While growing up, don’t remember hearing a term like mental health, yes we were always encouraged to speak out …stay happy …that’s it. But in the recent years few words have become an integral part of our vocabulary …infact our ecosystem…and they are “stress”, “positive thinking”, “mental well being” to name a few.
And today’s mantra is our mental health is much more or equally important than our physical health. Why suddenly so much of stress …why we now have to consciously make an effort to think positively. Not having in depth know-how, but as a layman can say not one factor is responsible for the stress. The world slowly moving towards too much materialism, the want for more, the high competitiveness…the greed to earn more…and for that pushing yourself too much…the meaning of success redefined…your income is the parameter to measure how successful you are. Actually it’s difficult to pen down what all contributes to so much stress today… infact, one reason may also be the shift from joint to nuclear set up. These are the first few reasons that come up in mind when I think of the word stress…I am sure there are many many more.
There are some things that I believe helps us to keep ourselves mentally fit. Positive thinking is the foremost. We all go through problems…face situations not agreeable to us…and this generally leads to thinking all negative things…one feels as if he is the only one bearing it all. But basically the grass is always greener on the other side. But how to pull ourselves when going through these low feelings. To start thinking positively is the best answer but at those times we tend to forget, we need to be reminded…and for this it is necessary that we share. Sharing your feelings, speaking out is as necessary as thinking positive. We all have a person in our life who we can talk openly, he/she may be a friend, a relative, your own partner…anybody. It is a saying when you share your happiness it doubles and when you share your problems they get halved. To be able to tell somebody you are troubled will help, definitely help. Keeping it all pent up inside will on the other hand definitely deteriorate our mental health.
One more thing that can help is trying to detach ourselves from the issue in hand for a while . Keeping ourselves away…taking a break at times gives us a new perspective…constantly thinking about it will not necessarily lead to a solution. We should also try to have a hobby, something that helps us relax, unwinds us, gives us a break from our daily “have to do” routine.
Life is short and beautiful…it is we who make it difficult at times…It’s we who need to decide the direction we want our life to head to…and for this well being of our mental health is of utmost importance. Never shy off from asking for help, taking medical help, it is nothing of a taboo…it’s okay to speak out…and always give an ear to someone in need …instead of regretting later.