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What is the Importance of Mental Health and why we need it

Madhurya
Sep 21, 2021
6 min read

Updated: Sep 21, 2021

According to WHO (World health organization), Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities,through which they can cope with the normal stresses of life,and can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

You can also check-out the audio version below.

Below are reasons that I believe are why mental health is very important and why it's very much needed in this world we live in today.

Alright, I know there’s a lot of these buzz words going around on social media regarding mental health, mindfulness, self-love, mental well-being, etc, etc. Before we dig into this big chunk, let’s understand the meaning of mental health, mental well being and so on…

Mental health is fundamental to our collective and individual ability as humans to think, emote, interact with each other, earn a living, and enjoy life.

Wow, I know right! There is a word for it. I can assure you that a lot of us had never heard of the word mental health, mental well-being until our early twenties or late twenties.

As kids we were only taught to think about physical health and to be honest I didn’t know something like this existed until my early twenties and that too only after I started experiencing some of the issues myself.

Now that we know the meaning of the word, let’s understand how this is something that needs to be given equal importance as physical health.

The WHO constitution states that “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Now, when the world health organization is saying that good health does not just apply to the physical aspect of a human, where all his vital organs are safe and functioning, but, also the mental aspect which is responsible for the thoughts and actions of human beings.

Going to the gym and eating healthy all day and having negative self-talk while doing these activities, would maybe keep your physical health good and give you some abs but not improve your mental health, which in turn, affects your self-confidence, self-love, and affection towards the same abs you've been working so hard in the gym for.

Mental health affects how we think, feel and act. It also helps us determine how an individual handles stress, emotional barriers and responds to people around them.

Mental health also determines the kind of relationships we build with people around us, the kind of environment we prefer to be in, sense of purpose and fulfillment, handle the stress of day-to-day life, manage responsibilities in society, and also how we contribute to the development of society.

As a kid, I was only told to focus on my physical health. Eat right, participate in sports, be active, and so on. But I was never taught how to handle the stress that comes with expectations of 90+ marks requirements to get into good schools and colleges in the later stages of life, following the unrealistic uniform and grooming standards in our schools, constant comparison with other kids, constant complexion discrimination, body shaming, and the list goes on…

It's ironic isn't it, by focussing on physical health, we played a lot of sports and every one of us was involved or forced to be involved in some kind of sports hoping that the kid would learn discipline, sportsmanship, confidence, etc, etc, ends up becoming a comparison sport for the society to judge kids and inflict low self-esteem issues, low confidence, the "I'm fit for nothing" notions into the mind of a growing kid.

I don’t think any of us complained to anyone about these issues during our childhood. I think none of us realized how deeply these things affected us until our late twenties when we really start to look back on life and find how unfruitful these comments and comparisons were. I think this is where the problem began.

None of us as kids have spoken about how all these things affect the growth and development of an individual. As a result, we just take all of this into our minds involuntarily and start building false narratives around it in our heads creating low self-esteem issues, self-pity, low to zero confidence in one’s abilities, zero self-love, and self-care.

It has become a necessity to build mental well-being once you've grown up in such an environment. And it becomes really hard to kick off 20+ years of self-pity, low self-esteem issues overnight.

Main components of Mental Health

Therapy, community, physical health, intellectual health, environmental health, boundaries, self-care are a few of the main components of mental health.

Therapy

Therapy is a conversation between two people, one person who has an issue having a conversation with another person who has a little bit of knowledge regarding that issue. It’s as simple as that.

It’s just as simple as you going to your parents to ask how long to boil your eggs for, how to talk to elders, how to dress for an occasion. It’s such a simple concept that people have created so much stigma around and have made therapy an illegal activity.

Therapy can happen with a professional therapist, it can happen with your best friend, it can happen with your siblings, it’s a simple act of one person sharing their woes and pain and sorrows or problems to find the strength and willingness to resolve it.

Community

I’m not even gonna try. We live in a community where people assume that the moment you’re scoring below 50, you’re life is over. Dark skin complexion, a big no-no.

We do not have a mildly supportive community to build good mental health or at least even talk about it. The moment you start talking about these issues, people look at you like you’re an alien with alien issues.

Build a community for yourself with your friends, family, peers, colleagues who share a common interest in building good mental health. This will go a long way to spreading awareness about the importance of mental well-being.

Physical health

Being physically healthy also is an important aspect to help a person gain mental stability. Only when we have physical strength can we push towards developing good mental health and have the strength to keep through with it.

Intellectual health

This is about being open to new ideas, creative thinking being given a priority, and looking out for new opportunities to learn and grow. This also includes the development of good skills, time management, productive skills that will help you challenge the bounds of your mind thinking capacity.

Environmental health

I believe we all have this as an advantage that we are bought out in good living conditions, that were healthy and sanitary. Living in healthy and clean spaces also plays a key role in building strong mental health.

Boundaries

This is an alien topic. In the Indian communities, there are absolutely no boundaries, what so ever. Everyone’s life is everyone’s point of conversation, judgment, and discussions.

Boundaries are something that an individual creates for themselves so that unrealistic expectations and relationships are not expected out of them in the long run.

Basically, boundaries are nothing but letting only limited and trustworthy people into your life and restricting access to the few others who bring you stress and negativity. This is very very important.

Self-care

Well, I feel this is the most important one of all. Only when we love ourselves, our bodies, our minds, our strengths, our fears, our emotions, our scars, and our imperfections can we find love and happiness in sharing our life with others. Without self-care, I don’t think anyone can live life to their fullest.

Self-care helps you maintain a healthy relationship with yourself so that you can resonate the same with others. It doesn't mean you’re being selfish, it just means that you are being mindful of what your mind and body need and putting that first.

It's only you who can prioritize yourself and put yourself first. No one else can do that for you. It’s as simple as the announcements in flights, where they insist on the parents putting on the masks first before attending to their children.

Always you first and then everything else.

For a balanced and fulfilled life, with physical and mental well-being, it’s great if all of us identify these components in life and analyze how each of these affected in shaping your life.

Hope you all give it some thought and identify your mental health components that require a boost up.

This has been my journey and my learning about Mental Well-being and its importance in my life. Thank you for taking out time to read my blog.

Please do share your thoughts in the comments section of the blog.

Know someone who would enjoy this blog? Share the blog with them and help out on their journey towards Mental Well-Being.

Thank you for taking out time to read our blog as part of Stensor- The Mind Chapter. Do remember this is coming from our experiences only. This is purely from our journey towards mental health and wellbeing. We are Architects by profession, with a design initiative part of Stensor-The Design Chapter, where we help our audience/clients design beautiful living spaces to enhance their lifestyle. If you’re looking to revamp your spaces, feel free to reach out to us via email at contact@stensor.in or Click Here to know more.