Experts say more people are prioritizing mental health in the New Year
NORTH TEXAS – A new year can bring a fresh start, and while many people will set resolutions to eat healthier or save money, researchers are noticing a trend of more people adding mental health goals to their new year plan.
To get more insight on this, CBS News Texas spoke with consumer strategist Lisa Miller of Lisa Miller & Associates, LLC.
Miller started a research project in March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, and found about a third of people she spoke with wanted to find more joy in their lives—and a fourth wanted to be more present and not as distracted for their New Year's resolutions.
Here's what Americans are considering for their 2024 New Year's Resolutions:
- Focus on finding more joy in your life (33%)
- Focus on being present, not distracted (25%)
- Reduce screen time (18%)
She also noticed the younger generations, Gen Z and some Millennials, are dealing with loneliness and are craving social connections.
According to Miller's research, parents of teenagers crave social connections the most at 55%, while 24% of Americans report being "very lonely" and 50% of Gen Z and 32% of Millennials reporting being "very lonely."
"So what happened is in this data, this resounding yearning for focus to find joy to take care of themselves is actually really pronounced and it's really strong among Americans so it's just really telling where we are today as a society," said Miller.
And she's noticed more people are wanting to focus on bettering themselves mentally.
"This struggle that we've been having between fear and anxiety, loneliness and the impact, it's really the unintended consequences of the pandemic that we're still unwinding today and so since March of 2020 yes loneliness as we know is a huge problem," said Miller.
Over the years, more people seem to be willing and open to discuss mental health issues they may be going through, "Not only are you seeing people reach out for help more often you're seeing organizations and businesses prioritizing mental health, even down to the fact that you know therapy and those types of things are often covered and now medical benefits and those things were definitely not even in the vernacular even call it 5 years ago," added Miller.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, here are some tips for creating and keeping resolutions that prioritize your mental health:
- Pick a goal that motivates you
- Break down big goals into small manageable goals
- Focus on progress not perfection
- Lean on others for support and motivation
- Practice self-compassion
- Set a new date
- Don't compare yourself to others
- Know when to ask for help
To learn more about goal setting from SAMHSA, click here.
To read more about Miller's findings, click here.