What Is Mental Health And How Can We Take Care Of It?
Have you noticed that in recent times the term “mental health” has been talked about more frequently?
We see a clear example in what happened in July, when Simone Biles, the American athlete, left the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, and all the media dedicated spaces to talking about the gymnast’s words. “Mental health comes first, above any medal she can win,” said Biles.
The data tells us that Spain is one of the countries in the European Union that consumes the most sedatives, hypnotics and anxiolytics. Specifically, more than two million Spaniards take anxiolytics daily, according to data from the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products as of January 2021.
On the other hand, there are alarming data regarding suicides: 10 people commit suicide a day and about 200 attempt it, making it the first cause of unnatural death in Spain.
In 2001, the WHO defined the concept of mental health as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal pressures of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to do a contribution to your community.
It’s funny how we realize with this definition that Mental health is more than the mere absence of mental illness. Until a few years ago, the mission of both physical health and mental health professionals was to heal, reduce pain and reduce discomfort.
However, and in this definition we see it clearly, there are more voices calling for care and well-being to be promoted. The concept is broader, it is not only about avoiding stress or anxiety but about being able to achieve a satisfactory life.
How can we take care of mental health?
There are more and more studies that show that good care of our mental health directly affects personal well-being and physical health. Let’s see what we can do to take care of her.
1. Stop
So simple and difficult at the same time. Stopping on time is an enormously complex exercise, since society imposes a high pace on our daily lives..
We normally perform tasks on “autopilot”, without being aware of what we are doing in many cases, and in many others assuming that it simply has to be that way.
In order to stop we have to know ourselves very well and listen to our body, and the body scanner technique helps us to do this. Only then will we realize that there are parts of our body that are tense, that we are feeling discomfort and even pain; that in many cases we find it difficult to breathe; or maybe concentrate. But we must become conscious of everything that is happening in front of our senses and we are not realizing it.
When we begin to be aware that something is not right, that we have more burden than we can bear, that The demands are higher than our resourcesit is time to stop and analyze what is happening and see what solutions we can provide.
2. Healthy social relationships
Having and maintaining quality, healthy and non-toxic social relationships with our friends, coworkers, family, children, parents, partners, etc., is one of the basic and fundamental pillars for the care of our mental health. Various studies show that it is a necessary factor, although not sufficient on its own, to experience well-being.
Observe what type of relationships you have and what each of them brings you. Is the balance positive or negative? Are they worth it? Do they give you confidence, calm and positivity? Or, on the contrary, are they a source of conflict both with them and with yourself? To what extent are you giving more than receiving? These are examples of powerful questions to ask yourself to evaluate if this part of your life is in balance. The healthier these relationships are, the more you will be taking care of your mental health.
On the other hand, and in relation to this, there is a very important point to take care of and that is social isolation. Loneliness is a vicious circle from which it is necessary to get out. When I perceive that I am alone, I begin to be very attentive and vigilant to all social threats, in such a way that any disappointment or lack of trust with other people puts me on alert and I begin to remember all the times in which they have failed me. .
This in turn causes me to behave in a certain way, for example, not hanging out with other people for fear that they will fail me again. Thus, the possibility of having positive relationship experiences is increasingly less and this will increase my perception that I am alone. And start again in a loop in which you have to intervene to stop it.
3. Good communication
Good communication is essential to maintaining an emotionally healthy life. Let’s think about how we have felt if we have ever argued with someone, we wanted to clarify points of view and this person did not want to continue talking. Feeling ignored is an emotion that hurts deeply and also leaves its mark on us.
On the other hand, there are times when we have wanted to communicate and for various reasons we have not obtained the result we wanted. Maybe we have become too nervous, or we have blocked ourselves. Other times we may have communicated aggressively… In short, we have felt very uncomfortable after this interaction. Knowing how to communicate well, assertively, expressing our rights, our desires and our needs without having to trample on those of others is essential when it comes to taking care of our mental health.
There is a type of communication that we call active-constructive., which if carried out is highly effective when it comes to connecting with other people. For example, when a person tells us something important to them and we give them space and time. That is, we stop what we are doing and really listen to it, ask questions about it, and react emotionally accordingly. At this moment you will be connecting with that person. Put it to the test in your daily life, with your partner, your children, your parents… It really works.
4. Vital sense
People who say they experience well-being in their lives have a clear, defined vital meaning and move towards it. When we talk about vital meaning, we refer on the one hand to the understanding of life, the world and oneself; understand that we fit into a whole. And on the other hand we refer to the purposes, which are the long-term aspirations in line with our values, which are ultimately the drivers of our actions.
There may be moments of daily mini-senses and/or larger senses. Have you ever thought about how beneficial it is to share at least one of your daily meals with your family, friends or people you live with? And associate with people with whom you share interests (Ampa, residents of the same neighborhood…)? These are examples of small actions that can give meaning and coherence to our lives.
A good way to take care of our mental health is, precisely, looking for these small senses in our daily lives.. Or perhaps helping us perceive them because we already had them, but we had not realized them. As we said a few points above, it is necessary to stop again, almost daily, to do a self-examination and thus be aware. We will see that we normally find meaning in interactions with others and in experiences of achievement. We encourage you to clarify and make aware of these moments that can generate so much satisfaction.
Staying active, in short, is another way to take care of our mental health. But be careful with the achievements we propose; There are times when we fall into the trap of achieving those goals as what gives us well-being. Nothing is further from reality.
When we satisfy a goal, we feel positive emotions such as pride or satisfaction, and this in itself is very good, but they are short-lived emotions. So that, Well-being is not in the goal itself, but in the process. The positive impact is along the way and this produces moments of well-being that last longer over time.
6. Self-care
This concept in turn encompasses many meanings. From a more physical point, comply with a series of guidelines such as sleep well (in quality and quantity), maintain a healthy diet and exerciseis directly related to mental well-being and that is why it is a great way to take care of it.
On the other hand, having a good self-concept, liking oneself, accepting oneself as one is, being proud of oneself, and being autonomous are also variables that help promote well-being.
7. Ask for help
The last, and certainly not the least, way to take care of our mental health is to know how to ask for help. Many people feel very vulnerable when it comes to taking the step of asking for help. They have been “strong”, as they themselves say, and they see a great weakness in asking for help. Nothing could be further from the truth.
In short, there are many ways to take care of our mental health. It is important that we are aware of these aspects, if they are present in our lives and to what extent; or, on the contrary, if they are conspicuous by their absence or they do so but to an insufficient extent, creating discomfort that causes our mental health to suffer.
Take time to see what situation we are in It can be of great help to take care of our mental health.
Finally, it is necessary to put mental health and well-being on the table, and giving it the importance it has is something that should not be reversed. Politicians, organizations, and people themselves must make an effort to normalize it, we begin to talk about it in a natural way and not as a taboo.
