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

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

We see a clear example in what happened in July, when Simone Biles, the American athlete, left the Games 2021 Tokyo Olympics, and all the media dedicated spaces to talk about the words of the gymnast. "Mental health comes first, above any medal you can win," Biles said.

The data tell us that Spain is one of the European Union countries that consumes the most sedatives, hypnotics and anxiolytics. Specifically, more than two million Spaniards take anxiolytics daily, according to data from the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products as of January 2021.

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

• Related article: "The 16 most common mental disorders"

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 own abilities, can cope with the normal pressures of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to your community".

It's funny how we figure out 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 heal, reduce pain, and lessen discomfort.

However, and in this definition we see it clearly, there are more voices that ask that care and well-being be promoted. The concept is broader, it is not only about avoiding stress or anxiety but also about being able to achieve a satisfying life.

• You may be interested in: "The 10 benefits of going to psychological therapy"

How can we take care of mental health?

More and more studies show that 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 on time is an enormously complex exercise, since society imposes a high rhythm on us in our day to day.

Normally we perform tasks on “automatic pilot”, without being aware of what we are doing in many cases, and in many others taking for granted that it simply has to be.

To be able to stop we have to know ourselves very well and listen to our body, and for this the technique of body scan. Only then will we realize that there are parts of our body that are stressed, that we are feeling discomfort and even pain; that in many cases it is difficult for us to breathe; or maybe 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 begin to be aware that something is wrong, that we have more burden than we can bear, that the 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, relatives, 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 by itself, to experience well-being.

See what kind of relationships you have and what each 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 part 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 in relation 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, in such a way 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.

This in turn makes me behave in a certain way, for example, not meeting other people for fear that they will fail me again. Thus, the possibility of having positive relationship experiences is less and less and this will increase my perception that I am alone. And start over in a loop in which you have to intervene to stop it.

• You may be interested in: "The 7 types of loneliness, and their causes and characteristics"

3. Good communication

Good communication is essential to maintaining an emotionally healthy life. Let's think about how we have felt if we have ever argued with someone, we 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 aggressively… Ultimately, we have felt very upset after this interaction. Know how to communicate well, assertively, expressing our rights, our wishes and our needs without having to trample on those of others is essential when it comes to taking care of our health mental.

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

• Related article: "The 28 types of communication and their characteristics"

4. Vital sense

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

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

A good way to take care of our mental health is, precisely, looking for these small senses in our day to day. Or maybe 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 necessary again to stop, almost on a daily basis, to do a self-examination and thus be aware. We will see that we usually find meaning in interactions with others and in experiences of achievement. We encourage you to clarify and make these moments aware that they can generate so much satisfaction.

• You may be interested in: "Existential crisis: when we do not find meaning in our life"

5. Propose achievements and goals

Staying active, in short, is another way to take care of our mental health. But be careful with the achievements that we propose; There are times when we fall into the trap that the achievement of these goals is what provides us well-being. Nothing is further from reality.

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

6. Self care

This concept in turn encompasses many meanings. From a more physical point of view, meet 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 well-being and that is why it is a great way to take care of it.

On the other hand, have a good selfconcept of yourself, liking yourself, accepting yourself as you are, being proud of yourself, and being autonomous are also variables that help promote well-being.

7. Ask for help

The last way, and not for that the least important, to take care of our mental health, is to know how to ask for help. Many people feel very vulnerable when it comes to taking the step of asking for help. They have been "strong", as they say themselves, and they see a great weakness in asking for help. 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 they do so but to an insufficient extent, creating a discomfort that causes our mental health to suffer.

Take time to see where we are It can be of great help to take care of our mental health.

Finally, it is necessary to put mental health and well-being on the table, and giving it the importance it has is something that should not be reversed. Politicians, organizations, and the people themselves must make an effort to normalize it, talk about it naturally and not as a taboo.