What is mental health and how can we take care of it?

A review of the main components of mental health through beneficial habits.

Have you noticed that in recent times the term "mental health" is being talked about more frequently?

We see a clear example in what happened in July, when Simone Biles, the American athlete, dropped out of the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, and all the media devoted spaces to talk about the gymnast's words. "Mental health comes first, above any medal I might win," Biles said.

The data show that Spain is one of the countries in the European Union that consumes more sedatives, hypnotics and anxiolytics than any other country in the world.. Specifically, more than two million Spaniards take anxiolytics on a daily basis, according to data from the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Health Products as of January 2021.

On the other hand, there are alarming data as far as suicides are concerned: 10 people commit suicide a day and about 200 attempt it, being the first cause of unnatural death in Spain.

But... Do we know what mental health really is?

In 2001, the WHO defined the concept of mental health as "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal pressures of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community".

It is curious how we realize with this definition that mental health is more than the mere absence of mental illness..... Until a few years ago, the mission of both physical and mental health professionals was to cure, reduce Pain and lessen discomfort.

However, and in this definition we see it clearly, there are more voices calling for the promotion of care and well-being. The concept is broader, it is not only about avoiding stress or anxiety but also about being able to achieve a satisfactory life.

How can we take care of mental health?

More and more studies are showing that taking good care of our mental health has a direct impact on personal well-being and physical health. Let's see what we can do to take care of it.

1. Stop

So simple and difficult at the same time. Stopping in time is an enormously complex exercise, since society imposes on us a high pace in our day-to-day life..

We usually perform tasks on "autopilot", without being aware of what we are doing in many cases, and in many other cases taking for granted that it simply has to be that way.

To be able to stop we have to know ourselves very well and listen to our body, and for this the body scanner technique helps us. Only in this way we will realize that there are parts of our body that are tense, that we are feeling discomfort and even pain; that in many cases it is difficult to breathe; or perhaps to concentrate. But we must pass to the conscious everything that is happening in front of our senses and we are not realizing it.

When we start to become aware that something is not going well, that we have more load than we can bear, that the demands are higher than our resources. demands are higher than our resourcesit is time to stop and analyze what is happening and see what solutions we can provide.

2. Healthy social relationships

Having and maintaining quality, healthy and non-toxic social relationships with our friends, co-workers, family members, children, parents, partners, etc., is one of the basic and fundamental pillars for the care of our mental health.. Several studies show that it is a necessary factor, although not sufficient on its own, to experience well-being.

Observe what kind of relationships you have and what each one of them brings you. Is the balance positive or negative? Are they worth it? Do they give you confidence, calm and positivity? Or on the contrary, are they a source of conflict both with them and with yourself? To what extent are you giving more than receiving? These are examples of powerful questions to ask yourself to assess whether this area of your life is in balance.. The healthier these relationships are, the more you will be taking care of your mental health.

On the other hand, and related to this, there is a very important point to take care of and that is social isolation. Loneliness is a vicious circle from which it is necessary to get out.. When I perceive that I am alone, I begin to be very attentive and vigilant to all social threats, so that any disappointment or lack of trust with other people puts me on alert and I begin to remember all the times they have failed me.

This in turn causes me to behave in certain ways, for example, not meeting other people for fear that they will fail me again. Thus, the possibility of having positive relationship experiences becomes less and less and this will increase my perception that I am alone. And back to the beginning in a loop in which we must intervene to stop it.

3. Good communication

Good communication is essential to maintain an emotionally healthy life. Let's think about how we have felt if we have ever had an argument with someone, wanted to clarify points of view and this person did not want to continue talking. Feeling ignored is an emotion that hurts deeply and also leaves its mark on us.

On the other hand, there are times when we have wanted to communicate and for various reasons we have not obtained the result we wanted. Perhaps we have become too nervous, or we have blocked ourselves. Other times we may have communicated in an aggressive way... In short, we have felt a lot of discomfort after this interaction. Knowing how to communicate well, assertively, expressing our rights, our desires and our needs without having to trample on those of others is essential when it comes to taking care of our mental health.

There is a type of communication that we call active-constructive.If carried out, it is highly effective when it comes to connecting with other people. For example, when a person tells us something important to them and we give them space and time. That is, we stop what we are doing and really listen to them, ask questions about it, and react emotionally accordingly. In this moment you will be connecting with that person. Try it out in your day to day life, with your partner, your children, your parents.... It really works.

4. Vital sense

People who say they experience well-being in their lives have a clear, defined sense of life and move towards it. When we speak of vital sense, we refer on the one hand to the understanding of life, of the world and of oneself; understanding that we fit into a whole. And on the other hand we refer to purposes, which are the long-term aspirations in line with our values, which are ultimately the drivers of our actions.

There may be moments of daily mini-senses and/or larger senses: Have you ever thought about how beneficial it is to share at least one of your daily meals with your family, friends or people you live with? And to associate with people with whom you share interests (Ampa, neighbors in the same neighborhood...)? These are examples of small actions that can give meaning and coherence to our lives.

A good way to take care of our mental health is, precisely, to look for these small senses in our daily life.. Or perhaps helping us to perceive them because we already had them, but we had not realized them. As we said a few points above, it is again necessary to stop, almost on a daily basis, to do a self-examination in order to become aware. We will see that we usually find meaning in interactions with others and in experiences of achievement. We encourage you to clarify and become aware of these moments that can generate so much satisfaction.

5. Propose achievements and goals

Keeping active, in short, is another way to take care of our mental health. But be careful with the achievements that we propose; sometimes we fall into the trap that the achievement of these goals is what gives us well-being. Nothing could be further from the truth.

When we meet a goal, we feel positive emotions such as pride or satisfaction, and this in itself is very good, but they are short-lived emotions. So, well-being is not in the goal itself, but in the process.. The positive impact is in the path and this produces moments of well-being that last longer in time.

6. Self-care

This concept in turn encompasses many meanings. From a more physical point of view, to comply with a series of guidelines such as sleep well (in quality and quantity), maintain a healthy diet and do physical exercise, is directly related to mental wellbeing.is directly related to mental well-being and is therefore a great way to take care of it.

On the other hand, having a good self-concept of oneself, liking oneself, accepting oneself as one is, being proud of oneself, and being autonomous are also variables that help to promote well-being.

7. Asking for help

The last but not the least important way to take care of our mental health is to know how to ask for help. Many people feel very vulnerable when it comes to asking for help. They have been "strong", as they put it, and see a great weakness in asking for help. But nothing could be further from the truth.

In short, there are many ways to take care of our mental health. It is important that we are aware of these aspects, if they are present in our lives and to what extent; or, on the contrary, if they are conspicuous by their absence or do so but to an insufficient extent, creating a discomfort that makes our mental health suffers.

Dedicating time to ourselves to see in which situation we find ourselves can be a great help to take care of our mental health. can be of great help to take care of our mental health.

Finally, it is necessary to put mental health and wellbeing on the table, and to give it the importance it deserves is something that should not be allowed to go backwards. Politicians, organizations, and individuals themselves must make an effort to normalize it, to start talking about it in a natural way and not as a taboo..