What is mental health?
Many times we talk about mental health when we are not feeling okay or when we notice we have been unhappy for a long time. For most of us, the subject is so foreign we think it’s for people going through a rough patch or for people going through massive changes in their lives. There are so many misconceptions on the subject such that we quickly associate it with mental illness. This makes it difficult for people to be comfortable around the subject of mental health. However as we will note mental health is not the same as mental disorder or illness.
One important thing to note is that mental health is just as critical as physical health and neglecting it can have long term effects that can lead to some mental disorders. What is mental health then and who is it for? Mental health is our overall emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. It affects the way we do things, the way we see things and the way we react to situations. Mental health affects our thoughts and our overall behaviour. There is good mental health and poor mental health. Good mental health enables one to cope with everyday life pressures while being productive and relating to others normally.
You can also ask what are my emotional, psychological and social beings? How do these three elements affect my mental health? Your emotional wellbeing includes the feelings of happiness, anger, anxiety and sadness you experience and how you manage them. Your psychological wellbeing is how you think and how you make decisions. The social wellbeing is composed of how you communicate and how you make and maintain relations. This is life summarised to be fair.
One’s mental health can be affected by many thing including life experiences and biological factors. Life experiences can be traumatic experiences of tragedies, pain and abuse or they can be experiences of solid love, trust and faith. Biological factors can be hereditary. These factors can affect the way you perceive things and the way you interact daily. Simple things like our diet, habits and sleep patterns can also affect our mental health.
Like physical health you should take care of your mental health too. There are good practises that can aid good mental health. These practises include establishing routines, balancing work and resting, having hobbies and setting achievable goals. It is important to have good eating habits and to hydrate as well.
Well, one of the key steps to having good mental health is being aware of the subject and establishing what it means to you. It is also important to engage in activities and practises that promote good mental health. Consider owning a journal, pamper yourself with self-care products or even engage a professional therapist
© Copyright. All rights reserved.
We need your consent to load the translations
We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.