*How to take care of your mental health during the coronavirus, protests and beyond*

Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. As protests and the coronavirus are causing us stress and anxiety, here is our best advice to help you cope with what troubles you right now.Stress and anxiety are at all-time highs due to protests against police brutality and the coronavirus pandemic across the US. In order to help you get through these trying times, we've compiled our very best mental health advice -- all spliced into easy-to-digest sections on burnout, anxiety and sleep, plus the benefits of meditation, physical activity and getting outdoors. We hope this helps you navigate any mental health troubles or emotional distress you may be dealing with at this time. 

How to deal with burnout 

In 2019, the World Health Organization declared burnout an official medical diagnosis, proving that burnout is truly a problem that plagues modern workers. Most people live in a stormy sea of never-ending to-do lists that include work responsibilities, child care, social lives, romantic relationships and household duties. 

Where, then, is the time to take care of yourself? When everything else can easily and readily take priority, you have to make time to tend to your own needs. Easier said than done, I know. 

The first step is to recognize the signs of burnout and determine whether you might have it or be on the verge of burning out. One of the best and most effective burnout-prevention tactics you can employ is setting work boundaries, which may require taking a mental health day every now and then. You should also start a practice of saying "no" to things that don't serve you.

Don't forget about the stress that a seemingly healthy habit can have on you, either: If you're an avid exerciser that feels fatigued and irritable all the time, you may want to tone your workouts down a notch, or just take some time away from the gym. Overtraining syndrome is a condition that can reach into other aspects of your life.

Likewise, your diet may have an impact. Eating a diet high in processed foods is known to contribute to poor moods and low productivity, while a healthful diet can support good moods, focus and better productivity. Make sure you are getting enough calories in, too: Eating too little while trying to do all the things is a surefire way to feel poorly, both physically and mentally. 

Though there's a section devoted to sleep later in this article, I'd be remiss not to point out the relationship between lack of sleep and burnout. A 2012 study (PDF) in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology found that lack of sleep is a primary risk factor for developing burnout, and a 2018 study said that insomnia is "significantly associated with burnout in our population of white-collar workers.

 *How to calm and control anxiety* 

Anxiety is like a modern cognitive plague. Ask anyone you know if they've ever experienced anxiety and the answer is likely "yes" -- anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorder in the US, affecting about 40 million adults. And that doesn't even include all of the people who deal with low-grade anxiety and aren't diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

Even in the absence of true anxiety attacks, this sort of buzzing anxiety can be a detriment to your health, mood, sleep, productivity and relationships.

Dealing with anxiety can feel fruitless at times, but it's definitely possible with the right techniques under your belt and the help of a qualified professional if you need one. Try starting with these five life hacks for relieving anxiety, and then take a gander at the anxiety-related content below:

Find a therapist online with one of these 5 great services

3 effective tips for dealing with social anxiety

Learn how to draw: 5 online classes to take

Read these 3 free ebooks to calm anxiety and stress

How Googling your medical symptoms can contribute to anxiety

How to beat your social media addiction, according to a therapist

 *How to meditate and why it works* 

Meditation is a highly effective way of dealing with stress, depression and anxiety. But rather than using it to stop an anxiety attack that's already started, meditation should be used as a daily preventative tactic. 

Researchers think that meditation can improve emotional health because it affects the amygdala, which is a major emotional processing center of your brain. Studies have found that regular meditation can increase a process called gyrification, which results in more outer folds in your brain and is thought to help with information processing. Some research suggests that meditation also slows or stalls age-related changes in the brain. 

Aside from the brain, meditation has also been found to improve heart rate variability, a marker that indicates how well you handle stress. 

Convinced you need to add meditation to your arsenal of mental health tools? Try out one of these great meditation apps to get started. As you get deeper into the practice, you may want to look into a wellness or meditation retreat as well. 

 *Prateek saxena

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