5 Worst Habits for Mental Health
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When we hear someone refer to our mental health, our initial thought goes to an image of someone with a chemical imbalance who struggles to cope.
However, our mental health is a triad of things. It encompasses our psychological, emotional, and social well-being.
Our mental health is like an octopus with multiple tentacles. The status of our mental health determines how well we cope with stress, disease, illness, success, and loss. Without mental wellness, we can see a significant impact on the manner in which we interact with others, instability in our mood, and erratic behavior.
Your daily routine is ripe with repetitive actions known as habits. Believe it or not, some of these habits can have a negative impact on our mental health.
Here are five of the worst habits for your mental health.
#1 Not Getting Enough Physical Exercise
One of the top worst habits you can practice that affects your mental health is failing to participate regularly in exercise or physical activity. Do not underestimate the power of a good workout. Physical exercise can be your best friend in helping to treat or prevent a downward spiral in your mental health.
There is an essential connection between our mind and body. Exercise cues the body to release a group of chemicals known as endorphins. Endorphins naturally stabilize our mood and even generates a state of euphoria. Exercise can be just as beneficial as taking medications designed to elevate our mood.
#2 Maintain Toxic Relationships
Another habit that is bad for your mental health is remaining in a toxic relationship. Sometimes we do not always recognize that a relationship is toxic for us. Toxic relationships are relationships that are not in your best interest.
These relationships are typically damaging, hostile, and not respectful to you or potentially others in your immediate circle. They have a nasty way of holding us back and stripping us of our ability to cope, communicate or in some instances function productively.
If you are living with a toxic relationship, your best action may be to seek professional help. A therapist can help you to pinpoint those factors that are contributing to the toxicity levels of your relationship.
He/she may also be able to help you identify whether or not the relationship is salvageable or if you should consider ending it and how to take the appropriate steps.
#3 The Need to Be Perfect
A bad habit that can disrupt our mental health is the unwillingness to not make or learn from our mistakes. The need for perfection every turn can be damaging to our mental health. Perfectionism occurs when we take steps to be faultless and operate at a high level of scrutiny.
In simple terms, perfectionism entails setting high personal standards then struggling actually to achieve those standards. Perfectionism causes us to be super critical of behaviors and performances we see within ourselves and others.
Researchers have found that positive and negative perfectionism can have a detrimental effect on our mental health, leading us to worry excessively about making mistakes, being judged by others and trigger uncontrollable feelings of distress or fear.
This bad habit can be isolating and trigger other obsessive-compulsive types of behaviors, symptoms of depression, stress, anxiety, or poor self-esteem. If you are experiencing perfectionism behaviors, your goal should be to seek professional help. A therapist can assist you in developing healthier habits and behaviors.
#4 Failing to Get Adequate Sleep
Sleep is an essential element of how well we function physically and mentally. Statistics show that people who suffer from mental health problems are likely to experience mental health problems such as depression or anxiety.
Mental health professionals also associate sleep conditions like insomnia with existing mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder. Nonetheless, science demonstrates that we must engage in a consistent sleep regimen to sustain our mental and emotional health.
If you have a sleep disorder, seek help from your health care provider or a sleep specialist who can help you to manage it. Treating your condition may prove beneficial in decreasing those symptoms that commonly accompany poor mental health.
#5 Isolating
Finally, another lousy habit for mental health is the practice of isolation. Are you guilty of isolating? During our lifetime, we may unintentionally separate ourselves from others. Whether you are an at-home worker who does not engage with others face-to-face on a regular basis or we become so intertwined with digital technology that we inadvertently detach from family and friends.
To solve for this final, bad habit, you will need to be proactive. This statement means that you will have to take the lead in reaching out to your friends and family. Text messages and social media posting is all good and well, but a personal phone call or face-to-face greeting may be necessary to get you out of your isolation hold. Do not feel like you have to let others come to you. Your target just might benefit from the interaction.
How to Know if Your Mental Health is in Flux?
How do you know if your mental health is in a state of flux? The symptoms can be subtle, or they can be chronic. The key in recognizing these symptoms is not to dismiss subtle changes as they occur within you. Mentalhealth.gov recognizes the following symptoms as common warning signs of unstable mental health:
• Feelings of exhaustion, fatigue, low energy
• Lack of interest or like nothing matters
• Aches and pains that you cannot explain
• Difficulty concentrating or focusing on a single task
• Poor temperament in which you find yourself having angry outbursts, arguing with others
• Thoughts of harming yourself
• Extreme mood swings
• Isolation or keeping to one’s self
How to Manage Your Mental Flux If your mental health is taking a beating, there are a few actions you can take to regain control of your mental wellness including:
• Getting help from a professional
• Make changes to your work or home environment
• Examine the impact of having certain people in your life and make necessary changes
• Build a support system
• Get active and exercise
• Establish a healthy sleep schedule
Here is a book to read.. Enjoy reading and Take care of yourself!
