Daily habits that could be making your Mental Health worse.

When you’re not getting enough sleep, you might think it’s a good idea to “catch up” later on and sleep in on weekends, when you don’t have to worry about that dreaded morning alarm buzz or the rush of harried workday mornings.

But you really need to prioritize getting enough sleep on a consistent basis.

“There’s a big relationship between psychiatric and psychological problems and sleep. So people who are depressed or have anxiety often have trouble with sleep as part of those disorders,” Dr. Lawrence Epstein, Medical Director of Sleep Health Centres and an instructor at Harvard Medical School, said, helping to explain the link between sleep and mood.

Consistently getting a good night’s sleep by sticking to a sleep schedule — which means getting up within the same hour during the week as on weekends — will help your physical and mental health in the long run.

Whether you’re working from home or staying cooped up inside on days off because you need a little rest and relaxation, you might be harming your mental health without even realizing it.

Not only can being in the sun (wearing sunscreen, of course) be good for your health, but walking for at least 12 minutes can reduce symptoms of depression and help us cope with stress, according to research from the University of Michigan.

Sure, it might feel better to stay comfy inside your house, but if your only time outside is spent walking to and from your car, you might be unknowingly harming your mood and well-being.

If you’ve been having a rough time, you might think a little retail therapy will make you feel better … after all, we all deserve to treat ourselves to new things from time to time, right?

But if a trip to the shopping centre or late night hours spent online shopping is your go-to coping mechanism, you might be doing more harm than good. Aside from racking up debt and ending up with things you don’t really need or want, compulsive buying might feel good temporarily, but end up leaving you filled with guilt or anxiety over how to pay for your purchases or what to do with the new stuff you’ve bought.

As psychologist April Lane Benson told CNN, “The underlying rubric of the whole thing is to really get in touch with what it is you really need, and how to get that. It’s not that sixth pair of black boots.”

The occasional frivolous purchase is fine, but making it a daily habit won’t make you feel great.

Even though the buzz of a beer or a glass of wine might feel like a perfect way to relax, relying on alcohol to cope with stress can quickly lead to mental health issues down th e road.

Alcohol acts as a depressant, so while you might initially experience a boost in mood, as you build up a tolerance, you’ll require more and more booze to get those same mood-boosting benefits.

Plus, having some drinks to unwind in the evening might make you fall asleep faster, but will ultimately lead to waking up in the middle of the night and a less restful slumber.

And if you struggle with anxiety, you might find that drinking takes the edge off and helps you relax, but as Healthline reported, too much alcohol can throw off your serotonin levels and cause your anxiety to spike as the sedative effects wear off.

Depending on alcohol to get through situations or events that make you anxious might feel like instant relief, but it’s not a good way to cope with your anxiety or moods.

There’s a biological reason why digging into a tub of ice cream or a box of biscuits after a rough day makes us feel instantly better — comfort food has its name for a reason, as the reward systems in our brains light up as soon as we eat foods we find pleasurable, triggering the release of dopamine, a feel-good hormone, into our systems.

Though it can make us feel better in the moment, turning to food to cope with stress, anxiety, sadness, or boredom won’t solve any problems in the long run. And if you find yourself overeating mindlessly, you’ll end up potentially feeling sick or guilty about what you just ate.

Eating for reasons other than true hunger is a normal part of life, but if you find yourself frequently eating to soothe stress or feed your feelings, you might want to chat with a licensed therapist or professional who specializes in emotional eating. They’ll know the best techniques to help you find peace with food and eat intuitively and mindfully.

With more of us being tethered to our devices at all times, it’s alarmingly common to see people with their heads buried in their phones or tablets everywhere we go. And while it might feel like a helpful way to pass time when you get a free minute, it may not be doing your mental health any favours.

Having all that instant entertainment at our fingertips never allows us to actually sit with our own thoughts, because we’re constantly engaging with our devices instead of our own brains. A 2014 study from the University of Virginia found that participants would rather administer themselves with electric shocks than be idle without looking at a screen, further proving the alarming fact that many of us need a constant distraction from our thoughts.

Taking a break from all devices — including phones, TV, tablets, computers, reading and gaming devices — as often as possible is so important for your overall wellness.

We’re living in what experts call the “loneliness epidemic,” a hazardous byproduct of our frenetic lifestyles is reliance on social media and devices to connect with those around us. And even though you might not feel isolated, loneliness can affect your health — physically and mentally — in several serious ways.

If your primary mode of communicating with loved ones is through texting, you miss out on quality time with those people, and these feelings are often compounded when you think you’re missing out on social gatherings.

Making plans with loved ones as often as possible — and keeping them — is a much healthier way to stay connected.

Even if you’re not actively texting or posting to social media, endlessly scrolling through apps might feel good in the moment, but some studies suggest it could be harmful to your mental health. Social media has been linked to feelings of inadequacy, jealousy, and low self-esteem, especially in young adults.

That said, other research has reported our apps and screens aren’t what’s to blame, but our culture at large.

“People who use social media alone likely aren’t getting their face-to-face social needs met,” Michael Kearney, an assistant professor at the Missouri School of Journalism and co author of a study on social media and well-being, said in a statement. “So if they’re not having their social needs met in their life outside of social media, it makes sense that looking at social media might make them feel even lonelier.”

In other words, if you’re already feeling lonely and look at social media, it could make you feel even lonelier.