Parents, teachers, and doctors regularly encourage young people to establish good physical hygiene habits. Here are just a few: Bathe daily. Eat healthy meals. Brush your teeth at least once a day. Wash your hands after you use the bathroom Clip your toenails before they get too long. These habits become routine after a while.

Most of us probably were not intentionally taught good mental health hygiene habits. These habits also bring consistency to our lives, promote wellness and resilience, and protect us from becoming overwhelmed by mental illness.

A lot is being said about stress these days, and it’s no wonder. The pandemic has brought with it countless sources of extreme stress. But there has been relative silence on a topic that would help us get through the stress. And that topic is “resilience.” Maybe that’s because we all know what stress is, and what it feels like. And maybe we are less familiar with the concept of resilience. Resilience, which comes from Latin and literally means “jumping back up,” is about adapting well to stress, hardship or adversity.