Mental health awareness is rarely talked about, but it is important to discuss. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illnesses, approximately one in five adults experience a mental health disorder in a given year. Despite this high statistic, there are many people who still do not understand the importance of mental health or know how to take care of their own mental health.
Having a mental health condition is not something we should feel bad about. In fact, many factors contribute to the emotional, psychological, and social stress we are dealing with. This might be because of biological factors, brain chemistry, life experiences, abuse family history, substance abuse, and others. That is why we should never judge someone and instead help them out.
If you are having a tough time with your mental health, it is okay to ask for help from family and friends or even professionals who can advise you on how to take care of yourself. Sometimes we all need a little guidance through our struggles so that we can get back up again and begin another day!
Why is mental health important? this post is about the importance of mental health and why people should take care of their mental health.
The importance of Mental Health
Mental health is important because it affects our physical health. People with mental illnesses are more likely to have physical health problems. When we’re mentally healthy, we’re better able to take care of our bodies and manage any chronic diseases we might have.
Mental health is important because it affects our personal lives. Mental illness can affect every aspect of one’s life, from work to relationships and self-identity. When we’re mentally healthy, we feel better about ourselves as individuals and are more confident in the choices that we make as a result of those feelings.
Having good mental health may not be as easy as 1-2-3 and may require a lot of time and effort but definitely worth it when it comes to taking care of our well-being.
We should always keep in mind why taking care of our mental health is important. There are many reasons to prioritize your mental wellbeing, but I’m going to share nine with you here. The nine points below are some of the most helpful ways, but by no means all-inclusive. I hope they’ll help you prioritize your mental health.
Avoid negative self-talk
When we’re mentally healthy, we can see the big picture and make better decisions in our lives. Mentally ill people often lack this perspective and tend to focus on the negative things that happen around them rather than seeing how they fit into a bigger picture of what’s going on in their life. When we focus on the negative things, we tend to worry about everything and forget those good things are actually there. Anxiety creeps in without knowing and it makes it hard to think, feel, and act. This is why it’s important to have positive self-talk. It won’t always be easy, but catching yourself when you’re putting yourself down and turning that into a more positive thought will help in the long run.
Have realistic goals
One of the things that can happen when our mental health slips is we set unrealistic goals for ourselves. By setting these goals, we put ourselves in a position wherein our meaningful contributions in our life only consists of achieving the goals we have set. This is not only unhelpful but also demoralizing in the long term. When we have unrealistic goals, it’s easy to feel like a failure when we don’t achieve them and this can lead to lowered self-esteem and even major depression.
Instead of setting unrealistic goals, try to set small goals that you know you can achieve without much effort and perform daily tasks without feeling guilty about it. By taking these steps, you’ll be able to see your progress and build your confidence as a result.
Make healthy lifestyle choices
When we’re mentally well, the choices that we make are those that work best for us both physically and emotionally. When our mental health slips, it can become difficult to make decisions because of impaired thinking ability due to mental health issues.
Good healthy choices include relaxation techniques such as practicing meditation or yoga, eating a balanced diet, and getting enough sleep. All of these help to improve our physical health as well as our mental well-being.
Take breaks
In order to take care of our mental health, it’s important that we allow ourselves time for relaxation and rejuvenation. This can be done by taking mini-breaks throughout the day.
Read books to relax
Read a book to take your mind off things. This is especially beneficial if you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed. You can also try using the internet for fun, but make sure that it’s not something that will cause stress by taking up too much of your time and energy without giving back anything in return.
Limit social media use
We did suggest using the internet for fun but make sure to limit your use because sometimes social media can be the leading cause of a mental breakdown and we don’t want that. Many factors affect our social well being but social media can be especially damaging because it presents an unrealistically perfect view of people’s lives, which can make us feel bad about ourselves. Believing things are going well with everyone else except you is not making it anyway better. You might say it is true, thinking about why they seem to have life figured out, but honestly, they haven’t, not quite, or maybe not at all. Social media is good to connect, but it should be used in moderation because sometimes people can get carried away.
Exercise and get enough sleep
Getting enough sleep and exercising regularly does not only help to reduce stress but also boosts our immune system. Our brain function also improves when we’re physically active. This is because exercise releases endorphins, which are the feel-good hormones in our bodies. So if you want to have good overall health, try to get at least an hour of physical activity a day.
Rest is important at every stage of life, how can you handle stress and the unexplained aches in your body when you are physically and emotionally tired? When exhaustion is more than usual, feeling unusually confused with everything is not a good indicator of our overall health. It’s a sign that you need to take care of your mental health and give yourself time to rest.
When we say to give yourself time to rest, rest not only your body but your mind as well. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. So make sure to take care of your mental health as much as you would with your physical self because it is equally important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Do the things that you enjoy and love
I know when we are down or frustrated, we lost all our energy, feeling numb on things that we used to love and we can’t help it. Please cut yourself some slack and find the urge to make yourself look for that thrill and love again. It will make you feel much better, and it is totally worth it.
These are just some ways that you can help yourself maintain good mental health so remember, don’t be too hard on yourself when things get tough or if anything goes wrong then just think about the things that make you happy and make you feel good about yourself. Never let your anxiety control what you think.
Keep the people who support you
Our anxiety is making us believe that we are not worthy of any emotional connection with other people. It is our head, hearing voices, making us feel less. I hope you know that is not true. Please don’t think that all these human services you get to experience are short-lived and pretend because it is not. Especially when these are done by our family and friends, the love and support they have for you are real and nothing can shake that. Keep those people close to you and never let them go.
Talk about your feelings
This is probably the most important thing that we can do for our mental health- to talk about our feelings. It allows us to release any negative emotions that we may be holding on to, and it also helps us to connect with others who really matters. I know it pains, feeling helpless, every time you think you don’t deserve them but they are not going anywhere. No matter how many severe mood swings or warning signs you show them. They will always love you no matter how you think, feel, and act.
Get professional help
Talk to somebody
If you’re feeling down, it’s important to talk to somebody about it. This can be a friend, family member, or therapist. Bottling up our feelings only makes them harder to deal with in the long run. If you’re feeling like you can’t cope or if the problems are becoming too much to handle, please seek professional help. There’s no shame in admitting that you need some assistance and there are plenty of people who are more than willing to help.
Forgive and accept yourself
Mental health problems shouldn’t be looked down upon and we should not be embarrassed to have them. We need to learn to accept ourselves for who we are and forgive ourselves for the mistakes that we’ve made in the past. This is not an easy task, but it’s definitely worth it in the end.
Don’t let your mistakes define you because we are not our mistakes and if you are hearing voices in your head saying otherwise, that’s your anxiety talking. If it helps, determine the reasons why you think that way and remember all the good things that you have done.
Accept yourself and love who you are as a person because we need to learn to accept ourselves for who we really are, not just what society wants us to be or based on how other people see us. There is no such thing as perfection in this world because nobody’s perfect and that will never be beneficial to our psychological and social well-being.
Remember, mental health is important and it’s not something that should be taken for granted. It is important at every stage of life to take care of it. Mental health professional advice and behavioral health statistics prove that debilitating mental illness can be helped. You just have to decide and reach out to someone when you are ready.
Caring for our mental health should be a top priority because when we’re mentally healthy, we’re able to function at our best both physically and emotionally. By taking care of ourselves, we’re able to live happier and more fulfilling lives. Thank you for reading.
