We certainly hear a lot about the importance of physical health in helping us to live longer. There are magazine articles, books, DVD’s, and mailings on discounted gym memberships that all help to spread the word about the importance of physical health. It’s less often that we hear about the importance of mental health for longer, quality-lived lives, and the many other benefits of good mental health.
Many people will readily admit that a longer life doesn’t mean much if you cannot enjoy those extended years of your life. If our mental or emotional health isn’t healthy, it can substantially reduce our enjoyment in living and also leaves us susceptible to the diseases that often cut lives short.
Strong mental health provides you with the coping skills you need to face all that life dishes out, good and bad. If you’re mental health isn’t strong, you won’t be able to deal with the hurdles of life, or experience the good side of life either for that matter.
Poor mental health leads to depression, isolation from others, and a disconnection from spiritual beliefs, lack of concentration, poor decision making, risk taking behaviors, stress, broken marriages, violence, drug and alcohol addictions, and generally an “inability” to appreciate and enjoy all the wonderful things in life. Strong mental health is your best defense against falling prey to these devastating results of poor mental health.
Strong mental health benefits your physical health by providing your body with the energy it needs for proper functioning without having to resort to “stealing” energy from other resources in the body such as vital organs and muscles. Strong mental health benefits the immune system, which is how your body fights to rid the body of the bacteria and viruses that are responsible for illnesses. With a full reservoir of energy from which your body can drink from, the more energized you feel mentally and physically. You’ll have the energy (mental and physical) for exercise, which is a very important factor in how healthy you are as a whole, and you will be more able to participate in and enjoy the activities you love the most.
Strong mental health benefits our interactions with others as well. Because strong mental health puts you into a good frame-of-mind, you have the ability to share your thoughts and feelings with others clearly. This reduces the chances of encountering the misunderstandings that can damage our relationships with others. Being in a good state of mental health also helps keep you from over reacting to a situation and making it worse.
You can improve your mental health, which also improves your health as a whole easily enough. Begin by not keeping feelings bottled-up inside where they can become toxic to both your mental and physical health. Open up and share your feelings with trusted family members, friends, clergy, your family physician, or even a counselor if you don’t feel safe sharing with the people you know. Purging yourself of feelings that are building up inside you, gets them out and away from you before they can become harmful to your health.
Use the time spent commuting to and from work improving your mental health by listening to CD’s containing information about the various techniques you can use to improve your mental health. Some of these techniques for building and maintaining strong mental health include relaxation and meditation to help eliminate harmful stress, developing stronger coping skills to meet whatever challenges life brings, exercise, healthy eating, getting enough sleep, and keeping the body well-hydrated by drinking at least 8 glasses of water everyday.
Enjoy the whole-health benefits of mental health at Summit Behavioral Health Treatment Centers
