How To Prioritize Your Own Mental Health

Apr 19, 2020

There are a lot of misconceptions about prioritizing your physical and mental health that are floating around in society. For example, there are many beliefs that your mental health is fundamentally controlled by your physical health. However, this is not correct and it is important to understand that both physical and mental health need to be treated differently. That is not to say that one could have an impact on the other, but rather that one should be appropriately diagnosed separately from the other. In order for you to understand how you can prioritize your mental health, keep in mind the following tips.

Identify and Understand Your Signs

Your body is able to give you warning signs for when you are not feeling well emotionally and mentally, just like it is able to do so when you are not feeling well physically. However, it is much more difficult to identify these warning signs. Sometimes these warning signs are little shifts in your feelings or your thoughts, such as unwelcome sadness or thoughts of doubt and emotional repression.

Keep in mind that these warning signs should be unattached from actual events that could trigger strong feelings of emotion. For example, it is okay to be sad when a tragic event happens in your life. It is when the sadness comes to your mind without any external trigger that you should begin to identify and understand that your mental health might be in need of some nourishment. Additionally, if you are able to identify and understand the early signs, you will have a higher chance of pulling yourself back into a position of control before things further spiral out of control.

Triggers and Proactive Measures

As mentioned above, there are triggers that can result in an appropriate level of sadness or anger, such as the death of a loved one or losing a job. There are, however, negative triggers that you can avoid, such as viewing something online or talking to a specific person. There are things in the lives of everybody that can trigger adverse emotional responses which are often easy to eradicate or suppress. The most difficult thing to do is to identify these triggers and understand how to move them away from you.

If you have a friend or colleague that constantly berates you or brings you down, it might be time to sever your ties with them. There might be a specific website online that you like to visit during the day that, despite what you might believe, can bring down your mood. For example, there are many websites online that are meant for humor or enjoyment, but oftentimes the jokes come at the expense of others. If you find yourself viewing things like that, it might be time to cut them out of your life.

Seek Help

It is difficult to know when it is the right time to seek help from others. You probably do not want to come off as the person who appears to be seeking attention, or maybe you do not feel like your emotions are strong enough to go get some help. What you need to understand, however, is that it is okay to look for help, even when you feel like your situation is insignificant.

There are so many places to go to that help any number of people seeking help. There are places like the rehab centers in Utah that help individuals from all walks of life seek the help they deserve for their mental wellbeing. What you need to do is admit to yourself that your mental health deserves a fighting chance in order for you to be healthy as a whole.

If you feel like you are struggling or that you are in need of help, this is an invitation for you to go out and seek a professional. You may not feel it, but you do matter. You have people that love you and care about you.