So you can challenge your thoughts like instead of thinking “im a failure” you could think “i am succeeding in these areas e.g…. and these thoughts do not define me”. So you're basically not accepting the first negative thing that comes to your mind.

Next up is “i am or have” affirmations. For example you can think “I HAVE overcome the worst and I AM still here, I HAVE learnt from past mistakes - until you have a list of 10 amazing affirmations. This just helps us feel more grateful for our achievements and a study found that it helps with sleep and lowers stress.

Finally, try to relate to others. This helps you realise that everyone’s gone through or has gone through something really tough and also similar so you shouldn't feel alone–  I recommend niche forums, create a group chat, search youtubers like “LGBT+ youtubers” (or whatever relates to you like psych2go), listen to relatable music and also charity work. To give something back to those communities that may have helped you or to simply put your time and effort to a cause you’re passionate about

The 3rd row is exercise: Studies have shown that it lifts your mood and reduces anxiety. Exercise also triggers bdnf to protect new brain cells. Thirdly, it helps with learning because when moving in the past it was for survival and your brain needed to remember animal attacks and a map of where to run and hide in the future. So sometimes when you’re sedentary your brains like I’m not doing anything important, I’m safe and don't need to learn anything.

source https://youtu.be/DsVzKCk066g?t=322

Sleep: its the most productive thing you can do as it helps you recover from your previous busy day so that you can maintain concentration, good memory and reducing stress/anxiety as your body is no longer on high alert. Its best to sleep on your side because it allows your brain to clear waste (e.g.amyloid beta) down the cerebral spinal fluid.  If you have a pillow or your arm it lifts up our head for the brain waste to efficiently slide down. For more information, see: https://youtu.be/O8UoAASCUsQ

Meditation – invented in india. This is highly recommended because it can help stop brooding or the reliving of sad and stressful memories. This type of stress increases your level of cortisol which degrades brain tissue and impairs your memory. For the longest time people didn’t of the impact that meditation has on our bodies and mental health but now we know that it turns the default mode network off which is usually on when your mind is not focusing on the outside world - so thinking about yourself and what others think about you. Also it improves sleep, increases the size of the brain specifically grey matter areas associated with emotion, memory and learning. For more information, see: https://youtu.be/Aw71zanwMnY

But how do you do it? Well I recommend Well I recommend starting with 10 minute sesssions then move up incrementally to longer sessions as you get more comfortable. These sessions can consist of just focusing on your breath so you pay attention to your breathing patterns, and this can help shift the focus from our thoughts to just breathing. If you want to do something more guided, there are many videos on Youtube that you can follow to start you on this journey.