损害精神健康的12个坏习惯

紧紧抓住自己的快乐

抑郁往往源自于我们无法控制的因素，譬如痛失爱人、失业或者财务困境等。但你可能没有意识到，你每天做的小选择也可能影响你的情绪。你的社交媒体习惯、健身习惯甚至步行的方式，都可能在不知不觉中，影响你每天的快乐心情。幸运的是，这些行为是可以改变的。下文列出了破坏好心情的12种行为，以及如何做出改变。

走路的时候无精打采

《行为治疗和实验精神病学杂志》发表的一篇研究论文称，我们的感受会影响走路的方式，但反之亦然。研究人员发现，当研究对象被要求走路时耷拉着肩，弯腰驼背，并最大程度减少胳膊移动时，他们的情绪会比那些以更有活力的姿势行走的人要糟糕。而且走路时低头垂肩的参与者，记住的负面信息多于正面信息，总是会说一些令人沮丧的话。

现在让自己开心起来：抬起下巴，向后转动肩膀，保持积极的态度。

任何东西都要拍照

Instagram上的网红们要听好了。《心理科学》发表的一篇研究论文认为，随意地拍照片，会影响你对这些时刻的记忆。在研究中，参与者们参观了博物馆，观察了一些展品，并拍摄了另外一些展品的照片。之后，相比观察过的展品，他们很难记住拍摄过照片的那些物品。华盛顿州肯莫尔的巴斯帝尔大学心理咨询与健康心理学系主任兼副教授、心理学博士迪亚德拉·L·克莱表示：“镜头是遮在我们眼前的一层面纱，但我们却并没有意识到它的存在。”

现在让自己开心起来：在拍照时专注于拍摄对象，或者更好的选择是坐回去，尽情享受美好时光。感受周围的美，参与到活动当中。克莱认为，这些事情将让你在精神上变得更加强大。

让霸凌者占你的便宜

霸凌不会随着你离开学校而结束。据职场霸凌协会统计，约有5,400万名工作者或美国雇员的35%，在职业生涯中的某个时刻曾经成为霸凌的目标。心理治疗师艾琳·K·莱纳德博士表示，超过70%的人曾亲眼见过职场霸凌。莱纳德博士还是《情感恐怖主义：打破有毒的关系链》一书的作者。 “一个人的自豪感和自尊心持续遭到恶意攻击，后果是毁灭性的。它让令你的情绪变得反复无常，甚至很难让自己起床去上班。”

现在让自己开心起来：职场霸凌协会建议，首先去看医生，谈谈自己的身体和精神健康。然后，在你认真记录下尽可能多的交流内容后，遵照该组织建议的三步骤行动方案。

从不进行体育锻炼

想想下面这种情况：据《美国医学会杂志· 精神病学》中发表的一项最新研究显示，如果每周有三次让自己变得更加活跃，心情抑郁的风险就会降低19%。伦敦大学学院的研究人员对1958年之后出生的超过11,000人进行了持续跟踪，直到他们50岁为止，并且按照固定的时间间隔记录下他们的抑郁症状和体育活动水平，结果他们发现了体育活动与抑郁之间的相互关系。抑郁的人更不愿意进行体育活动，而热爱运动的人出现抑郁症状的几率更低。事实上，他们每次运动的时候，抑郁风险就会下降6%。

现在让自己开心起来：走出家门，让自己运动起来。不需要运动太长的时间，如果可以的话步行完成一些跑腿的工作或者走楼梯等，任何一种运动都能帮助你的大脑保持运转。

你有拖延症

想想你一直拖着不去做的一项任务。如果拖延的理由是因为它很无聊，或者你只是不想去做，对此我们无能为力。但如果你避免去做这项任务的原因，是它让你感到紧张，或者因为你害怕失败，这时候拖延只会让这项任务变得更伤脑筋。

现在让自己开心起来：在你最终决定义无反顾地解决问题之前，首先做一些能够缓解压力的事情：莱纳德建议参加一些能够缓解紧张情绪的活动，比如听听音乐，跑跑步等。这样一来，你可以为这件事增添一些乐趣，而不是压力。

处在有害的关系当中

莱纳德说道：“有许多客户饱受焦虑和抑郁的折磨，却并没有意识到这种痛苦源自于他们所处的有害的关系。这种关系在不断侵蚀他们的自尊。他们的配偶让他们相信自己是无能的，或者是自私的。有时候，人们要用几年的时间才会发现，他们的抑郁和焦虑来自于他们的人际关系，这种关系已经让他们的内心变得支离破碎。”

现在让自己开心起来：这方面，你可能需要寻求帮助。首先，仔细寻找有哪些迹象表明你的配偶正在虐待你。然后咨询专业人士、家庭成员或好朋友，请求他们来辨认这些迹象。

你的人生过于严肃

你走在人行道上，被地上的裂缝绊了一跤，但你并没有耸耸肩一笑而过，而是尴尬地想要退缩。如果你属于这种情况，你应该想办法让自己多笑笑。莱纳德表示：“许多研究表明，笑声对健康很有好处，包括精神健康。笑声是快速治愈焦虑和抑郁的良药。”

