Something You Can Do For Your Mental Health – Something New

This is an interesting point:

The Mental Health Benefits of New Experiences—and Why You Don’t Have To Travel Far To Find Them

“When you do routine activities, you know exactly what it is, so you don’t even have to look at it. You can walk down the steps in your house in the dark—no attention required,” Dr. Hall explains. “Habituation means the brain is built to reduce its response to things it sees over and over. It even produces less dopamine each time you repeat an experience.”

Novelty interrupts that familiarity, which Dr. Hall says activates the brain’s notice system, boosting dopamine—a feel-good neurotransmitter that helps us experience pleasure. That dopamine boost can make us more alert and attentive to what’s happening around us.

For many survivors, routine keeps us safe. That same familiarity means you never have to deal with the unexpected, but it can also leave you stuck. It’s hard to develop resilience without occasionally doing something new. There’s also the reality of missing the mental health benefits of new experiences. That’s a real thing. Luckily, the something new doesn’t have to be anything big. The article above has some ideas: small, everyday things you can do to practice doing something new.

It’s a small change that could benefit your mental health.