With the new year comes thoughts about wishes, promises, and goals, prioritizing feeling better mind, body, and spirit. In attempting to bring that to reality, most of us set fitness and dietary intentions and the vision that we will spend more time with those we love.
These benefit physical well-being, but they are advantageous to overall mental health, which is more of a priority since it significantly impacts a person entirely. Click here for natural ways to reduce anxiety.
What Is Mental Health?
Everyone has mental health regardless of whether there is a diagnosis of a condition, disorder, or illness. It comprises our emotional and psychological wellness.
According to the “World Health Organization” or WHO, mental health is (and we quote) “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stress of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can make a connection to his or her community.”
Even if you are mentally well, that is no indication that you will not experience a negative emotion such as anger, sadness, frustration, or grief. We all do.
Similarly, if you are unwell mentally, that does not indicate that you will never have moments of happiness, productivity at school or work, experience excitement, or find healthy relationships.
Mental well-being involves going through life’s peaks and valleys with the ability to cope in a healthy emotional and psychological way.
Methods for cultivating mental well-being
Mental health is not just about having a disorder or illness; the health classification pertains to psychological well-being in the same vein as physical health relates to the body’s wellness and not what is wrong with the body.
Unfortunately, there is such a stigma that follows mental health mainly because the medical community still does not comprehend or accept the category as legitimate, which is sad.
As humans, we need to become aware of our mental well-being to identify those moments when a counselor might be able to help us prioritize mental health, to know when we’re mentally well and when we’re genuinely not doing well in the emotional or psychological context or what we should do about it. Some things that professionals promote to encourage psychological wellness include:
• Developing meaningful social relationships
Feeling and remaining mentally well could connect with involving ourselves with other people. Each person will find their own way to establish relationships with friends or even family members, possibly coworkers or other students, people of like mind.
You can join a group or volunteer for an organization that means something to you with other people who feel the same way. The people you meet and bond with will play a massive role in your emotional well-being.
• There is a purpose, but you need to find it
When we find something that fulfills us, it gives us a purpose on this planet. That does not necessarily mean working, but it can. Some jobs will use your talents and skills, making you feel invaluable as a person.
You can also feel this by engaging in personal interests or hobbies meaningful to you; perhaps you provide a service to a friend or someone special to you.
These feelings can change as you progress in life, but the worthiness does not, nor does the fulfillment. Whatever you involve yourself in fills a gap within you, keeping you mentally and emotionally content.
• Reduce stress
Both physical and mental wellness is affected by ongoing stress and pressure episodes. One of the strategies to reduce stress is understanding what the triggers are and recognizing possible relaxation methods and potential techniques to help you bring calm to your mind and body.
The goal is to participate in activities that you most enjoy and use coping tools to assist with making the list of priorities.
• Take a breakaway
Sometimes it is essential to walk away from the connections and put away the devices to simply rest, relax and spend time with just yourself. This is part of self-care for which many individuals avoid for fear that other people will view them as selfish.
The problem is that self-care is a huge part of overall mental and physical wellness. Everyone should engage in a wholesome diet plan, a disciplined fitness regimen, meditation, or mindfulness activities, or even a nice soak in a warm bath.
None of this is self-indulgent but more so contributes to optimal body functionality and genuinely is no one else’s business. Find out how to make your mental health a priority.
Final Thought
Mental health is a category not unlike physical, oral, vision, and other physical health. Whether you are mentally stable depends on many variables, but this does not imply that you are unwell.
Sadly, the medical community is behind on understanding mental health with minimal acceptance of the classifications under health guidelines. More individuals will see improvements once there is further research and more detail into the causes and effects.
