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It is important to be mindful of your mental health now more than ever. Here's how mental health impacts your life. . .

Mental Health is probably the most often used phrase in the past decade or so with growing awareness about mental health, what it entails, its causes, solutions, and possible treatments. Mental health includes the well-being of psychological, mental, cognitive states, as well as emotional needs and necessities. Mental health and mental well-being are generally overlooked as trivial.

Mental health first requires establishing that the mind and body are very much interconnected, despite being different units. What affects the mind troubles the body and what disturbs the body affects the mind. The combination of the two influences affects how we function through different phases of life. With good experiences come good quality of life, and with bitter, decreased quality of life. Why then is it important to establish mental health, what it entails and its impact on our lives?

Why mental health is important

 It all starts from there

Why mental health (and its impact) is important is because thinking, feeling, experiencing, and expressing begins from there. You function daily in a variety of tasks only because your mind works as much. Had it begun to show signs of mental distress, it would slowly reduce efficiency or productivity in tasks you undertake daily. Consider it as an important requirement for everything you do in your everyday life. Only if your mental space is clear, can you function with clarity.

 Interconnectedness

As said earlier, the interconnectedness of the mind and body is important because both parts rely on each other interchangeably for the functioning of your system. Considering that you need both mind and body to function well, only a firm mind (and body), would be able to deliver productivity, efficiency and a better quality of life overall. The more you begin to take care of one, the more it starts to affect the other. You may also begin to see a favourable outcome in your personal, academic, professional, or social life. 

How you are with/around others

Your mental health or space, directly and indirectly, affects the way you are with or handle people, whether in communication, behaviour and socialising etc. If your mental health, mindfulness, and well-being are firm, you would automatically begin to treat, talk and behave better around the people around you. 

What poor mental health leads to

Poor or poorly maintained mental health accumulates to stress, burnout, unnecessary worry, anxiety, feeling troubled, or depression. This gives way to unnecessary risk of heart disease, attacks and many more consequences. Needless to say that mental well-being, stress and the like are not restricted to just the above but researchers are proving that mental health is almost directly related to multiple other health ailments, directly or indirectly. Again, it all affects your quality of life, productivity etc.

Overall health downfall

On a subconscious level or otherwise, when one part of your well-being starts to drop,  even on a psychological level eventually, you begin to feel as if you truly are unwell. As such, this may be your mind and body’s way of telling you to take it slow occasionally and breathe for a moment or two. Whether it is weariness, fatigue, or exhaustion, you are likely feeling this way for a reason. So, instil an awareness and mindfulness of your body and mind, and reflect on what it is telling you. 

If you feel the tension of your daily life exhausting, and taking a compromising toll on your mental health and well-being, consider the following to assist coping mechanisms with the distress you may be feeling:

• First, attempt to understand yourself. Give yourself the luxury of understanding what is truly troubling your mind. Then try to understand the issue or the cause of your distress. If you are unable to do so, do not hesitate to get in touch with a professional who may be able to help you.
• If the exhaustion is a result of stress, excessive tension or overworking, you must give yourself some time to refresh, collect yourself, unwind, and relax. You may take some time off your day and invest yourself in anything that may help you feel better. Sometimes it can be the smallest things, such as reading a book, meditating, gardening, and singing, dancing, writing or cooking even. If you know what would help uplift your spirits and well-being, do not hesitate to pursue it! 

        See more on why you should home-cook your food here.

• Sometimes you feel good, doing something good. This may include helping someone in need, the poor, or anyone. When you help someone in distress, you would feel a sense of accomplishment as well as responsibility as you are content with the feeling of doing something for someone, other than yourself.
• Do something for yourself. These may include activities like playing games of some sort or pulling yourself out that door, and going anywhere, perhaps the beach, a picnic, a long drive, anything!
• Most importantly, COMMUNICATE. Learn to open up, speak, express, or talk to someone. This may be someone you trust or as said earlier a specialist who may be able to help you. Whoever it may be, talk it out as much as you possibly can.
• And finally, know and understand that it is fine to feel this way. We humans are not machines, so be mindful that it is in our default nature to feel pressure sometimes. Some days are good, we feel good, and on other days, not so great and that is perfectly fine too. Learn to accept that. 

The notion of mental health, health and mental well-being is ever-growing, more so in recent years. With people becoming increasingly busy and preoccupied with many commitments, tasks and challenges, the need to take particular care of mental health increases.

So, in the midst of achieving and accomplishing such tedious tasks, you may forget to look after yourself and eventually come to a turning point. It is then that the mindfulness of your health becomes important. Pay attention to what your mind and body say, and ensure that you put yourself first whenever possible. Mental health should then be prioritised, since everything begins there, in your mind.

In addition to your mental health, take the best care for your health with our health insurance plan made to meet your individual needs.