It’s not the cameras: Bigfoot is blurry."- QuillDidNothingWrong
Bigfoot Sasquatch GIF by MOODMANGiphyThe World May Never Know...
"North Korea had an underground nuclear testing site collapse."
"Kim Jong Un then went to China."
"North Korea declared in their state news paper that they have perfected the nuke, and will no longer do any more tests."
"My theory is that Kim Jong Un went to China to ask for help fixing their nuclear disaster."
"Xi told him to deal with it himself and to stop playing with nukes."
"Kim came back to N.Korea like a beaten dog."- Initial-Finger-1235
What Lurks Beneath Midtown
"Occultist architect Ivo Shandor outfitted most of the buildings in downtown Manhattan with a specific alloy which, when activated under the right conditions, would summon Gozer the Gozerian."- Rogue_Wallet
A Connection To Brag About?
"This is dumb lmao, there is a man who lived and worked as a teacher where I'm from in NC."
"His name was Peter Stuart Ney."
"It was during the early 1800s, there's a local legend that lives on that this man was in fact one of Napoleon's right hand men, and fought alongside him even."
"It's been disproven apparently by the French government over the years, it's just funny how this guy was supposedly executed in 1815, just to show up over in NC as a teacher with the same surname and military expertise just 1 year later."
"They say he was a skilled fencer, and he had precise military knowledge even though he was just a teacher for the local school system."
"On his deathbed he supposedly confessed to being one Marshal Michel Ney, the 'Bravest of the Brave', according to Napoleon."
"Wild story but part of me just fully f*cking believes it's crazy enough to be true."
"Records indicated he had shown up in Charleston SC in 1816, just a year after this Michel Ney was executed in France."
"Idk, it's just a crazy story."- actuallyjayft
pizza emoji GIFGiphy...Aside From The Fact That Fairy Tales Are Public Domain...
"Disney only do remakes to retain copyright on the stories."- AndPlagueFlowers
Likely True For Some Of Them...
"All those crazy Boomers have lead poisoning."- octavialovesart
Bodes Well For Online Dating Too...
"The Empty Internet Conspiracy."
"A large part of the population of the internet and, thus, a large part of interactions on the internet are completely fake."
"Just faceless chat bots tooling around; generating social media posts, YouTube comments, and opinion articles on news sites."
"With the rise of AI generated essays and research papers, it's becoming easier to draw lines between those papers and how random news articles can read in a way in which a human would never write."- Karmit_Da_Fruge
Internet Netneutrality GIF by Ryan SeslowGiphyAs long as people keep these beliefs to themselves, and don't try to promote them, then they have every right to believe these rather dubious stories are true.
And who knows, some of these stories are so far-fetched, perhaps the only way they came to prominence was because they actually happened.
Redditor pambannedfromchilis wanted the wealthy to spill the deets on being wealthy, so they asked:
"What is something only a wealthy person would know?"
Tell me the secrets. Just first let me get a pen and paper.
Private Listings
I Am Rich Nene Leakes GIFGiphy"You can opt not to be on those 'wealthiest people' lists - for a price."
draggar
"The number of people that actively avoid those lists is far higher than the number of people on those lists. Also, some people actively manage the amount the list shows."
Ragnel
Call Me
"The phone numbers from people who could help you out of any (even bad) situation."
purevenuscookieslog
"All you need is one person with the right phone number and worth that level of protection."
There is a neighborhood in Colorado Springs with a large number of former generals, nuclear scientists, corporation directors, etc. Within 5 minutes of a burglary alarm going off, the criminal was dead. I can assure you that the Colorado Springs police can't respond that quickly."
jeffh4
HELP!
"The less help you need, the more you get."
manIDKbruh
"You have access to favorable credit lines with better rates than ordinary folk. They just throw money at you when you have money."
dbx999
"Bob Hope used to say 'a bank is a place that'll lend you money, but only if you can prove you don't need it.'"
tommytraddles
Premium Help
"How to fully use a hotel concierge service."
Firebolt164
"Was in Australia at a nice hotel. Wanted to go to Royal Observatory but there were no tickets that evening - only the evening we could make it. Ended up in casual conversation with the hotel concierge. At some, told him how much we were enjoying our visit and he asked if there was anything disappointing."
"I said only that we could not get into the Royal Observatory. He said he’d see what he could do, catching me by surprise having been unfamiliar with what a concierge does before then. That night my wife and I were looking at the Jewel Box through the telescope at the Royal Observatory."
arriesgado
Celeb Encounters
Rihanna Boat GIFGiphy"You can rent celebrities for your private events. Not just musicians, but bonafide actors and actresses."
MediumRareTaint
"I remember a few years ago the founder of Lululemon, Chip Wilson, had the Red Hot Chili Peppers play in his backyard here in Vancouver. We could hear them from the beach below."
madam1madam
If had the money to rent people for private events, Adele would have plans forever!
What is Rent?
Alicia Silverstone My Bad GIFGiphy"Have a friend who is moving to the Bay area. To work for a non-profit. Part-time. She didn't know what her salary would be."
minervazahara
Fly High
"Private jets come with different size luggage compartments."
thinkx5
"I mean, do all cars have the exact same size trunk? No, some are roomy as sh*t and some are teeny. It makes sense that different models from different manufacturers would have different sized/shaped compartments, especially given there are some that seat 4 passengers and some that seat 14."
fireandlifeincarnate
Member-Owned
"The difference between an equity country club and a membership country club."
smurfsundermybed
"Some country clubs have vested ownership (ie 100% member-owned) while others are owned by corporations. It really isn't always a prestige thing, many older clubs in the sticks only came about because they were member-owned and built by a group of families."
"Of course, nearly all of today's old-school elite courses started out as member-owned but that doesn't mean all member-owned courses are elite."
Salamok
"Yeah, this is a good one. Also, the understanding that you can't just walk into most private clubs, write a check for whatever the fee is and become a member. Most of the equity clubs have a white ball/black ball system too, similar to fraternities, where two or three blacks DQ you."
xkulp8
When in Need
"The VIP hotline number at the children's hospital when your kid needs urgent care but there's a big wait in the ER (but your kid isn't sicker than anybody else's kid in the ER), and you won't get to the front of the line. Blew my mind when a very wealthy friend told me he did this for his child (the friend's father was a huge donor to the hospital). More power to him, but there is the wealthy and then there is the wealthy."
off_mode_auto
The Most Valuable
Seth Meyers Time GIF by Late Night with Seth MeyersGiphy"That wealth is not what people see. It's what people don't get to see. That the most valuable asset is not things, but time."
shidored
Whoever said money can't buy happiness is lying.
There is the biggest secret.
