Gone are those days when people used to only worry about how and what they consume for their physical health. As time has evolved so has evolved the understanding and acceptance of the public towards mental health and illnesses in the country.
With time the concept of mental health and illness has also evolved and been modified to a great extent. Now mental health issues are not just related to someone hearing voices, talking to self, being extremely violent or suicidal.
As a Mental Health practitioner, we very often see people coming to us with complaints of feeling emotionally lethargic, socially isolated, feeling emotionally empty etc. Every time using the skills of psychotherapy we also see how making small changes in their overall lifestyle as a whole also gives them a sense of hope that people and environment can also play a crucial role in enhancing their functionality as a whole
Major Reasons for the Decline in a Person’s Mental Health
- Family and social factors: that includes the support from the family especially during difficulties in life. It also depends upon how an individual sees the quality and efficiency of the support that he or is getting which will help him/her to come out of the crisis
- Work stress: Long hours of work and a highly stressful work environment lead to various emotional and psychological issues. It has been seen that people with chronic stress might be burnt out, have frequent emotional outbursts, losing the sense of joy in their work soon.
- Coping and resilience: these factors include how a person is taking care of his stress in life overall using various coping and resilience skills hence we observe why there is a difference in how two people react, feel and behave differently in the same situation. It involves various healthy and unhealthy coping skills which leads to ultimate decline or improvement in individual functioning.
Now the question arises how can modify our environment and our patterns slightly to enhance the perceived quality of life? A few points that can help. Everyone knows they should not take stress but at the same time we all know stress is going to be a part of our lives it’s just the intensity that differs for everyone. And rather than getting stressed about the stress we can do a few things to manage it well i.e.
Engage in Self-Care Activities
when people are challenged with stressful events that tend to go on for some time they often reduce their self-care activities which is one of the key factors to relieve themselves from the pain, and suffering that the stress follows. Reflecting and engaging in the activities they used to do earlier when the stress wasn’t there might provide them the insight into how they may have stopped doing the things they liked doing before.
1. Engage in Social Activities
Human beings are tagged as being social animals for a reason. Human beings do look for affiliation from society, acceptance from the people around them also enhances psychological well-being. Hence go back and meet friends, take time for people whom you care for and feel what difference it makes in your emotions.
2. Take a Sound Sleep
Sleep for some time and let your body relax for some time even when the times are tough. It’s not only your brain who is taking the challenge but also your body which is getting drained from its energy hence getting a good nap will help your body to rejuvenate and help you function better. Many ways can help you improve the quality of sleep. Practising sleep hygiene is one of the ways to improve the quality of sleep.
3. Practice Relaxation
Give your body a sense of calmness: while you are hit by the storms in life it’s not only your mind that is suffering feeling the various emotions and thoughts but your body is also in a vulnerable state. Mind-Body connection is very deeply routed which means one entity cannot suffer alone the other one will suffer too. Hence it also means once you start taking care of your body your brain will also feel better. Practising relaxation means bringing your body to a state of calmness while you fight the difficulties of your life. Practicing deep breathing, yoga etc brings a sense of calmness that even when the storms are present your body can take some time to rest and feel calm.
4. Seeking help
It’s equally important to reach out to mental health professionals not only when you feel you can’t take care of the difficulties at all but much before that even happens so that you can be held and helped by a professional who is accepting, non-judgemental, and who will understand your pain in the most empathic ways than anyone else. We see people being able to manage some of the most significant issues and difficulties after they engage in therapy. Going to therapy can be a difficult decision to make as we observe many times during the process that once people do engage in therapy they start seeing things from much healthier perspectives ultimately giving them a new lens to see things. The therapist might not change the whole perspective but he will help you to figure out ways to deal with the crisis because ultimately being happy is what we all deserve in life.
Kids who were raised to act strong and behave like a man are the ones who are either crying behind closed doors or on their therapist’s couch. So next time you stop a kid from crying or acting tough be mindful if you want him to bottle his emotions and slip into emotional difficulties. It’s okay sometimes not to act tough and be fragile! Let your heart sometimes rule over your brain and sometimes feel more than think.
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