Mind Archives - Soul Mind Magick

Know Your Mental Health

There are several definitions available for mental health from the World health organization (WHO) to American psychological association (APA), from general medical websites to Google.

Let’s start with WHO

According to the WHO, mental health is “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”

On the other hand APA defines

A state of mind characterized by emotional well-being, good behavioural adjustment, relative freedom from anxiety and disabling symptoms, and a capacity to establish constructive relationships and cope with the ordinary demands and stresses of life.

And Google simply defines it as

A person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being.

But what truly is mental health? Or to be precise what is to live with a relatively healthy mental state? The answer lies within the experience of you, your thoughts and feelings, your attitude, your coping mechanisms to different situations etc.

Besides the above things mentioned, your mental health includes also your physical health and your social wellbeing. To see a person ‘s health as “Holism”; It means, seeing the complete person, not just biological part but also considering psychological and social factors, as these parts share intimate interconnection amidst them as scientifically proven .

It includes your inner world as well as how you are coping with your outer world. It is also not about excluding or negating your so called negative emotions likes of anger, sadness, jealousy etc. The Key lies in how one applies these emotions in their day to day life.

Suppressing and Repressing negative emotions affect the body and thereby physical health. Your mental health not dealt appropriately, can spill over your physical health and thereby the entire being. Hence checking your mental health from time to time goes a long way to managing your health and wellbeing in truly a holistic way.

No two person’s mental health can be same at the given moment of time. Hence to define or measure mental health by just one glass of lens is difficult and restrictive. Your mental health state is yours. For instance, for one person a situation can be distressing and for another person the same situation can be a piece of cake. Hence mental state depends from person to person and their individualised perception of their life situations.

Knowing thyself is prerequisite to heal thyself. Knowing and acknowledging your thoughts, emotions, attitude, behaviour and coping mechanisms goes a long way to maintaining your health on all level.

Just as we have physical body check-up, how about having mental health check-up periodically. Being proactive with your mental health check-ups, can makes way for healthy life. Wherever required it also helps in diagnosing the breakdown in your mental health at an early stage and do the needful.

So keep yourself healthy in a holistic way by taking the charge of your mental health.

To get a personalised mental health check-up visit on the below and fill in the quiz, we shall share your report withing a week:
Quiz Link

STRESS BANE OR BOON

Build yourself through Stress by using it to your advantage

The word ‘Stress’ has been coined by Hans Seyle, a psychologist,

based on his understanding that it is a misalignment of mind and body.

An overload of information that overwhelms your body and senses causes stress.

It is perceived subconsciously as a challenge or a threat, which triggers an adrenaline rush.

This rush is an involuntary response that sends your metabolic system into overdrive. You can consciously understand this physical process and use it to focus on a solution for the challenge you’re facing.

However, in some instances, this response gets associated with past trauma, which leads to a condition now popularly known as PTSD.

Unless you have been through a major trauma in life, your attitude decides the nature of the stress you’re facing. Broadly speaking stress is divided into two categories.

Eustress: Any stressful situation that can be beneficial to you can be denoted as Eustress or Good stress. You are in charge in this situation and use it to your advantage rather than allowing it to affect you adversely.
Distress: Any situation which has a negative effect on you like anxiety sorrow or pain is known as Distress or Bad stress.

Here are some ways of consciously coping with your stress:

Take a pause and be present with your mind and body in order to understand what you are feeling.

Listen to relaxing music.

Breathing Exercise.

Practice meditation

Take a walk around the greenery to get some fresh air.

Journaling down your feelings unfiltered is a great way to get things off your chest.

Declutter the immediate environment in your home or office space

Take up some interesting extra-curriculum activity: Dancing, singing or any activity, which can distract you from the stress and help you relax.

Take a break once in a while and focus on all your senses, go within and understand how your body is feeling.

Consult a doctor and consider supplements prescribed by a doctor/therapist

So, next time whenever you feel stuck in a stressful situation, try to indulge in some mindful activity that can help you overcome the negative effects of stress. Also, keep in mind the below-mentioned benefits of stress which are scientifically validated. This can help you address stress at the very primary stage and avoid leading it to conditions of PTSD.

Stress boosts your brain activity-
Any low-level stressful situation strengthens the connection between neurons in your brain, improving memory and attention span, and helps you become more productive.

Stress builds immunity-
When your body prepares itself to fight a stressful situation, it prepares itself for the possibility of injury or infection by producing extra interleukins – chemicals that help regulate the immune system. This helps provide a defensive boost.

Stress enhances child development-
A 2006 Johns Hopkins study found that most children of women who reported mild to moderate stress levels during pregnancy actually showed greater motor and developmental skills by age 2 than those of unstressed mothers. The one exception: the children of women who viewed their pregnancy as more negative than positive had slightly lower attention capacity.

Stress enhances motivation-
A moderate level of stress enhances your motivation. For eg: the stress of meeting a deadline or preparing a standalone presentation. Such situations stimulate your behaviour to manage the situation effectively, rapidly and more productively.

Stress makes oneself more resilient-
Stress can be overwhelming however, it forces people to learn skills or ways to resolve a situation which helps to develop more sense of control to combat future stressful situations.

We many-a-times come across influential people who have overcome negative situations in life and in turn got amazing positive results.

Let’s learn to deal with stress mindfully and be in charge to turn out to be a boon and not let you doom.

Points to ponder on Stress

How does any type of stress affect you depends on your capacity to handle the stressful situation?
Refrain from losing your cool and being consumed by stressful situations and learn to manage the situation mindfully with awareness to your benefit.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to a reliable emotionally intelligent friend /mental health professional/therapist when you fall short of resources to cope with stress.
Remember Stitch in time saves nine and in the long run restores your health at all levels!