Summary: Yes, making New Year’s resolutions can help people in mental health treatment. Resolutions aren’t a form of therapy or treatment themselves, of course, but can help people with mental health issues focus on what matters in the year to come.
Key Points:
- New Year’s Resolutions often revolve around things like saving money, learning a new hobby, losing weight, or getting out and being more social.
- Resolutions for people in mental health treatment can cover all those typical areas, but resolutions that focus on matters directly related to treatment may complement treatment.
- Checking in with a mental health provider like a psychiatrist, therapist, or counselor over the holidays may help generate good ideas for resolutions that support the long-term healing process.
New Year’s Resolutions for People in Mental Health Treatment
Last year, we published an article with practical tips to help make New Year’s Resolutions you can stick to. This year, we’ll take a different approach. If you’re in mental health treatment, we’ll suggest resolutions that help people in mental health treatment.
Simple, right?
Two things first. Number one: the article we published last year can help you stick to the resolutions you make this year. Please take a moment to read this piece on our Mental Health Blog:
How Do You Make New Year’s Resolutions That Actually Last?
Number two: a review of the most popular resolutions people made in 2024 for 2025, and a preview of the resolutions people have already made in 2025 for 2026.
Here are the top 5 resolutions people made in for 2025, according to a Statista survey of 1,050 adults, ages 18-80.
Top Five Resolutions for 2025
- Save more money: 21%
- Eat healthier: 19%
- Exercise more/lose weight: 16%
- Spend more time with family and friends: 9%
- Reduce living expenses: 9%
43% of respondents said they didn’t make any resolutions for 2025.
Now let’s look at the five most common resolutions people have already made for 2026, according to the latest Statista survey of adults ages 18-80.
Top Five Resolutions for 2026
- Exercise more: 48%
- Save more money: 46%
- Eat healthier: 45%
- Spend more time with family and friends: 33%
- Lose weight: 31%
7% of respondents replied “don’t know/other” when asked about resolutions for 2026.
In addition, a larger survey of 1,369 adults age 25+ conducted by Ipsos Global Research reported these general facts about resolutions people have already made – or not – for 2026:
- 35% of respondents plan to make a resolution for 2026.
- 42% of respondents don’t plan to make a resolution for 2026.
- 22% of respondents weren’t sure.
In this poll, the top five resolutions all focused on finances: saving money, spending less, improving credit score, paying off debt, and starting a new side hustle/new income stream.
That’s it for the review of 2025 and the preview of 2026. As we can see, the things most people are concerned with are finances, health, and family – all of which can apply to people in mental health treatment, too. However, our list is geared toward things we know can support and/or complement an existing treatment plan.
New Year’s Resolutions That Can Help People in Mental Health Treatment
1. Go to your appointments and support groups.
In mental health treatment, consistency is key. Work with your provider according to the schedule you’ve made. Things may come up and you may have to skip appointments. That’s okay. When that happens, make sure you get to the next one, in order to keep your positive momentum going.
2. Double-down on the basics.
By the basics, we mean healthy eating, plenty of exercise or activity, and getting enough sleep. Eating-wise, increase intake of fresh vegetables and fruit, replace processed grains with whole grains, reduce sugar intake, and reduce or replace red meat with lean meat, fish, or non-animal protein sources such as beans and legumes. Activity-wise, consider adopting these guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Sleep-wise, consider the information in our article “Sleep and Mental Health: What’s the Relationship?”
3. Commit to mindfulness.
We’re here to debunk any confusion about the practicality of mindfulness. It’s not woo-woo, ungrounded from reality, or quackery. In fact, it’s the opposite. Mindfulness teaches you how to be present and see things as they are in the here and now, which you can apply to exercises from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), or simple, at-home exercise for relaxation and stress relief.
4. Set the smartphone aside.
Yes, we mean to say “cut back on screen time.” Every day, we see new information about the negative impact of the ever-increasing amount of time we all spend on our smartphones. Here’s what we know: more than three hours a day of non-work or school screen time is when problems start to appear. Types of use most associated with negative mental health outcomes include passive scrolling, scrolling during sleep hours, and comparing yourself negatively to content posted by others. Healthy smartphone use includes active engagement or conversation with peers/family, and active engagement with educational material.
5. Volunteer for a cause.
The holidays are a good time to start volunteering, if you never have. There are ample opportunities to help with food drives, gift collection and distribution, or offering your time at homeless shelters. In some cases, volunteering can remind us of what’s important. If you’re in mental health treatment, the sense of purpose and meaning you gain from volunteering can help you refocus on gratitude, recommit to your treatment plan, and give you something new to look forward to.
In addition to the things on this list that are future-focused, we encourage you to get as much joy out of the December holidays as possible. Say yes to invitations to holiday events that align with your personal cultural beliefs and traditions: reconnecting to positive elements of your past may be exactly what you need. However, if you know those old traditions don’t give you joy, consider connecting with new peers – recovery or otherwise – and creating new holiday traditions of your own.
Gianna Melendez
Jodie Dahl, CpHT