现在让自己开心起来：每天寻找幽默。看一部搞笑的电视剧，听听天狼星广播电台Laugh USA频道的节目，或者与能让你开心的朋友共度时光。你还可以参加照顾孩子的志愿者活动，他们真的是童言无忌，会说出一些令人难以置信的话。

不睡觉。

克莱表示：“睡眠会带来各方面的影响。比如情绪和精神能力，以及身体的机能等等。睡眠是人体充电的一种方式，没有了睡眠，人体就会出现问题。”确定你到底需要多少睡眠。

现在让自己开心起来：搞清楚你为什么不睡觉，然后按部就班地创造一种安静的环境。

你从不独处

在孩子、工作、婚姻和其他活动的包围下，你找不到独处的时间（把自己锁在卫生间里可不算数）。莱纳德强调了找时间独处的重要性，不论是10分钟，一个小时还是一天。莱纳德表示，如果不拿出时间来为自己做一些事情，抑郁和焦虑的情绪就会慢慢滋生。

现在让自己开心起来：预约一段属于你自己的时间。更重要的是，要遵守约定。

不与他人进行真正的对话

如果你主要用短信、Facebook或其他社交媒体与朋友们保持联系，你们之间并没有进行有意义的接触 — 每天早上跟星巴克的咖啡师聊天可不算。克莱认为：“Facebook页面是娱乐性的工具。但它们并不是真正的对话，不能让我们去了解一个人。相反，它会减弱我们的体验和感受。”加州圣地亚哥的行为科学导师米歇尔·曼特尔博士也认同这种观点。曼特尔表示：“个人电子产品（如智能手机）也会影响专注力和对即时满足感的需求，让我们产生按下一个按键即可瞬间取得联系的预期。我们还学会了不再进行面对面的交流，而是只在虚拟世界中保持联系。而这会让我们与其他人坐在同一个房间里，进行面对面对话的能力和兴趣都受到影响。”

现在让自己开心起来：克莱表示：“在生命终结的那一刻，粉丝数量多少并不重要。重要的是你的朋友们。”保证每周至少安排一次与朋友、家人或伴侣的约会。

没有手机无法生活

上一次完全远离电子设备是什么时候？不记得了？这不是好现象。克莱表示：“我们使用的所有设备，似乎在给我们带来过度的刺激。如果我们总是不断接受刺激，就永远得不到真正地休息，无法给身体和精神充电。”最终便会形成抑郁或焦虑。

现在让自己开心起来：设定一个电子产品“安息日”，每周一次戒掉所有电子设备，即使只有半天时间。

一心多用

我们都有一心多用的问题：我们在吃午饭的时候，一边翻看着Facebook信息，一边看电视，同时还在不断发着短信。研究显示，虽然许多人认为进行多任务处理的效率更高，但事实上并非如此 — 这样做只会让我们焦虑不安，忘掉周围的环境，无法有效沟通。

现在让自己开心起来：其实很简单：放下手机，关上电视，专注于眼前的事情和周围人或事。让大脑处理实时发生在你身上的事情（而且不要把事情告诉你的社交媒体粉丝们），或许是对精神健康最好的做法。（财富中文网）

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

Hang on to your happiness

Depression is usually brought on by factors beyond our control—the death of a loved one, a job loss, or financial troubles. But the small choices you make every day may also affect your mood more than you may realize. Your social media habits, exercise routine, and even the way you walk may be sucking the happiness out of your day, and you may not even know it. Luckily, these behaviors can be changed. Read on for 12 ways you’re sabotaging your good moods, and what you can do to turn it around.

You slouch when you walk

How we feel can affect the way we walk, but the inverse is also true, finds a study published in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. Researchers found that when subjects were asked to walk with shoulders slouched, hunched over, and with minimum arm movements, they experienced worse moods than those who had more pep in their steps. What’s more, participants who walked in the slouchy style remembered more negative things rather than positive things. Talk about depressing.

Get happy now: Lift your chin up and roll your shoulders back to keep your outlook on the positive side.

You take pictures of EVERYTHING

Instagram queens, listen up. Haphazardly snapping pictures may hamper how you remember those moments, according to a study published in Psychological Science. In the study, participants took a museum tour, observing some objects and snapping pics of others. Afterward, they had a harder time remembering the items they photographed compared with the ones they looked at. “The lens is a veil in front of your eyes and we don’t realize it’s there,” says Diedra L. Clay, PsyD, chair and associate professor of the counseling and health psychology department at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Wash.

Get happy now: Focus on your subjects when taking pictures—or, better yet, just sit back and enjoy yourself. Soak up the beauty and participate in the action. These are the things that will make you mentally stronger, says Clay.

You’re letting a bully get the best of you

Bullying doesn’t end when you leave school. Approximately 54 million workers, or 35% of U.S. employees, are targeted by a bully at some point in their careers, according to the Workplace Bullying Institute. More than 70% of people have witnessed a workplace bully, says Erin K. Leonard, PhD, a practicing psychotherapist and author of the book, Emotional Terrorism: Breaking the Chains of a Toxic Relationship. “Being attacked maliciously in the place of pride and self-esteem continuously, it can be devastating. It makes you emotional volatile so that it is even difficult to get up and go work.”

