We can all take many actions to support our mental health and protect against mental illness. These can include getting daily physical activity, eating healthy meals, getting sufficient restful sleep and more.

A new study looks at how often people undertake many of these mentally protective behaviors and their impact on mental well-being. Researchers in Australia asked more than 100 adults about their awareness and participation in 15 behaviors related to social connectedness and meaningfulness. The protective behaviors they examined and the frequency of participation are in the table below.

Protective behaviors

The researchers found that in general, that more frequent participation in the protective behaviors was associated with better mental well-being. Among the protective behaviors, they found nine to be significant predictors of mental well-being, including

• Chatting with people from outside the home daily (compared to every few months)
• Spending time in nature daily (compared to every few months)
• Meeting with friends weekly or more often (compared to every few months)
• Physical activity daily (compared to every few months)
• Practicing spirituality daily (compared to every few months)
• Doing something that required thinking and concentration daily (compared to every few months)
• Visiting family (weekly compared to every few months)
• A large influence of religion (compared to none)
• Helping someone weekly or more often (compared to every few months)

The study also found that aging and the ability to save money were independently associated with positive mental well-being. These findings are in line with previous research that has found aging is protective of mental health and previous research finding that financial distress can have significant harmful impact on mental health.

The frequency of several of the behaviors, including attending local events, formal/informal groups, large public events, and whether or not you were doing something challenging or volunteering, were not significant predictors of mental well-being.

These protective behaviors align with the six pillars of lifestyle actions to support mental health: Diet and nutrition, mind-body and mindfulness practices, restorative sleep, social connections, physical activity and avoiding harmful substances. (Learn more about these lifestyle actions to support mental health. )

Overall, 83% of participants reported doing something to improve their physical health and 63% reported doing something to improve their mental health. More females reported actively doing something to improve their mental health, compared to males. The study authors conclude that this research “shows that the promotion of low-cost, evidence-based protective behaviors is important for population mental well-being.”