Mental Health
What contributed to my negative mental health?
I know now that I was affected by negative mental health and always used positive mental health to lift my spirit. I wrote poems, taught myself how to draw, roller skated, run, cycled and cooked healthy meals. The problem was the people around me that always found a way to put me down.
My teenage dreams were crushed. I wanted to get married, to be an economics journalist, I wanted happiness, friendship and love. My loss of weight, my frail and deformed body. The sudden death of my father at the age of 16. A chronic illness aged 24. But I was able to deal with it, overcome it and now I am sharing my experiences with you.
Effects of mental illness
Mental health can influence your decision making, change behaviour, reduce intellectual function and productivity. A life shock and stressful events have an effect on psychological distress. This happened to me. I didn’t match my potential during my degree, although I had a good start. I became less productive at work, at home and made poor decisions in friendships, partners, financially and many mistakes that were out of character.
Negative mental health
Depression can affect your body, emotions and intellect. Symptoms in the body include fatigue, sleep problems, appetite or weight change, and movement retardation. Emotional and intellectual symptoms are a lack of interest, sad mood, low self-esteem, thoughts of death, and difficulty in concentrating. Chronic illness, inflammation, mourning, poverty, being single or divorced, loneliness, no emotional support, feeling tired, low energy are all conditions related to negative mental health.
Chronic diseases have an impact on you physically but are also linked to psychological and social difficulties. It can limit you to carry out daily activities and interact with other people. In turn it can have a social and mental burden in your life and make dealing with the illness even harder.
Positive mental health
Well its not all bad news! Moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise and participating in sports, benefits physical and mental wellness. Some examples of aerobic exercises are, walking, running, swimming, cycling, roller skating, weight training, stretching and jumping rope.
A healthful and varied diet, high in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, pulses, seeds, nuts, herbs, spices, water, herbal teas, fruit juices and superfoods. With or without seafood. Moderate in dairy products or with plant milk. No meat, processed foods, saturated and trans fats, sugar and sodium. Can improve your overall health. Eating a healthy diet is very important to me, I became a vegetarian and it benefited me very much.
Sleep duration is associated with improved health and wellbeing. This is true for a new-born child, teenager, adult or elderly person. However, it can be a problem when you are sick, I have experienced it. A good night sleep only happened when I was feeling well. Having a good bedtime routine can help. The truth is sleep is important for health, so whenever I felt tired, I went to sleep. I knew my body needed it.
Positive vs negative mental health
Positive mental health includes your emotions, like happiness and satisfaction with life. As well as, achieving your potential in life, for example, in school, relationships, work and health. It is overall emotional, psychological and social wellbeing.
Positive mental health is associated with, greater levels of satisfaction with life while negative mental health with depression, anxiety and stress. For this reason, positive mental health can be vital for a person to recover from mental illness and stay mentally healthy.
“Positive mental health is important for recovery from mental illness and therapies have been designed to improve the positive mental health of individuals with diagnosed mental illness .” – Slade et al., 2017
Positive Mental Health
Conclusion
Positive mental health is essential for recovery from depression, anxiety, stress and panic disorder. I believe that positive mental health and natural therapies should be included into mental health care, to improve the health of people suffering from it. Smile, be cheerful and be healthy!
References
Jokelaa M, et al. Journal of Affective Disorders 251, Chronic diseases and social risk factors in relation to specific symptoms of depression: Evidence from the U.S. national health and nutrition examination surveys, (2019), 242-247
Hoang D, et al. Social Science & Medicine 225, All in the mind? Estimating the effect of mental health on health behaviours, (2019), 69–84
Hosker D, et al. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America Volume 28, Issue 2, Promoting Mental Health and Wellness in Youth Through Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Sleep, (2019), 171-193
Iasiello M, et al. Journal of Affective Disorders 251, Positive mental health as a predictor of recovery from mental illness, (2019), 227–230
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