Image cr: BD Hypno Plus
According to research, in the UK one in four people will experience a mental health issue every year, while one in six people report experiencing a common mental health problem, anxiety and depression for instance. Mild symptoms of a mental health problem can take a toll on your daily life and can lower productivity levels, before creating severe consequences at large. If neglected, such illnesses can lead to a widespread disability and can potentially lead to suicide in the worst cases.
Maintaining peace of mind is essential when it comes to living and doing just about anything. It tends to affect our ability to adapt, cope, and solve problems while being contingent on our well being and happiness.
Acknowledging and caring for one’s mental health, unfortunately, continues to be taboo in some parts of the world, including the UK. It is what prevents scarred and affected individuals from receiving required medical attention as a result of the stigma and shame.
However, we strongly recommend and encourage every individual to seek immediate psychological counselling or medical attention in the event that you may experience any symptoms of a mental illness, develop suicidal thoughts or are otherwise impacted by the negativity around you. Having gone through two rough years in the past due to the coronavirus outbreak, it is important that we start now and look forward to focusing on our mental health for the year ahead.
Why is mental health so important?
Mental health is often misunderstood by those who never experience a mental health issue. Thus it is highly essential for us to step up and advocate our needs, while educating oneself and others more about the issues that surround us.
The way we experience mental illnesses lies on a spectrum of ‘lived experience,’ we may completely lose control over ourselves only to regain it all over again or may go through the highs and lows and are taken aback by the fact of not being able to cope. When left untreated, things unravel and can potentially lead to anything. Knowing that there is always hope gives us all the fighting chance we deserve.
Here is why mental health is so vital:
Mental health takes a toll on our physical health
Mental health issues can be just as fatal as other diseases. Depression for instance, can pave way for suicidal thoughts in the long run and if neglected can even lead to suicide attempts. The mind and body both are correlated, several mental ailments ignite stress levels, ultimately weakening the immune system and causing frequent sickness and inability to cope.
As per WebMD, anxiety and stress can impact physical health as ‘“worry causes the body to release stress hormones that speed up your heart rate and breathing, raise your blood sugar, and send more blood to your arms and legs. Over time, this can affect your heart, blood vessels, muscles, and other systems.”
Our bodies tend to close down as soon as stress infiltrates our body, the way we choose to deal with stress can be everything before we fall apart or indulge ourselves in other harmful activities like drugs and alcohol.
Work productivity levels are lowered significantly
While mental problems do impact our everyday lives and take a toll on our health in general, it also impacts our work style negatively. You may feel more lethargic than usual, demotivated, sleep-deprived and may experience inability to deal with regular tasks at work. This could affect your performance and witnessing your work and life balance fall apart can lead to further deterioration of your mental health.
Often individuals tend to shrug off a mental illness as being ‘too exhausted’ or having been ‘overworked,’ while in reality there is a bigger problem that lies beneath that symptom.
End the stigma and help improve lives
Mental health is often neglected as a result of the unnecessary guilt and shame that accompanies it. Breaking the mental illness stereotype is essential for you to lead a healthy life for your family, friends and most importantly YOU! It is important to start discussing and counselling one another for others to be brave enough and speak about it publicly too.
Experiencing a mental illness while being surrounded by the absurd stigma, makes it even more challenging for us to cope. Things go downhill before we eventually begin thinking so slowly about ourselves, and ultimately define our self-worth. The process of healing involves turning the tables and those negative feelings around. Remember, the first step towards healing is acceptance.
The bottom line
Keeping in view of all the statements made above, we highly encourage individuals to come out and seek assistance if necessary. If you too are experiencing mental health issues due to personal issues in life or even as a result of the COVID-19 measures that has confined most of us to our homes, we recommend you get in touch with a professional online in order for you to regain hope and a second chance at living life to the fullest.
