Understanding mental health is sometimes difficult for non-specialized individuals. Many people associate the lack of mental health awareness with that of mental illnesses, which, of course, is not an accurate criterion to judge by. More people nowadays are acknowledging the fact that mental health is something entirely different from mental illness. Recognizing the characteristics of good mental health, or lack thereof, is crucial for everyone.
If you want to know more about these characteristics, read on for more information.
1. You’re Satisfied with How Your Life Is Going
One of the best ways to identify good mental health is by looking for signs of satisfaction. If you’re enjoying all aspects of your life and you do not feel weighed down by life’s challenges, then your mental health is surely in a good state. Satisfaction can be achieved when a person has good relationships, shows a sense of pride in their achievements, has full control over their life, and is usually hopeful and optimistic. These qualities bring positivity to someone’s life, so when a crisis strikes, it won’t affect them as much as it does someone who lacks them.
2. You’re Not Easily Overwhelmed with Emotions
Another clear indicator of the state of your mental health is how you deal with your emotions. You can maintain emotional balance by having full control over how you react to upsetting situations, how often you express your feelings, and how much of these emotions you repress. The mental health specialists over at https://www.thrivetalk.com/online-psychiatrist/ explain that achieving good mental health happens when you don’t let emotions, such as fear, anxiety, guilt, love, or jealousy, control your actions. A good way to control these emotions is by looking for what causes them and addressing the problem so you won’t have to deal with these intense emotions in the future.
Also, expressing your feelings to your friends and loved ones can be therapeutic. Instead of hiding your feelings and having to deal with the stress of these repressed emotions, talking to your loved ones, or a professional therapist about things that are bothering you can help you solve the problem and get rid of these emotions. In short, communication is the best method for solving problems and maintaining better relationships.
3. Being Flexible
Flexibility is the key to peace of mind and level-headedness. Being cognitively and emotionally flexible is important and will relieve you of the stress that people with fixed expectations or mindsets often experience. Psychological flexibility is also essential if you want to have a healthy, well-balanced life. Expecting a specific outcome will always put you in a state of anxiety while finding more than one outcome agreeable is going to improve your resilience to disappointments and undesired results.
4. Having Social Support
Loneliness can have a lot of negative effects on a person’s life. In fact, loneliness can cause both mental and physical health issues like depression, memory problems, excessive drinking, drug abuse, and even cardiovascular diseases. On the other hand, if you have a healthy social life, then you will have the necessary healthy social connections with people that can offer you support at any point in your life.
It should be noted, though, that the quantity of these connections is not the key element here. In most cases, having many relationships means that most of them are probably shallow and superficial, and they won’t necessarily offer a healthy, balanced level of reciprocity for both parties. So, if you have 3 or 4 healthy relationships, this should be enough to offer you the social, emotional, and mental support you need.
5. Good Habits
Your eating and drinking habits are a clear giveaway of your mental state. Not getting enough sleep or missing daily meals indicates underlying problems with a person’s mental health. Our brains need a variety of nutrients to function properly and remain healthy. However, some foods and beverages can affect our feelings; if you consume too much caffeine and sugar, you might notice that they can sometimes have unpleasant side effects. It is better to stick to a healthy, balanced diet that includes an assortment of fruits, vegetables, dairy products, water, and whole grains.
Mental health is just as important as physical health. So, if you notice that someone is constantly struggling with their mental health, try to give them emotional and social support. However, if you think that there’s a deep underlying problem going on, then advising them to seek help from a professional therapist is the best thing you can do to help them address that problem.