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7 Lifestyle Factors That Affect Your Mental Health

February 1, 2018 | Posted at 5:28 pm | by Brian (Follow User)

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Provided by Brian Adam

Mental health deserves real conditioning and taking care of, just like the entire body. Some disregard a lot of mental issue to stress and simply choke everything up to the need to relax. The truth is that you need to have more consideration of these issues. And while there may be lots of treatment options that can be chosen, knowing the causes behind them in the first place can help you decide on the best approach to treat these issues.

Having mental issues affect your everyday life, including the following effects:

  • ability to enjoy life;
  • adeptness to balance diverse aspects of life;
  • capability to develop and identify strengths and weaknesses;
  • flexibility to express various emotions;
  • resiliency to recover from hard and rough times;

One of key factors that result to mental health issues is having an unhealthy lifestyle. Unhealthy lifestyles do not only provide physical effects but also mental ones. To be specific, the following:

1. Level of your activities and exercises – The activities you are involved in, as well as the exercises you do, affect your mental health just how they affect your body. In fact, there are some studies stating that exercises and activities are as effective as taking antidepressants. Exercise reduces muscle pain and caters to mobility and pain challenges. If you do not want to go to the gym, you can opt to go walking or running. Simple movements like taking the stairs and taking your dog for a walk may seem simple but they are enough to affect your mental health. They can help in providing the following benefits:

  • Relieve depressive and anxious symptoms;
  • Helps you to think clearly;
  • Improves your self-worth;
  • Adds structure to your day-to-day tasks

 

2. Your current physical health and condition – Your mental state and health can undeniably be affected by your physical health. Face it, both your body and mind can never be separated with each other. If you have mental issues, it can reflect in your physical health and if you have physical conditions, it is most likely that your mental health will be affected. Some specific conditions cause mental conditions like the endocrine system disorders. These disorders can lead to depression, anxiety, and sleep cycle regulation problems.

 

3. Community and social activities you are engaged in – Your community and social activities are able to contribute to and affect your mental health. Research shows that the value of friendship when it comes to people with mental issues is highly valuable. Simple friendship makes a big difference in mental health condition since people in isolation are considered to struggle more with mental issues than people who have an active social life. In fact, simply going out with your friends once a week can improve your mood and contribute to a healthier mental capacity. And this is even better when involved in larger communities. The following are some examples you can try when it comes to socialisation:

  • Go to volunteer work with large group of people to help you feel more connected since altruistic behaviour is considered to be effective in helping you cope with everyday struggles.
  • If you are religious, visit church functions regularly (Research shows that religious people are happier).
  • Find the level of socialisation that is just right for your and makes you comfortable.
  • Start with a small group or simply a friend if you find it hard to socialise with other people.
  • Choose to be with people who makes you feel good about yourself.

 

4. Romantic relationships you are involved in –  There are studies that show incredible advantages in mental health when a person is in a healthy romantic relationship. With a healthy romantic relationship comes the avoidance of anxiety and neurotic personality traits. Your relationship can give way to a sound and healing mental health.

A healthy sex life can also provide positive effects to your mental health. In reciprocation though, mental health issues could also create sexual problems in men,  and also among women. The key is to continuously find comfort in each other and try to ease your mental issues by using the factors that usually affect one’s mental health. A loving relationship can help mental issues.

 

5. Your current work environment  – Your work environment is highly possible to affect your mental health either positively or negatively. Here are some of the questions you could ask yourself to evaluate if it is a positive or a negative factor in your mental health:

  • Are you having connection with other people on your job?
  • Do your superiors and colleagues respect and value you?
  • Can you handle the workload?
  • What you can do in order to make a more positive presence at work is to combine mutual rapport to your very own personal drive.

 

6. Relaxation and meditation techniques you use – One of the best methods in easing your mental issues is to use relaxation and meditation techniques. It is necessary to have a consistent meditation activity. Over time, meditation and other relaxation activities alone can help people heal their mental issues. In fact, simply breathing deeply can make a huge difference. Some of the positive effects of meditation are:

  • improves the ability to tolerate frustration;
  • helps in controlling your temper;
  • lends a hand in managing your anxiety

 

7. Having a healthy sleep  –  A healthy sleeping routine can influence your mental health just the same as it affects how cranky you get in the morning when you didn’t have enough sleep or how you feel frustrated when you struggle to get yourself out of bed. The real key in a healthy sleep include:

  • regular sleep schedule;
  • seven to nine hours of sleep every night;
  • regular sleep-wake cycle

Our mental health can be significantly influenced by our own lifestyle. While professional help should be sought if you are suffering symptoms of a mental illness, there is much you can do to help yourself manage your condition in along with any healthcare you may be receiving from a qualified practitioner.

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Note: This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a psychological or psychiatric condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read online. Read the full disclaimer here.