“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.” -Glenn Close
For this blog post, I did a little survey. I asked as many friends as I could about what they think mental health means and how of much significance they think it is.
The most common response I received was that mental health is about anxiety, stress and issues along that line and that it is quite important.
I think mental health is not only about depression, stress, anxiety disorders and more but, also how one reacts when put under various situations. It is also about how one deals with it. Of course, everyone has their own way to cope with the kind of pain they are going through. It also, of course plays a key role in the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of the individual.
As a person with generalised anxiety, I can assure you, getting back to your 'normal' self is a long and rocky road. I usually make myself 'feel better' by doing small things that make me happy like baking, gardening, or taking the dog for a walk, doing some self-care. Some other person might like to just sit back and unwind with a mug of their favourite drink.
Mental health is a really underrated topic, not many people like to open up about their experiences with the strain. But opening up helps unless one is really very uncomfortable to do so. Instead of cutting off from everyone, avoiding only those who are intentionally/unintentionally toxic and reaching out to new people, preferably those who have gone through a similar form of mental/emotional stress.
I feel, it's always easier to get over with things sooner, before it gets more and more dangerous. For starters, jotting down about your day, in a journal, going out for small walks and staying hydrated always helps. A couple of months back, I had a not-so-little anxiety attack as I realised that I am only a few months away from my board exams. But an Instagram post came to my rescue. The post was a small weekly self-care plan for a month. The agenda for week 1 was to make myself a nice playlist, to write 10 things I am proud and allowing myself to be unproductive for a while. Week 2 was to to lay and listen to ambient sounds, phone or video call a loved one and to try a short meditation. Week 3 was to sit quietly and try to relax, cancel something (like a to-do or a subscription) and to write a gratitude list. Week 4 was to write a letter to my younger self (Spoiler alert: This might be my next post), unfollow accounts that make you feel bad on social media and to watch my favourite comedy stand-up. This greatly helped me. I followed these steps whenever I could during the month and it sure helped a lot. We need to realise that no 'perfect' person exists. We all have our own flaws and limitations like any other person out there. And it is these flaws and limitations that make us even more beautiful and even more worthy than we already are. I think, it should be safe for me to conclude that discussing the status of your mental health with someone going through similar, if not same issues can just not go wrong.
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