What is good mental health?
Why should you prioritise your mental health?
What is mental health?
Mental health matters
Mental health can be seen as our psychological and emotional wellbeing. Everyone has mental health, which means highlighting its importance is crucial in order for any of us to feel like the best version of ourselves.
Mental health can mean different things for different people. It can been seen as our state of mind, our brains ability to grow and develop or our resilience to challenges we may face. As mental health has become such an important discussion worldwide, we should all try to understand how we can improve our mental health.
What does it mean to have good mental health?
Having good mental health can look different from person to person. To encompass it, it is the ability to function well within the world and to feel good within yourself and your life. Having good mental health can be seen for a goal for us all, although it is not always easy to manage. It is not just the absence of mental illness, but rather to feel satisfied in life compared to just getting along with it.
People with good mental health are more likely to be able to deal with the challenges and stresses of daily life. This is important as if you can deal with these issues more effectively, it is less likely you will struggle with mental illness. Signs of good mental health are:
– Feeling optimistic- positive thinking towards the future
– Confidence- you feel capable when handling unfamiliar or stressful situations as you feel that you can handle it, feel little self-doubt
– You set goals that you can achieve
– You do not put too much pressure on yourself or blame yourself when things go wrong
– Enjoyment of life even after challenging times
If you experience a few of these but not all, it is not uncommon. Most people do not fit a set criteria for good mental health or even are able to say they have fully good mental health. It can be useful to see it as a spectrum, where everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Having good mental health should be a goal for everyone, however that does not mean to say it is easy or will stay consistent. When things change in life, our mental health can too. Set backs can happen for a range of different reasons including:
– Relationship issues- family, friendships, romantic partners.
– Financial burdens- bills, arguments about money, unemployment.
– Stress- too high of a workload, busy schedule.
– Bad self image- having negative thoughts about yourself, doubt and insecurity
– Grief- losing someone important to you, feeling lonely
Poor mental health:
When mental health is not good, life can feel like a struggle.
It may result in a feeling of dissatisfaction or unhappiness. When mental health declines, we can feel exhausted, hopeless and general sadness. This can be triggered by challenges in our lives or can seem to come out of nowhere. Not only does this affect us psychologically, but it can also affect our behaviour.
– Lack of motivation- not feeling able to complete daily tasks such as getting out of bed, showering or going to work
– Feeling stressed – this can cause fatigue, nausea, headaches etc
– Agitation- feeling upset with the world, taking it out on ourselves, friends or family
Poor mental health can also spiral into mental illness, which can lead people to feeling as there is no hope. 1 in 4 people experience mental illness at any given time which is why taking care of our mental health is just as important as our physical health.
How to improve your mental health:
No one has good mental health all the time, which means we should all have strategies in place that we can use to help us when we notice our mental health has worsened:
– Reaching out- talk to friend or family about how you feel and what they could do to help you. It can also be useful to reach out to a professional for help. This can include talking about how you feel and identifying what is triggering your decline in mental health.
– Setting achievable goals- aim to work towards goals that you can manage rather than ones that seem impossible. This will show you that you are capable, and it will mean you can readjust to the demands of daily life.
– Try to start each day fresh- aim to not dwell on the issues of yesterday. Focus on the new day with a positive mindset and learn from past experiences.
– Take care of your physical health- ensuring you are healthy physically can improve mental health. Taking part in regular exercise and eating and drinking well reduces stress and makes us feel happier.
– Be realistic- do not put too much pressure on yourself, understand that having good mental health is something to work towards to.
– Find new ways to enjoy yourself- take time to meet new people and try new activities which can increase confidence and give us more opportunities.
Mental health matters…
It is important that we understand what mental health is, its importance, how to recognise good and bad mental health and how to manage it. As mental health has become less of a taboo topic, people are able to access information and help much easier, as everyone at one point in their lives will relate to not feeling like their mental health is at a good level.
If you want to reach out for help regarding your mental health, then call us on 07590 663938 or email info@yourcounsellingservice.co.uk