Your Mental Health is in the
YELLOW ZONE.
Your mental health seems to be MOSTLY WELL
…but may take more effort and energy to maintain.
You may notice you are more reactive to emotions, such as being more easily irritated, annoyed, or impatient with others.
Your daily self care practices, fun activities and social interactions take more energy to start, but you usually engage with them.
You may feel less motivated and have more difficulty concentrating at work/school.
You likely continue to experience joy, gratitude and appreciation in people, activities and environment.
You find satisfaction in your work/school experience.
You may notice slight changes to your sleep routine and appetite.
You may have experienced mental health challenges in the past, and sometimes you still experience those indicators.
You may notice higher scores in 1 or 2 Indicator Sections.
You may relate to some of these images.
That said, everyone experiences each Zone in their own way.
What you can do for your Mental Health…
In the Yellow Zone, recognize the need to maintain your mental health and choose actions that may decrease the possibility of moving into Orange and Red zones.
Recommendation #1
Spend some time looking at your schedule for the week ahead and make sure you have self-care activities planned each day. For as little as 3 minutes or up to a couple hours, intentionally engage in activities that bring comfort, care, compassion and fun each day.
Recommendation #3
Make a plan. When in the Yellow Zone, accessing the decision-making part of your brain is easier; this is much more difficult to do while in the Orange and Red Zones. Create a crisis plan now just in case you need it in the future. Save it somewhere that’s easily accessible and consider sharing it with a trusted support person.
Other Yellow Zone Activities
Try writing a letter or recording a voice message to your future self in each of the other Zones. You might try these prompts:
"Hey ______, you are in the Orange or Red Zone. Remember to check your crisis plan and text "help" to 741741 . These things can help right now ___________."
“Hi ______, you are in the Green Zone. Take a moment to appreciate your mental wellness and celebrate you by doing these things _____________.”
If possible, take a day or 2 off from daily stressors, or clear your weekend schedule to focus on your mental health.
Recommendation #2
Grab that list you created in the Green Zone with specific behaviors, routines, and relationships that are supportive of you and your mental wellness. These lists act as reminders to help guide our focus back to activities that lead us into the Green Zone.
Mental Health Connect YELLOW ZONE Resources and Services
As your Mental Health Ally, we offer a variety of services and resources to support you on your journey to maximize your mental wellness.
We offer concrete tools and action plans that answer key questions like What can I do? and Where can I find help?
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To support and enhance your experience of physical, emotional, social/behavioral, and cognitive well-being, our Wellness Coaching consists of supporting your mental health priorities. Our Mental Health Counselors can build your mindfulness skills, help you address obstacles and keep you accountable to your wellness plan.
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Mindfulness practices are varied and have been shown to positively impact holistic wellness. Exercises can often be done anywhere and anytime, cost nothing, and require no tools. These skills empower you to respond to and care for your unique needs.
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Become a certified Mental Health First Aider! Increase your mental health literacy, and learn effective ways to support yourself and others during a mental health challenge. As a first aider, you can give vital mental health support to your friends, families, and loved ones as needed.
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Meet with an MHC team member alone or with 1 or 2 folks from your trusted support network for a single session to design a wellness plan. Support network sessions help build network capacity to support mental health needs.
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We invite you to take a moment to practice wellness and connect with MHC in a brief meditation.
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Professional mental health guidance can help keep you on track. This may be offered as brief Solution-Focused or ongoing long-term therapy to address the results of the indicators within your Self-Check-In. Counselors will review the Physical, Emotional, Social/Behavioral, and Cognitive Indicators with you and co-design a plan to help you reach your goals. Mental Health Connect offers mental health counseling for folks across socio-cultural, gender, sexuality, and neurodiverse identities. We are queer affirming and committed to eradicating anti-blackness and all other forms of racism.
Mental Health Crisis Response Quick Links
If you are experiencing adverse physical health conditions, such as chest pain, vomiting uncontrollably, persistent headaches, call your primary care provider, go to the nearest urgent care/emergency room or call 911 immediately.
If you are experiencing thoughts of death or dying, call 988 for a crisis response well check, text "Help" to 741741, call Trevor Project's crisis-line 866-488-7386, or go to the nearest emergency room.
If you are struggling with alcohol and other drugs, call SAMHSA's National Helpline 800-662-4357.
Let’s Work. Together.
Interested in learning more about ways we can support your mental health?
We're ready to partner with you. Send us a note.
Prefer to leave us a voicemail or message?
Call or text (831) 274-3274.