Mental health, which has been widely discussed for years, continues to maintain its relevance today. Mental health is one of the main factors affecting our quality of life. Unfortunately, mental health is often overlooked, with people ignoring the ramifications it can have. However, mental health is just as important as physical health. Mental health issues are somewhat different in the digital century. First, let's take a general look at mental health.
What is mental health?
When we say mental health, we are talking about the state of mind and the mental state of a person. People's behavior, actions, reactions to situations, and emotions during the day indicate their mental health. Mental health plays a more important role in directing our lives than we think. Just as mental disorders can lead us down without even knowing it, having a mentally strong state of mind can lead us to the top. The road to the top is through mental health. Because a person facing mental disorders can make wrong decisions under their influence. At the same time, this is a reality, people who are not mentally healthy do not have spiritual comfort, and people who do not have spiritual comfort cannot enjoy anything.
Types of mental disorders
According to the information provided by the WHO, there are types of mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, bipolar, etc. Now let's pay attention to those disorders separately.
● Anxiety
Anxiety is a mental disorder that creates a sense of fear and concern for threats that do not actually exist but are likely to occur in the future. Anxiety is a condition of constant worry that many people experience on a daily basis, which also limits their normal life activities. Anxiety also manifests itself in the case of a panic attack. A panic attack usually occurs unexpectedly and lasts for several minutes.
● Depression
Depression is a mental disorder that lasts for a long time, causes psychological discomfort for the person, and negatively affects his/her life activity. The most severe form of depression is clinical depression.
● Bipolar disorder
Bipolar is a psychological disorder that manifests itself in a person's daily life. People with this mental disorder can be very happy at one moment and feel very bad at the same time. In other words, since they experience their emotions at the extreme, this is also reflected in their behavior.
● Post-traumatic stress disorder
This type of mental disorder, which appears unexpectedly, creates a deep sense of fear and helplessness in a person. The key point here is that a trauma has occurred in the past. This violation is caused by some trauma and reflects its traces.
● Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a chronic disease characterized by the fact that a person hears sounds that are not related to reality, sees images, and engages in dangerous behaviors that are detached from reality.
● Eating disorder
Eating disorders can be caused by violent events in the family, depression, and feelings of worthlessness. This mental problem can cause a person to vomit whatever food they eat.
● Disruptive behavior and dissocial disorders
People with this disorder act according to their inner urges and cannot prevent it. Nuances such as aggression and confrontation are visible in their actions. As an example, we can show pyromania and kleptomania.
● Neurodevelopmental disorders
Neurodevelopmental disorders prevent the development of the nervous system, causing the brain to function differently. This disorder, which is observed especially in children, hinders the development of their reading, learning, memorizing, speaking, and social skills.
Note: Mental health can be a normal thing to see in people; it can be experienced by all of us. Although in many cases we fight it ourselves with various methods and means, in the case of the progression of the violation or to make a diagnosis, it is necessary to use the help of a professional doctor.
What are the causes of mental health disorders?
Since we live in the digital century, we can benefit from its positive aspects and suffer from its negative aspects. Unfortunately, social media, which currently covers a large part of our lives, is a major threat to our mental health. Events that do not reflect reality on social media and the ever-increasing perception of perfection create a sense of worthlessness in people, while cyberbullying on social media disturbs their psychology and leads them to depression. In addition, worst of all, sometimes people do not even realize it; instead of getting rid of social media that creates a negative mood, they become more attached to it. Of course, no one can deny the contribution of social media, as well as Internet resources and artificial intelligence, to our lives. However, if we fail to use them properly, we experience their negative effect on us.
However, how can we fight these violations?
As I mentioned, all of us can face mental problems; it is very normal. We encounter many things in our daily lives, after a while, they tire our minds, and the traumas we receive keep their traces. The important thing is to be able to recognize and struggle against these problems. A psychologist's help is important to correctly diagnose and solve mental disorders. However, it is an undeniable fact that we can encounter mental disorders at every moment of our lives; not every type of one is dangerous, and in this case, we can fight and overcome them ourselves. What I mean is that these disorders are possibilities, and we can deal with them or prevent them from developing into further disorders by protecting our mental health in various ways. Let's take a look at some activities that will positively affect our mental health.
✔ Meditation
Meditation is a practical theory in which a person listens to his inner world and achieves mental and spiritual peace. During meditation, many breathing techniques are used. In a quiet environment, the outgoing person travels into his inner world, removing certain thoughts from his mind and instead focusing more on his inner voice. Strengthening immunity, regulating blood circulation, normalizing sleep, etc. Assisted meditation has many similar benefits for one's mental as well as physical health.
✔ Art
Different types of art, such as painting with paint, making objects from ceramics and other materials, making textiles, painting on stone, etc., calm us down mentally, help relieve stress, and at the same time, these types of activities also develop our creativity.
✔ Sports
As we know, doing sports physically helps to have stronger immunity and a healthier body. The positive effect of playing sports on our mental health is undeniable. Indeed, a healthy mind resides in a healthy body.
✔ Spending time in nature
Spending time with nature is a great option to maintain our mental health and mood and increase our motivation. We can participate in outdoor activities in nature, go on picnics, and take small hikes. Taking in fresh air revives the mind, inspires a person, and renews his energy. Spending time in front of nature's magnificent beauty is one of the greatest favors we can do for ourselves.
✔ Writing journal
Writing... Writing down our thoughts, emotions, and everything that worries us, makes us happy, and excites us—in a word, frees our mind. This will help us both to see through the thoughts that have us deep in thought, and after doing so, we will feel more relaxed and calm.
✔ Take time for yourself.
This is one of the most important steps we can take to take care of our mental health. First of all, each of us should be aware of our values and be able to determine our priorities. We should remove everything that worries us from our lives, and we should be able to devote more time to the things that make us happy. Spending time with ourselves, doing things we love, listening to our inner voice, being alone when appropriate, and most importantly, setting personal boundaries for ourselves will help us become more confident. Self-confident people overcome the feeling of worthlessness and can more easily struggle against mental disorders.
How can we contribute to society in the fight against mental disorders?
As individuals, we can support people in our community to overcome the challenges they face with their mental health. Nevertheless, how can we show this support? First of all, I want to say that you should pay special attention to the expressions you use when communicating with these people, our style, and, most importantly, the advice you give them. Because those people are in a more sensitive, state and may not understand your thoughts correctly. That is, being able to empathize plays a big role here. For example, expressions such as “don’t care, it's not important, don't pay attention, don’t exaggerate” show that you do not care about the concern of the person and this situation can cause irritation in them. My point is that even if your intentions are good, the method you choose may be wrong. Be careful not to harm people while trying to help them. The best thing we can do is make them feel that we are with them and that we have our sincere support. If you are aware of the person's problem, you can share ways and means to overcome the violation without hurting them. The nuances I mentioned are also valid for us. Moreover, there is one thing we should always remind ourselves and those around us: "It will never be as bad as we think, and like everything else, it will pass one day."
Take care of your mental health for a better life.
Written by Minara Rustamzade
