Taking care of your mental health is one of the best investments you can make in life. Why? Because this trickles down into every other aspect of your life, which includes emotional well-being, work productivity, physical health, as well as social and personal relationships.
Since mental health is exceptionally layered and differs from person to person, it’s only right that we talk about each layer to understand how it affects our overall well-being. To start, we’ll discuss different components of mental health that work together to protect our health.
Cognitive Health
Let’s take, for instance, growing up with physical violence as a form of discipline. Harsh parenting is a factor that undermines child health, and as shared by the World Health Organisation, bullying is a leading factor for mental health conditions. In this case, a child is not exposed to a caring environment that is essential for their development in this sensitive developmental stage of life.
This could essentially snowball into adulthood, where you may notice low self-confidence and a potentially negative outlook on life in general. Ignoring the effects of violence will only grow into other issues later on, and this may manifest in social interactions, interactions in the workplace, deteriorating health, and inability to cope with stress effectively.
Emotional Health
Emotional health also plays an integral part in our overall well-being. What this means is that we can understand our emotions, feel them, but not act from a place of emotions. This sounds odd, but with heightened emotions, we may make irrational decisions that we may regret later on, compared to when we make decisions when we’re in a calm state of mind.
Physical Health
In the spirit of good decision-making, staying in shape is a great way to keep both the mind and body stimulated. By staying on the move, our body releases feel-good hormones such as dopamine and endorphins, which help fight symptoms of depression.
This doesn’t mean you have to be a fitness geek, though. Taking a fifteen-minute walk will also do wonders for the brain. All we need is some activity for the day to promote brain growth and blood flow towards the brain. This might be one of the most vital pillars of mental health, as it promotes clear thinking as well as physical benefits.
Social Health
If you’ve ever spent time with some friends after a rough day, you’ll know that socialising greatly contributes to our mental health. Being around others adds to our sense of belonging and also improves self-esteem.
Actively nurturing your relationships with those around you will keep you from isolating and giving room to depression, which often starts in places of isolation.
With that being said, taking care of our mental health is a process, and by doing it consistently, we build resilience in predicaments we would have otherwise handled differently and even incorrectly.
The importance of mental health doesn’t only lie in the betterment of ourselves, it also lies in the betterment of society as a whole and by understanding how cognitive health, emotional health, physical health and social health work together, we can make the world great.
So, if there’s anything you do today, make sure you are kind to yourself as well as those around you.
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