Before we begin with why is mental health important, let’s understand what is mental health?
Mental health is a popular term since it has become a trend nowadays. Mental health refers to our social, emotional, cognitive, and moral well-being. It is mostly confused with good mental health and a condition without a mental disorder. Although, both are interrelated but not interchangeable conditions. Mental health issues may lead to mental disorders but it’s not a necessary condition.
We lack information, knowledge, and awareness for mental health. Hence, it becomes very important to understand and learn about it.
- We need proper knowledge and awareness so, that a distinction between appropriate information and incomplete information can be made. Many sources create and spread rumors about mental health due to which the actual problem cannot be addressed.
- If we have a physical ailment we go to a doctor or search on the internet to look for solutions also if we face any kind of issue in our daily life which restricts our functioning, we should seek mental health professionals.
To understand when do we require help or assistance, why are we facing such issues, and how to deal with them. All these questions can be answered once we understand mental health as a concept.
Mental health has an impact on:-
- Educational outcome.
- Productivity at work.
- Development of Positive personal relationships.
- Crime rate.
- Alcohol and drug abuse.
The global burden of mental health will be well beyond the treatment capacities of developed and developing countries. The social and economic costs associated with the growing burden of mental ill-health focused on the possibilities for promoting mental health as well as preventing and treating mental illness. Thus, Mental Health is linked to behavior and seen as fundamental to physical health and quality of life.
Causes of mental health
- Feeling sad or down
- Confused thinking or reduced ability to concentrate
- Excessive fears/worries or extreme feelings of guilt
- Extreme mood swings
- Withdrawal from social activities
- Significant tiredness/problem in sleeping
- Detachment from reality
- Inability to cope with stress and problems
- Trouble understanding and relating to situations and people
- Problems related to Substance abuse
- Major changes in eating habits
- Sex drive changes
- Excessive anger. hostility and violence
- Suicidal thinking.
Learning about mental health and how we can take care of it is just as critical as physical health. It allows us to understand better behaviors, thoughts, and emotions, and how this will affect relationships, self-esteem, and productivity. And if we start learning and opening conversations about mental health, we can help individuals suffering from PTSD, depression, anxiety, among others. It also promotes empathy for other people and improves the way we communicate with other people. Learning all you can about mental health increases your ability to exercise your ability to choose wisely.
Importance of mental health
Mental health can affect physical health – when we are physically ill or in pain, everything from our work to personal life is affected by it, which can also have an influence on our mental state due to stress, anxiety, or depression. Similarly, when we are dealing with mental health issues, they can show their effects on our physical health, like anxiety or depression can cause sleep issues which in the long run is harmful to our health.
Mental health affects our productivity – People who have mental health issues frequently face problem-related to less productivity in the professional sphere of their lives or issues related to procrastination. In one way or the other mental health issues kill our productivity or our desire to do something, and by doing so it affects both the public and private spheres of our lives. Less productivity means less work done which can affect our lives financially, which would lead us to more worries and stress.
Mental health can affect emotional health – Most of the mental health issues directly or indirectly are related to mental health problems. And kind of emotional stress wound or dissatisfaction can cause major stress issues and self-confidence issues in our lives which can lead to depression and more dangerous mental health problems. Similarly, if we are mentally stressed and exhausted to a level that we are not able to control ourselves, it harms our emotional health. An unbalanced mental state can make us feel emotional distress and loneliness. This can be very dangerous if proper treatment is not provided.
Mental health can affect our loved ones – When a person in our family is physically hurt or in pain, we get worried. Similarly, when someone is going through a difficult phase in their lives, it reflects on their relationship with their loved ones. A person who is not in a state of mind that is well-balanced, can cause stress in the family or ruin the relations. This is also the reason why mental health should be a priority in our daily lives, especially with the younger generation.
Mental health has an equal role as our emotional and physical health in our overall health and well-being – Even though we tend to give priority to our physical health, we should never neglect our mental and emotional health. Mental health is gaining importance in recent years along with overall well-being, but we still have a long way to go. We should make talk related to stress management and talking about our worries to our trusted friends and families easy. Everyone should be provided with a safe environment to tackle their problems without judgment. Just because we can’t see mental health issues like we see a physical problem, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. We should keep in mind that for our overall well-being we need to give mental health as much importance as physical health.
Mеntаl health еnсоmраѕѕеѕ рѕусhоlоgісаl, emotional аnd ѕосіаl wеll-bеіng. Thіѕ mеаnѕ іt іmрасtѕ how wе fееl, think and bеhаvе еасh dау. Our mеntаl health аlѕо contributes tо dесіѕіоn mаkіng рrосеѕѕ, hоw we cope wіth ѕtrеѕѕ and hоw wе relate tо оthеrѕ in оur lіvеѕ.
Pоѕіtіvе mеntаl hеаlth аllоwѕ реорlе to:
- Rеаlіsе their full роtеntіаl
- Cоре up wіth the ѕtrеѕѕеѕ lіfе
- Work рrоduсtіvеlу
- Mаkе mеаnіngful соntrіbutіоnѕ tо thеіr соmmunіtіеѕ
Wауѕ to maintain роѕіtіvе mеntаl hеаlth:
- Getting рrоfеѕѕіоnаl help if уоu need it
- Cоnnесtіng wіth оthеrѕ
- Stау positive
- Gеttіng рhуѕісаllу асtіvе
- Hеlріng others
- Getting enough ѕlеер
- Developing соріng ѕkіllѕ
The quality of your life will depend mostly on the quality of your physical being. Treating your body with healthy choices, diet, exercise, sleep, sanitary practices that reduce pathogens, these behavior increase the quality of your life. Your consciousness is more than your body. You do exist, with awareness of self and not-self. You perceive, experiencing an outer world and an inner world, with thought and emotion. Mental health is about the quality of thought and emotion, and the choices they compel you to make. Your consciousness is a collection of desires, some of which are necessary to continued existence, and therefore you have a minimal choice about them. In terms of mental health, we’re interested in your ability to choose, to direct your life. When you can guide your thoughts to a beneficial way of thinking, you can respond to the events of your life to your advantage. When you can experience your emotions without being flooded, the richness of life, the enthusiasm for living, fills your being like the breeze fills the sails of a boat.
