Daily habits that can boost your mental health
Mindfulness can reduce feelings of unhappiness, says UCI Health expert
IN THE NEWS: Building good daily habits such as getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet and moving your body can have a positive impact on your mental health.
Dr. Robert McCarron, a board-certified psychiatrist at UCI Health spoke with U.S. News & World Report about how treating your body well and incorporating mindfulness can help you be more present in the moment and reduce space for anxiety.
"There's not really room for the mind to experience two emotions or situations at the exact same time. So, taking a moment to feel the breeze, to fully enjoy and appreciate the food that you're eating, to actively focus on the conversation that you're having with a loved one — that can significantly reduce the unhappy feeling that you were experiencing."
McCarron says when you’re feeling anxious, set a 60-second timer and during that time: feel, hear and experience your breath, and spend time with feelings that arise. When the alarm goes off, you'll know that's the end of the mindfulness exercise.
McCarron is a board-certified UCI Health psychiatrist at UCI Health Psychiatry Services and the founding director of the Train New Trainers (TNT) Primary Care Fellowship at the UC Irvine School of Medicine, a one-year program designed to equip primary care providers with core competencies in adult psychiatry, pediatric psychiatry and substance use disorder behavioral health. As a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the medical school, his research interests include medical education, integrated care, integrative medicine and pain medicine.
Make an appointment at UCI Health Psychiatry Services by calling 714-456-5902.
About UCI Health
UCI Health is one of California’s largest academic health systems and the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. Established on July 1, 1976, UCI Health has grown into a 1,461-bed health system that includes UCI Health — Orange, UCI Health — Irvine, its newest facility, UCI Health — Irvine Rehabilitation Hospital, four Community Network hospitals and a growing network of ambulatory care centers across Orange and Los Angeles counties. As Orange County’s only academic health systems, UCI Health is home to the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center based in the county, the region’s only American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, American College of Emergency Physicians Gold Level 1 Geriatric Emergency Department and a nationally recognized regional burn center verified by the American Burn Association. Powered by UC Irvine, UCI Health serves 5.6 million people across Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County through excellence in patient care, research and medical education. Follow UCI Health on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.