When we think of health, what we usually think of is the state of the body. We are likely to assume that a healthy person is one whose body is functioning well, not disrupting their life in any way and is free from any physical ailments or pains. What we usually overlook is the side to health that is to do with our emotional and psychological well-being. Here are a few reasons to understand why we must see our mental health as being as important as our physical health if not more.
Firstly, our mental state determines how we think and feel about everything we experience– how we perceive ourselves, other people, situations, opinions, objects, etc. Let’s understand this with an example of a two people looking at clouds in the sky at the same time and from the same place. If they are to make sense of the clouds’ shapes, one may say that a cloud has taken the shape of a giant candy while the other may call it a fish. Each person’s perception is determined by their mind based on their emotions and experiences. We take in sensory information about the world through the medium of our eyes, ears, etc. but these sense organise simply feed the information to our brains to make sense of it and our mind to make a perception of it. Thus the condition of our minds determines our perception of the world around us. If there is any unresolved trauma, grief, anxiety, anger or jealousy within our minds, it could create a negative lens and prevent us from seeing any good in a situation. Similarly, if we are in a very positive state of mind flooded with emotions of joy and excitement, we could overlook anything that makes us sad.
Just like how we may not be able to do everything we would like to do or give our best to the things we do if we are in physical pain, our mental state can also disrupt our lives and prevent us from living to our fullest potential. Poor mental health can cause a lack of motivation even to do things we really love to do. We may not be able to put our best foot forward in our relationships, careers and things that really matter to us if our mind doesn’t allow for it. People with depression show reduced cognitive processing and mental illnesses have shown to disrupt productivity. Amongst athletes too, their self-esteem and anxiety levels can influence their performance. Beyond professional lives as well, our mental state has an impact on our capabilities. Social anxiety could discourage us from taking to someone and prevent us from nurturing a relationship or building a new one.
That brings us to the next reason we should take mental healthy seriously- while there are direct implications to our own lives, our mental state also has implications on those around us. Since the state of our minds determines how we think and feel, we have also seen that it links to determining how we act. We could do something we didn’t intend to do in a wrong state of mind; we could say things that we didn’t really mean to say- flattering or hurtful. This could impact not only the person we said them to but also result in us feeling guilty or resentful towards ourselves in hindsight. We could even end up distanced from those we love in this way.
Last but not the least, our mental health does have implications for our physical health. It affects levels of certain hormones in our bodies that could affect our eating, sleeping and breathing patterns and the consequences of these have proven to be widespread. From chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and arthritis to weight gain, slower healing, common colds, neck, back and shoulder pains, ulcers and other stomach problems, physical conditions can be closely linked and traced back to mental conditions.
We have seen how mental health has implications on so many aspects of our lives and can be a key factor in determining the quality of our life in general and hopefully the next time we think of health, we don’t just think about our physical state.
By Niti Hinduja