Get happy now: The Workplace Bullying Institute recommends you first make an appointment with your doctor to discuss your physical and mental health. Then, after you’ve carefully documented as many of your interactions as possible, follow the organization’s three-step action plan.

You don’t exercise

Consider this: If you become more active three times a week, your risk of being depressed decreases 19%, according to a new study in JAMA Psychiatry. After following more than 11,000 people born in 1958 up until the age of 50, and recording depressive symptoms and levels of physical activity at regular intervals, University College London researchers found a correlation between physical activity and depression. People who were depressed were less likely to be active, while those who were active were less likely to be depressed. In fact, for every time they were active, depression risk decreased 6%.

Get happy now: Just get out and move. It doesn’t need to be for long—walking to errands if possible, taking the stairs—but any activity will help keep your mind moving.

You procrastinate

Think about a task you’ve been putting off. If the reason is because it’s boring or you just don’t feel like doing it, well, we can’t help you there. But if you’re avoiding the task because it makes you anxious or because you’re afraid of failing, then procrastinating just makes completing it more nerve-wracking.

Get happy now: Before you finally tackle your problem head-on, do something that helps you ease stress: listen to music, go for a run, Leonard suggests engaging in an activity that helps disintegrate the anxiety. This way you can insert a bit of fun into it, instead of stress.

You’re in a toxic relationship

“I have many clients suffering from anxiety and depression not realize it’s because of a toxic relationship,” Leonard says. “It eats away their self-esteem. Their partners have them believing that they are incompetent, or selfish. Sometimes it takes years for people to realize that their depression and their anxiety comes from their relationships and that they have been dismantled.”

Get happy now: You may need some help with this one. First, read up on the signs that your partner may be abusive. Then, consult either a professional, a family member, or a close friend to help you recognize the signs.

You take life too seriously

You trip on a crack in the sidewalk, and instead of shrugging it off, you cower with embarrassment. If that sounds like you, it’s time to find some ways to laugh more. “There are many studies showing the benefits of laughter on our health and this includes mental health,” Leonard says. “Laughter is the fast medicine for anxiety and depression.”

Get happy now: Seek out humor every day. Watch a funny TV show, listen to the Laugh USA channel on SiriusXM Radio, or spend time with friends who make you smile. You could even try volunteering with kids—they really do say the darndest things.

You don’t sleep

“Sleep affects everything,” says Diedra L. Clay, PsyD, chair and associate professor of the counseling and health psychology department at Bastyr University, “emotional and mental capabilities, as well as our bodies’ functioning. Sleep is our bodies way of regenerating and without it the system malfunctions.” Determine exactly how much sleep you need here.

Get happy now: Try to figure out why you aren’t sleeping and then take the steps to create a restful environment.

You’re never alone

Between kids, work, marriage, and other activities, you can’t find a moment to be alone (and locking yourself in the bathroom doesn’t count). Leonard stresses the importance of finding time for yourself, whether it is 10 minutes, an hour, or a day. Without taking the time to do things for yourself, depression and anxiety creep in, says Leonard.

Get happy now: Schedule an appointment for you time. And more importantly, keep it.

You don’t actually talk to anyone

If you primarily use texting, Facebook, and other social media to stay in touch with friends, you’re not having meaningful contact—and chatting up the Starbucks barista every morning doesn’t count. “Facebook pages are entertainment,” Clay says. “These are not true conversations that allow us to understand people. Instead, it lessens our experiences and feelings.” Michael Mantell, PhD, a behavioral sciences coach based in San Diego, Calif., agrees. “Personal electronics (like smartphones) have also impacted attention, demands for immediate gratification, and expectations that the press of a button can lead to instantaneous connection,” Mantell says. “We have also learned to not have face-to-face connections, only virtual. This impacts our ability and interest in sitting in the same room with someone, and actually talk with people face-to-face.”

Get happy now: “At the end of or lives, the number of followers we have doesn’t matter,” Clay says. “But friends do.” Make sure to schedule a date with a friend, family member, or partner at least once week.

You can’t live without your mobile phone

When was the last time that you were completely electronic-device free? Can’t remember? Not a good sign. “With all the devices we have, it tends to overstimulate us,” Clay says. “And if we are always on, then we never truly rest and regenerate our bodies and our minds.” Eventually, this can manifest itself as depression or anxiety.

Get happy now: Create an electronic Sabbath, where you abstain from all devices once a week, even if just for half a day.

You multitask

We’re all guilty of multitasking: we take lunch at our desks, scroll through Facebook while watching TV, and text pretty much constantly. Research shows that although many people believe they’re being more productive by multitasking, that’s not actually the case—it just leaves us stressed out, oblivious to our surroundings, and unable to communicate effectively.

Get happy now: It’s simple, really: put down the phone, turn off the television, and pay attention to what you are doing and what is going on around you. Allowing your brain to process everything that is happening to you in real time (and not broadcasting it to your social media followers) may be the best thing you can do for your mental health.

This article originally appeared on Health.com