Why You Should Care About Your Mental Health

Blog by Vivek Keval Shah

What is Mental Health and Why Should I Care About Mine?

In a world where you may be feeling constant pressure to look, feel and be a certain way, it is important to look after yourself and stay healthy. By this, I do not mean just maintaining a good physical health, but mental health too. Ones mental health is far too commonly overlooked, when in reality it should be the one you pay the most attention to, as maintaining a positive mental health can contribute to a good physical and emotional health, improving your quality of life.

Common causes of mental health disorders involve; stress, having an unbalanced diet, excessive consumption of alcohol and/or drugs and bullying. Mental health disorders can range from OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), to eating disorders such as anorexia, or other problems, such as anxiety and depression. Whilst many people think that this may not affect them, according to the WHO, 1 in 4 people worldwide will be affected by a mental health disorder in their life.

One of the largest issues surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders is due to the stigma associated with discussing them, which leads to many people being scared or unable to get a diagnosis, help and/or treatment, and in many cases can worsen the scenario and have an even larger negative impact on ones mental wellbeing.

How Can I Improve My Mental Health?

There are many ways you can improve not just your own mental health, but even those around you, from simply just being more open and willing to discuss these topics with your family and friends, to just taking a few minutes every take to relax, focus on yourself and not the things around you, perhaps through meditation.

For more information, I recommend the following website:

http://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/mental-health-problems-introduction/about-mental-health-problems/