Introduction
“Times are tough right now, do not make them any tougher by having this destructive habit”
Due to the pandemic, there has been a great decline in the mental health of so many people. If there was a bright side to the pandemic, it may be that it raised awareness about mental health.
Did you know about 14% of the global burden of disease is attributed to psychiatric disorders?
Many people started talking openly about the strategies related to mental health, like doing yoga, meditation, exercise or seeing an online counsellor.
All these strategies really helped to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.
Therefore, stop doing things that can take a toll on your mental health.
This article explores the basic mental health mistakes to avoid as we emerge from the pandemic.
Poor sleep
Sleep is a source of physical and emotional resilience. On average, 6 to 8 hours of sleep is required for all.
Sleep helps maintain cognitive skills, such as attention, learning, and memory, while poor sleep can make it much more difficult to cope with even relatively minor stressors.
If you are not getting your daily dose of sleep, it may hamper your mental health.
Losing sleep for one or two nights can make you feel groggy, grumpy, and out of focus, but a habit of poor sleep can wreak havoc on your mental health.
Lack of exercise
Exercise improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function.
Regular exercise may ease depression by releasing endorphins and other “feel good” chemicals, and increasing body temperature to create a calming effect.
Failure mindset
Experiencing feelings of failure is often linked to other health issues, including depression and stress.
Some of the symptoms common in these conditions include having low self-esteem, feeling hopeless, helpless, lost and alone, and having continuous low mood or sadness.
Along with this, negative thoughts discourage you from setting goals, diminish the value of your natural talents, and magnify your missteps.
Overuse of social media
Overuse of social media can affect users’ physical and mental health even more directly.
Doom scrolling through social media across the day, maybe in order to keep up with the latest news, trends, or social lives of other people can also lead to disrupted sleep, which is closely linked with depression, memory loss etc.
Did you know as per the survey, around 60 per cent of individuals using social media like Facebook, or Twitter reported jealousy from comparing themselves to other social media users?
Overuse of smartphones
Habitual smartphone use can cause you to check your device constantly in fear of missing out on something.
Overuse of smartphones can lead to a form of addiction in order to check regular notifications and updates.
An absence of good news in notifications or fighting on social media can amplify the negative effects of smartphone overuse.
Regret
Dealing with regret is even more difficult because of the other negative emotions connected to it: remorse, sorrow and helplessness.
Regret can increase our stress, anxiety, depression, and poor self-esteem, negatively affect physical health and throw off the balance of hormones and the immune system.
Regret is not only unpleasant. It is unhealthy!
Being a Google doctor
Google search is not an ideal manner to diagnose any problem.
Any individual who is experiencing any sort of misery does not necessarily mean that they are suffering from depression.
Thus, if you feel any such kind of sorrow feeling, please consult a healthcare professional. He or she will provide assistance to improve or cope with the problems.
Overlooking any symptoms related to mental health
Avoiding and overlooking the symptoms such as headache, mood imbalance, disrupted sleep etc. can also lead to complications, as it can intensify the problems with time. It may lead to a poor prognosis.
Therefore, it is advised to consult a healthcare provider in the initial stage only, if you experience any kind of aforesaid symptoms persistently.
Not managing your stress
We all experience stress from time to time. But when it goes on for weeks or months, prolonged stress can have an adverse effect on all the body’s systems. It can even increase the risk of developing symptoms of depression.
In order to manage stress, you can go for meditation, go outdoors, or talk to someone to help keep your stress under control. And in extreme cases, consult a healthcare counsellor or a doctor as soon as possible.
Work-life balance
When working long hours, few of the employees experience negative effects on their personal life such as a lack of personal development, poor home life and physical and mental health issues.
So every working individual must know how to create a state of equilibrium where you give equal priority to work and personal life.
Creating a work-life balance has numerous positive effects and reduces the risk of burnout and stress.
Final thoughts
These are some common mental health mistakes people make whenever they emerge from a tough time.
And while we all make mistakes sometimes, it’s important to recognize those mistakes so we can create positive changes.
Like physical health, it is possible to build sound mental health with the right self-care, treatment and support.
Furthermore, if stress is keeping you unsettled, you should also frequently opt for stress screenings.
And consult a doctor for proper consultation, medication and sound professional advice to manage and slowly overcome stress, completely.
As an add-on, make a habit of taking preventive health checkups as they can help you in getting a complete insight into your health.
This will also help you with taking measures to promote your overall well-being.
