Awareness on mental health, physical health and diseases are very good as awareness is having the power to prevent many illnesses. Awareness creates more knowledge about pros and cons of each and every aspect. So, mental health awareness is not an exception to it.
Mental health refers to one’s behavioural, cognitive and emotional well being. It is about how individuals feel, perceive and react. Mental health affects your life, relationship and physical health and well being.
Here in this article, the author throws light upon the significance of mental health awareness, types of mental illness, tips on how to maintain good mental health etc.
What do you mean by mental health awareness?
Mental health awareness could be defined as the state in which we think we aren’t mentally ill but it’s the state of realization where you are aware about your mental health. It is the self realization of one’s potential in coping about stress and other factors related to stress. How we could be productive towards the problematic areas in life and be fruitful on how to deal with stress beneficially.
Why is awareness of mental health important?
As humans it is important for us to be aware of our mental health, it’s because we need insight into where we stand in each aspect of our life, whether we need help or we don’t. It’s simply the state of being known towards the negatives and being able to deal with it.
Are you aware of the types of mental illnesses?
There are various scientific terms for mental illness. Let us talk about a few basic ones which we might have heard through a few sources.
- Depression (scientifically could be categorized into 2 forms Bipolar and other mood disorders) we wouldn’t be going deep into it as I want to keep it simple. So what is depression? It could be the state where your mind and body is not able to function because of xyz reasons.
- Post traumatic Stress Post traumatic stress could be easily defined as the stress you undergo after a hearty terrifying event, such as an accident, a sudden death of a loved one, etc. In terrifying situations like that we lose control on ourselves and find ourselves stuck in the present state where your mind plays a rewind button on what you just experienced and doesn’t let you move forward towards your destination.
- Anxiety Disorder Anxiety could be feelings of fear, intolerance, etc. We all undergo the feeling of anxiety in some or the other form. The intensity may differ for each individual.
4. Psychotic disorders are severe mental disorders that cause abnormal thinking and perceptions. People with psychoses lose touch with reality. Two of the main symptoms are delusions and hallucinations. It may be caused by a health condition, medication or drug use.
Now that you have gained adequate knowledge about mental illnesses let’s get to know about how we could tackle them and take responsibility towards developing good mental health.
So how do we develop a lifestyle where we have a good mental health?
I am going to give you 10 tips on making your mental health better. Are you interested in knowing? Let’s get started.
When we talk about mental health awareness what is the first thing that comes into your mind?
- Yes! Stress. Stress is the main concept we deal with in this era. Let’s for example talk about why we awfully stress about anything and everything so much. It’s because of the highly competitive environment we live in, where we compare ourselves with others having furthermore then us. Having a better status then us, having a better superior job designation then us. Why aren’t we satisfied with what we have? Why is it that we don’t practise being grateful with what we possess?
- We should be content in what we have.
- Have you had that thought that I am not valued, or I just have no one to share my solace with, or I just don’t have anyone to converse at all. What you think is your problem then? You obviously live on planet earth and are surrounded by millions of human beings. Well the problem is you’re not socially active.
- Be socially active. Find yourself a community or join a club.
- In managing stress the main aspect we neglect is we don’t really talk and communicate with people. That is the major mistake we make. Why are we so headstrong on dealing with our problems by ourselves? There’s a quote you cannot be helped until you want to seek help.
- Talk to someone about problems. Find help.
- You’ve lived in agony for a very long time now. What’s the reason behind it? You’ve been waiting for closure for a very long time when your friend left you in the middle of nowhere and you still expect a reason to be told. Then let me tell you you’re waiting on a dead end. All you need to do is breathe and let go.
- To forgive is to set a prisoner free, only to discover that the prisoner has always been you.
- Peace of mind. Once you know you’re satisfied with what you have, you work towards building up your inner peace. By inner peace I mean, being happy in what you perceive or do. For example the job you’re into, or the field you want to pursue.
- Nobody can bring you peace but yourself.
- Once you have mastered the skill of being peaceful the next step would be to focus on yourself. And by focusing on yourself, I mean pampering yourself with nutritious food which will help your mind and body to work at a better pace.
- One cannot think well, love well, and sleep well, if one has not dined well.
- Give your body some nurturing and by that I mean, give yourself a good amount of rest. Most of us are so busy in our lives we don’t focus on the harm our body is undergoing. Well put your body at rest for it needs to function right and the right situations.
- Day has gone, night has come. Time to have Good Night’s sleep.
- There are times when your body is tried because of the exhausting day at work and even then you’re not able to sleep. Thought why? Well I bet you haven’t figured that out yet it’s because you’re aware of the fact that your body needs some out of exercise in order to function well and would happen only if you create a lifestyle where you practise some kind of body movement. Get your body in motion. It said your body releases endorphins when you workout. So go on.
- A movement of change wouldn’t harm at all. Play, dance, workout anything that gets you moving.
- When was the last time you went on a trip or dived into a swimming pool? If you haven’t why you haven’t done that yet. Well it’s definitely because of your world class schedule you hold up. Your everyday routine is incredible. Yes, I totally believe it. But you do need a change every once a while. So what I highly suggest is go for a trip, go to some place where you could dive into the swimming pool. Enjoy your favourite mojito, because that’s what will help refresh your body and mind.
- Book an astounding trip on a weekend or whenever you get an off.
- Ever thought of striving hard on achieving something that stuck into your head. Why haven’t you done that already? There could be various reasons why haven’t you taken a step in hounding it. I suggest you take a step forward on what you actually like and what you’re good at. Because that will help build your self-esteem.
- Work your strengths. Do something you’re good at to build self-confidence, and then you could tackle a tougher task.
So the author is going to wrap up this topic quickly by quoting “mental health is equivalent to good health”. Which implies only if your mental state is in a standard process automatically your body will gain profit from it. So follow the 10 simple tips and the author is sure you will see changes in your life.
Physical exercise contributes a lot to maintain mental health. Some of the ways to create mental health awareness in your community are – talk from the heart with everyone you know well, you can utilise social media or digital platforms to educate folks, you can share your personal experiences, can volunteer some projects or events on mental health in association with nongovernmental organisations. Raising community awareness on mental health surely creates a difference and the community got benefited out of this.
