Improving Your Mental Wellness

How to Improve Mental Wellness

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Mental Wellness and Health Today

More and more people in society, especially its young members, feel disconnected from other people. They become emotionally disengaged, even if it’s not what they truly want. This lack of ability to connect or belong coupled with the exposure to so much negativity fed to people through technology leads to an increase of anger and mental health issues. Unfortunately, these mental health concerns are often going undiagnosed and untreated.

What can we do about this? It’s important to focus on mental health and emotional health on an individual level and within relationships and society.

Why Does Mental Health Matter?

Mental health is an encompassing term that covers many aspects of your life, health, and well-being, including:

  • Cognitive
  • Emotional
  • Behavioral

This translates into your thoughts, your feelings, and your behaviors. While we tend to put an inordinate amount of attention on physical well-being as a society, these mental aspects make up a huge part of a person’s life. They can impact a person’s relationships, ability to work, and state of being daily. That’s why mental health is so important.

Your mental health state comes into play about how you deal with stressors and life in general. If you are mentally strong, you can handle what life throws at you better than if you struggle more with this area of life. Also, mental health impacts the fairly basic idea of whether you feel happy and satisfied with your life or not. If you obsess about thoughts or are stuck in the past or future in your mind, you won’t enjoy the present moment. You may feel like your life is passing you by without anything good about it.

When Something Impacts Your Mental Wellness 

When your mental health state is not good, you could have a mental health disorder, also known as a mental illness. There is a broad range of these disorders it’s possible to have. The most common types are:

  • Anxiety disorders
  • Mood disorders
  • Schizophrenia disorders

For example, you could have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a type of anxiety disorder where your thoughts get stuck on something. You feel like you need to perform repetitive behavior to feel better. Other examples of mental disorders include:

  • Generalized anxiety disorder
  • Depression
  • Bipolar disorder

If you have a mental disorder, you are not in a state of optimal mental health. You are struggling with some aspect of your mental and emotional health, which varies depending on the disorder type.

Nonetheless, it’s possible to struggle with mental health even if you do not become diagnosed with a mental health disorder. For example, you could experience anxiety from time to time and find that difficult to handle.

The difference is that a mental disorder involves the signs and symptoms continuing over time and interfering with your life. Mental health disorders can develop at any point in a person’s life.

Ways to Improve Mental and Emotional Health

We can take steps collectively and individually to make a positive change toward better mental health. Of course, professional interventions, such as therapy and medication, can be effective. Nonetheless, we can also make changes in how we interact with one another to impact us positively. These are some key areas that make a difference.

Being Heard

As it makes us feel important and cared about, we all want to be heard. It can help truly listen to other people while making eye contact and commenting to show you’re paying attention. Also, take time away from distractions such as technology to check in on people in your life and see how they’re doing. Ask them questions about their life. Of course, you should also seek out supportive relationships for your own mental and emotional health.

Feeling Understood

Beyond just being listened to, we want to feel like other people understand who we are and where we’re coming from. You can help other people feel understood by asking them leading questions and having meaningful conversations with them. It also helps to understand and accept their individuality rather than change the person’s mind or beliefs. In the same way, seek out people and groups to help you be yourself and feel understood.

Feeling Part of Something

It can become dangerous for people to be in constant solitude and disconnected from other people, especially if it is not their preference. This situation can connect to a lack of empathy, anger toward others, and additional unhealthy thoughts or behaviors. We need to help other people feel included and reach out when they are ostracized. If you feel disconnected from others, seek a group to join that’s centered on something you enjoy or care about.

Putting Effort into Ourselves

It’s also important to focus on our own mental health as individuals. “Establishing good mental health can help prevent anxiety-related illnesses and disorders,” according to an article on Exploring Your Mind. This article notes many ways to work on your mental health, which include:

  • Noticing the present through mindfulness
  • Choosing relationships that benefit your life and letting go of ones that don’t
  • Looking for the positive in situations
  • Taking care of yourself

Good mental and emotional health can put people into a state of peacefulness and make them feel happy about their lives. Without this, people can develop mental disorders and struggle with life. Putting effort into mental health can improve life individually and as a society overall. 

Source

Reviewed by Clare Waismann, RAS / SSUDCC, Founder of Domus Retreat

Professionals select and write all topics for the DomusRetreat.com blog based on high editorial quality standards and cited source material. Clare Waismann, Registered Addiction Specialist (RAS), Substance Use Disorder Certified Counselor (SUDCC) and founder of Domus Retreat and Waismann Method® review all articles for accuracy, credibility, and relevancy. Clare Waismann is an authority and expert on opioid dependence and related topics covered on the DomusRetreat.com blog. One of Domus Retreat’s specialists also reviews some articles depending on their area of expertise. For additional information and disclaimers regarding third-party sources and content for informational purposes only, please see our Terms of Service.