DISCLAIMER: I am not a mental health professional. This is not mental health advice. This blog is purely my personal opinions on mental health. Please consult a licensed mental health professional before making any decisions based on this blog.
It seems like when people think about mental health, the immediate first two terms that come to mind are depression and anxiety. This is not really our fault for doing so; somehow through social media or education we seem to associate these two mental illnesses with mental health.
My take on mental health? Mental health is so much more than that.
When I think about mental health, I often try to parallel it with physical health. When we think about physical health, we do not automatically and instinctively associate it with “physical” diseases such as cancer or high blood pressure. We also think about how to be physically active and remain physically fit, to exercise and to eat a balanced diet. Hence, when we think about mental health, we should not link it to just depression and anxiety, and remember that those mental illnesses are just a very small part of mental health. Mental health is so much more than that; it is the emotions we feel from a day-to-day basis. Happiness, sadness, excitement, fear, wonder, confusion are all different aspects of mental health.
Therefore, mental health to me is learning how to manage all these different things we feel from our heart in a healthy manner. Rather than shunning our feelings we should learn how to embrace them, to learn how to channel all those feelings and to coexist with them. To be mentally healthy does not mean to be always sunshine-y and happy and positive all the time; it is about enjoying the present when you are in joy, knowing that it is normal to be sad because it is part of life, and dealing with the various other emotions that we feel as a human.
Acknowledge that we have feelings and emotions. And don’t just acknowledge them, appreciate them. Isn’t it such a beautiful thing, to be able to feel? Isn’t it such a blessing, to be able to have a whole spectrum of emotions? Isn’t it such a fundamental part of life, and what makes us human?