A person’s mental and emotional health is mostly affected by how he deals with stress, how he sees himself, and how he interacts with others.
Mental health is usually associated with mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety disorder, and addiction. Still, it is important to think of mental well-being instead of just staring at the symptoms when you’re not doing so well.
According to the Mental Health Foundation in the United Kingdom, mental health is feeling good about ourselves and what we do in the world.
Note: If you are amid a severe mental illness, please seek medical help.
The Stress Of Everyday Life
Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time, some more, some less. And a world without stress is not possible, an argument with a colleague at work, time pressure, workload, monotony, dealing with a loved one can cause a great deal of stress.
But you have to understand that stress does not make you ill per se, but it can contribute to serious mental health problems if it persists for a long time.
According to psychologists, stress occurs primarily when you have the feeling that you can no longer meet the demands and expectations of your environment.
But in chronic stress, the situation is extreme, and people suffering from it react emotionally and psychologically in a certain way on a regular or permanent basis, which can even lead to behavioral changes.
Some people dealing with chronic stress compensate, and this compensation is rather rarely a positive thing like working out. More often, extremely stressed people start smoking, drinking, sleeping less, eating unhealthily, or even moving less.
Repressed Feelings
Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, claimed that repressing feelings and suppressing thoughts made people sick in the long run.
And According to a meta-study published in the journal Health Psychology in 2012, emotional repression can cause mental and physical illness such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, asthma, and diabetes.
Suppressing unpleasant feelings is a normal defense mechanism, and that everyone uses it from time to time. And the study proved that there are indeed links between certain diseases and the repression of feelings.
Also, According to the study, there is a clear link between repression and increased blood pressure. Chronic high blood pressure, in turn, can sometimes cause serious secondary diseases such as coronary heart disease, kidney or eye damage.
The placebo effect
The placebo effect affects how we perceive and interact with the world because we have certain expectations of things.
For example, if you take medicine and expect to become healthy, you actually overcome your health problem. That way, we have control or placebo groups in all medical studies.
And even though we can’t explain why, according to neuroscience, the placebo effect is a fact. The magnetic resonance images show that brain activity changes with the placebo effects.
So the psyche, thoughts, and feelings can influence mental health. The saying “fake it till you make it” is surprisingly a scientific method to deal with stress. Positive emotions and thoughts are the first steps to improve your mental health and overcome depression and anxiety.
Change
Today, changes are constant, especially in working life. New colleagues, a new boss, or a new house, a new workplace can affect our mental health.
Change triggers uncertainty and fear: the usual way of doing things no longer works. And it is difficult to embrace change and see it as a positive thing.
Burnout
Long-term work demands can cause a chronic state of stress and affect your mental health.
This condition is called burnout, a state of mental and physical exhaustion that affects your enthusiasm, motivation, and creative power.
Most common causes of burnout:
- Work tasks: Time and deadline pressures, and decisions without sufficient information
- Environmental conditions: Noise, inadequate ergonomic conditions, and hazards
- Interpersonal relationships with superiors, colleagues, and loved ones.
- Difficulties in reconciling work and family life
And these are the warning signs of burnout:
- Lots of work with little rest.
- Ignoring physical warning signs such as High blood pressure, shallow breathing, muscle tension, or poor sleep.
- An altered personality: Irritability, exhaustion, cynicism, depression, or aggressiveness.
- Perfectionism.
- Overstepping boundaries or difficulty saying no.
Conflicts
Conflicts have different causes, and there is no universal way of resolving them. So it is crucial to develop your strategies and approaches.
A conflict usually occurs when interests, opinions, expectations, or actions collide that are not compatible.
Now how to deal and manage a conflict: The most important thing is always an open discussion.
So learning some communication techniques will help you. For example, you should let the other person finish and ask open questions to understand as much as possible about the other person’s point of view.
Also, the conflict not always the fault of others. That’s why you should start at the beginning, take responsibility, and accept that the partner may have different feelings and interests.
Conflicts can have positive effects. They can change your views on certain things, trigger creativity, and promote your communication skills.
And as a general rule, the earlier a conflict is noticed and addressed, the better.
Bore Out
We talked about burnout and how it can affect your mental health, now being under-challenged can be a problem. Doing an activity that does not match your strengths and potential for a long time can cause severe mental problems.
According to several studies, employees that stare at holes in their desk and try to look busy without actually doing anything are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.
Also, Bore out can cause tension, sleep disorders, and even a loss of desire for life.
Bottom Line:
Talking about mental illness is essential. But it is much better to focus on mental health and how to Overcome Depression and Anxiety.
