Is mental well-being important element that needs to be spoken?

Mental health refers to cognitive, behavioral, emotional and mostly importantly known as psychological wellbeing. It is a state of mind which should be taken care of by each and every one. And it reflects on our eating, sleeping, thinking, feeling, patterns. Before people suffering from mental illness were considered as possessed by a ghost or tagged as mental who are tagged as unfit. There are some myths of mental illness they are rare or uncommon, people with mental illness are dangerous, people are considered as ‘crazy’, meeting a doctor is a shameful act which leads to reluctance in people and also lack of understanding among friends and family. Statistics about mental health in India: 7.5% of the population suffers from some kind of mental disorder. 9 out of 10 Indians suffer from stress. 42.5% of corporate employees suffer from stress and anxiety. Clinical depression has risen by 50% in the last 8 years. 22.44% of people suffer from substance use disorders etc. Some common types of mental disorders are generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorders (PSTD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), schizophrenia, eating disorders, etc.

Some of the factors contributing to mental illness are: some of the causes are biological like in genes etc, psychological and environmental like as in life experienced. Biological factors contributing to mental illness include genes that are inherited from the family, brain injuries or defects in the brain, infections caused by certain viruses and bacteria, exposure to some toxic substances, any prenatal damage was done, and poor nutrition in infants and in childhood. Psychological factors contributing to mental illness involves severe psychological trauma or stress, sexual or physical or emotional abuse from childhood, poor social relations like neglected or lack of support from friends and family, the early loss of close family or friend which unbearable. Environmental factors contributing to mental illness are having a dysfunctional family, divorce or death, change in environment leads to different experiences, substance abuse (mainly parents), a romantic relationship failure, or school work-related issues.

There are symptoms for mental disorders, as it cannot be tested directly like blood tests or urine tests. Most common signs of people suffering from mental illness are feeling very sad or depressed or withdrawn for a long time like a month times, start feeling numb or like nothing matters for you in this world, feeling helpless or hopeless about your life or situations, having persistent or negative thoughts and memories you can’t get out of your head, you start believing things that are not true, suicidal thoughts like trying to harm or end his or her life or making plans to do so and thinking of harming other people, hallucinations like seeing, hearing or believing things that aren’t real, even excessive using drugs, smoking and drinking alcohol, changes in day to day activities i.e. have low or no energy to carry daily tasks  like eating or sleeping too much or too little, inability to perform daily tasks like taking care of your kids or getting your  work done or unable to concentrate in school or university, experiencing severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships like pulling away from people and feeling unusually confused, forgetful, on edge, angry, upset, worried, or scared, yelling or fighting with family and friends, you may even having unexplained aches and pains.

Good mental health means a good state of mind. And with a good state of mind we will able to start enjoying our lives that is start living our life to fullest; helps us deal with our problems in our lives like a loss of job or relationship crisis or death of loved one etc. Managing stress in our life is one of the toughest jobs for each and every person in this world. Stress also includes confusion, anxiety and fear, loss of memory, criticisms, and negative thoughts, etc. There are some techniques to manage it sharing it with your loved one, setting goals i.e. positive stress for ourselves, working on our different hobbies and interests, and these with positive thinking. Even good mental health helps to maintain good physical health like we start eating a nutritional diet which will include fresh fruits and vegetables especially leafy or green ones, adding proteins, less fat, etc. And also stability in our good mental state will help in the productivity of the work we do this makes us realize our full potential and helps us make more contributions to our society.

A mentally is always considered a weak person by the people surrounded by them. There are some signs for a mentally strong person – they don’t get easily triggered by others that is control their emotions; when they willing to adjust and apologize; knows to set their boundaries and limitations and expectations from others; are independent and willing to help others; taking negative thoughts and criticism about them positive; understanding problems and finding solutions for it; use time properly; don’t blame luck, fate or other people for your problems and set to deal with it; try to risk and go out of their comfort zone, and look ways to improve yourselves better as a person. In order to develop a strong mindset- we need to have a purpose and start setting new goals in our lives; find our weakness and work on them; see all our challenges as our opportunities; learn from our own mistakes as is the best teacher; start working instead of talking; take criticism positively; take time seriously; failures are stepping stones of success. They are some inspirational ways to build our mental state healthily in our time of crisis.

“You should realize that you control your own destiny” a quote by psychologist Albert Ellis that is necessary to take responsibility for your life. Nowadays, sciences have started focusing more on mental health and it has one of the important topics to discuss but in India, Mental health is still considered a stigma. And it is necessary for us to spread awareness in order for people with problems to open up and people, who want to pursue a career here, can know more about mental health. And mental health should be given the same treatment as physical health everywhere. Healing always takes a little time and people should realize that it is ok to take some help. As a person, we should take care of ourselves because happiness first lays on us rather than others.