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The Benefits of Mental Health
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!
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