We often forget, but our mind runs everything that we do from tying our shoes, taking a deep breath, or making a financial decision. It also helps dictate how we view ourselves, what motivation we put into certain subjects and tasks, and how we interact with strangers, loved ones, and friends.
Honestly, anything you can look around, point to, and name, our mind is a part of it one way or another. For something that we use every day, all day, not many of us have an understanding of mental health.
What is mental health?
Mental health, as defined by mentalhealth.gov, affects how to think, feel and act when it comes to our emotional, psychological and social well-being. And it stresses that mental health, positive mental health, is essential at every stage of our lives, from childhood to adulthood.
When we have positive mental health, it allows us to
Cope with the stresses of life
Work productively
Realize our full potential
Make meaningful contributions to our communities
Create meaningful and lasting connections with others
Ability to start the day with a positive mindset
Have more time for our children and loved ones
Being more present in our day-to-day lives
Encouraging ourselves to take care of our psychical health
Feeling spiritually closer to your creator
And there are more benefits than listed. Just like going to the dentist is needed to help maintain clean teeth, there are certain things you have to do to maintain positive mental health.
Some of these include:
Getting enough sleep
Being physically active
Connecting with others
Helping others
Getting professional help when you need it
Here we are in 2023, and we can for the most part say the pandemic is over. And as much as we want to forget the last two years, it is important to learn from these situations and know how to prepare ourselves for anything that could happen in the future.
When we learn to stay in a positive mental state, it helps us learn how to have a holistic approach to disease prevention and health promotion.
Common Wealth Fund acknowledges that even before the pandemic, lots of North Americans have experience with anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems and were not able to get treatment. A huge reason was for a shortage of providers.
One opportunity that has come out of the pandemic is the government allowing therapeutic sessions to be held through the internet. The internet allows sessions to be provided to those who cannot spend the time commuting back and forth from a session, who need therapy to work in between their busy lives, and it provides those with the opportunity for different types of therapy.
Now it is easier than ever to find yourself a therapist.
Simple ways to find accessible mental health:
If you would like to make it easy for yourself, hand book a free consultation with one of our friendly, compassionate, trained therapists.
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