‘Take ten’ for your mental health!

Are you getting some time to yourself every day to process your thoughts and let your mind wander? Privacy is one of our emotional needs that needs to be met to secure our wellbeing.

Finding time for you, whether it’s within a busy workday or at home, is often difficult. Not having time to meet the need for privacy can get in the way of processing our thoughts, think things through and decide upon what’s important to us. If you’re finding your job or studies demanding, you may need time away to turn things over in your mind and reflect on the task in hand or what you are learning.

A lack of privacy can also affect our relationships if we are distracted by other concerns and find it difficult to listen to other people. Without privacy during the day, we might find that our mind is still whirring when we are trying to sleep – this might be the first time in the day when we have had privacy to try and process things.

So, what simple things can you do to meet your Emotional Need for Privacy?

• Allocate time for yourself in your day where you can have privacy. Not always easy if you have a busy life, but taking just ten minutes a day to be alone with your thoughts will help.
• If you live with others agree a time with those around you (whether that be your partner, family, friends or housemates) when you can do this so that they respect this time and give you the space.
• Create a space in your home that enables you to feel calm, such as your bedroom or an outside space. This could even be a new garden room (enter our competition here)
• Do something relaxing such as doodling, taking a walk or just having five minutes of peace where you are away from the distractions of life (try and put your phone away!)

Getting outside and having access to nature is also a great way to meet our need for privacy, as well as some of our other emotional needs, while a lack of nature can be a barrier wellbeing. Suffolk Mind’s research (from our Emotional Needs Survey) shows that having access to nature supports people to meet their emotional needs for movement, privacy and security.

Having access to the outdoors and nature is important for our mental and physical health. If you have the space, a garden room could help you create a space to meet your need for privacy whilst also enabling you to enjoy the outdoor environment in comfort. So, could you take ten minutes today to sit calmly amongst nature, mull over your day, perhaps with a cup of tea, to do something positive for your mental wellbeing?

Find out more about how to win a garden room (and support Suffolk Mind at the same time).

Explore the resources and services available to support your mental health by visiting Suffolk Mind’s website suffolkmind.org.uk