Life Skills

Life skills are skills that are “necessary or desirable for full participation in everyday life.” Some of these skills include effective communication, effective interpersonal relationships, problem solving and decision making. It is vital for one struggling with mental health to have these skills so that one is able to cope with challenges that comes with life to prevent relapse. Having effective life skills translate to having a healthy mental health. One of the ways to equip people with the capacity to deal with changes in their lives is life skills training. Life skills training have proven to reduce drug abuse, prevent violent behaviors, strengthen self-reliance and increase skills to cope with stresses and pressures. These life skills training also allow people with mental health issues to learn to build positive and effective social relationships. Here are ten basic and primary skills that boost mental health level:

1. Problem solving ability:

 

• • The ability to solve problems in a constructive manner improves mental health. If we are unable to solve important problems in our life, our physical and mental health will be affected due to the stress. 

 

2. The ability to make decisions:

 

• • Decision making skills help us to weigh pros and cons of a situation and make a decision that yields the best outcome. Wrong decisions come with undesirable feelings and can cause stress both to our mental and physical health. We learn in decision making skills to make practical and relevant decisions based on our circumstances. The ability to make these decisions will relay in better mental health

 

3. The ability to have an intelligent thinking:

 

• • Being able to think intelligent can generate different perspectives on a subject. We are then able to understand issues from different standpoints and generate new and innovative solutions. This skill allows us to be more capable in solving problems

 

4. The ability to think critically:

 

• • The skill to think critically allows us to scrutinize and assess different situations that bring about a much clearer understanding of the issue. By thinking critically we can evaluate situations and gauge them to our own morals and values

 

5. The ability to interact with others:

 

• • Interaction with others is potent in recovery. Must of our time is spent communicating with others. Thus, it is important to learn the skill of effective communication. This skill includes recognizing verbal and nonverbal communication cues. The ability to communicate can help us articulate our needs and in return we get to understand the needs of others. 

 

6. The ability to have interpersonal relationships

 

• • Human beings are social creatures. It is important for us to build relationships that are healthy and enjoyable. We need to learn how to set boundaries, trust others and how to maintain these relationships.

 

7. Self-consciousness ability:

 

• • The ability to observe our own strengths and weaknesses, our desiers and fears will give us a rational view of ourselves. We will be able to know our rights and know how we want others to treat us. When we are self-aware, we know our responsibilities to ourselves and others. 

 

8. The ability to empathize:

 

• • Empathy allows us to accept people who are different from us and have respect for them. We put ourselves in their shoes and realize that we are not at all that different from one another. Being able to empathize allows us to treat people the way we would want to be treated. Empathy skills also increases tolerance and, on the whole, improve social relations.

 

9. The ability to deal with emotions:

 

• • When we learn the skills to deal with emotions, we can identify our feelings and thus show proper reactions in times of failure, anger, depression and anxiety

 

10. The ability to deal with psychological pressure (stress):

 

• • This skill helps us identify what stresses are and use coping skills to deal with these challenges

 

Source: 

 

https://www.ijser.org/researchpaper/Psychological-explanation-of-the-importance-of-life-skills-training-programs-applications-and-challenges-facing-to-it.pdf

 

Plan your schedule well and follow a routine. Schedule planning also allows you to practice resilience. 

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/590wx2r6x2sl7kt/Weekly Schedule-converted.pdf?dl=0

 

Additional Resources (post event):

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1xvetkjrryktvkw/Session 2 life skills.pdf?dl=0

 

 

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