Along with your physical health, your mental health is a cornerstone of your well-being. When you maintain and nurture it, you also maintain and nurture your overall quality of life. In addition, you reduce your exposure to serious mental health-related problems. How can you stay mentally healthy throughout your life? Experts recommend doing a variety of things known to foster mental wellness.
What Does It Mean to Be Mentally Healthy?
Exactly what does it mean to be mentally healthy and well? There are three essential components of mental health. The first of these is your emotional well-being. Your psychological well-being also plays a crucial role. In addition, since humans are a social species, your social well-being also matters.
You are mentally healthy when there are no serious problems in these areas. It is typical for everyday stresses of life to upset one or more of these three areas temporarily, but issues should not linger. Chronic disturbances in emotional, psychological, or social well-being generally require the assistance of a mental health professional.
Things That Make You Mentally Healthy
What determines whether or not you are mentally healthy or sound? One significant factor is the absence of any untreated symptoms of mental illness. When mental illness is absent or well-controlled, you enjoy a stable function in all aspects of your mental health.
Sound mental health also involves the presence of specific, important capabilities. These capabilities not only contribute to your current sense of wellness. They may also help decrease the odds of future mental health issues. These specific things that make you mentally healthy include:
- Feeling and expressing both positive and negative emotions
- Successfully managing the effects of those emotions
- Learning new things and remembering what has been learned
- Forming stable relationships with friends and loved ones
- Socializing well with more distant acquaintances, as well as strangers
- Coping with the inevitable uncertainties of everyday life
Mentally healthy or sound people also maintain a sense of personal balance in the face of changing circumstances.
How to Be Mentally Healthy
Since mental wellness is so important, it’s essential that you learn how to be mentally healthy. A range of actions will help you reach this goal. Common recommendations from mental health specialists include:
- Maintaining a positive outlook on your situation and life in general
- Staying physically active
- Eating well and getting enough sleep to meet your needs
- Cultivating a personal sense of purpose and meaning
- Keeping up your social connections with other people
- Developing a sense of gratitude for the positive things in your life
You can also do many things to help make your life as stress-free as possible. For example, you can work on strengthening your coping skills. You can also practice stress management and relaxation techniques. In addition, you may want to consider trying some form of meditation.
Each of these things can make significant contributions to your mental wellness. However, they can also have a substantial cumulative effect. In other words, the more of them you utilize, the greater the mental health boost you may experience. It’s also critical that you seek help if, despite your best efforts, you develop serious mental health problems.
Learn More About Creating a Mentally Healthy Lifestyle at Women’s Recovery
For more advice on staying mentally healthy, turn to the professionals at Women’s Recovery. We’ll help you identify the things in your life that can increase or decrease your mental well-being. In this way, we can also help you determine your level of risk for future issues.
Women’s Recovery also specializes in the women-centered treatment of combined mental health and substance problems. Regardless of the mental illness or form of addiction affecting you, we’re committed to supporting your road to recovery. Call us today at 833.754.0554 for more information on our available treatment options. You can also reach us through our online form.