Human psychological health today is one of the most popular topics directly related to self-development. Most people pay attention to their own feelings. They want to remain complacent and self-sufficient. This is a completely natural desire, which it would be wrong to try not to notice. Physical and mental health are components that cannot be ignored. His subjective sense of satisfaction and mental comfort depend on how prosperous a person is in these areas. The more happiness we broadcast into the world around us, the more we will receive in return. This is actually true, even if it sometimes appears to be the opposite. Each of us must work on our condition, try to maintain emotional balance.
Definition of mental health
Mental health, according to the World Health Organization, is a state in which a person feels well, copes effectively with stress and works productively for the benefit of society.
Criteria for determining mental health:
- awareness of the constancy and unity of one’s mental and physical self;
- similar experiences in similar situations;
- the ability to critically evaluate oneself and the results of one’s activities;
- adequate reactions to external influences depending on the situation;
- the ability to subordinate one’s behavior to the norms and rules accepted in society;
- the ability to plan your activities and implement these plans;
- the ability to make changes to your plans depending on the situation.
These criteria are manifested in how much a person is included in public life, balanced, and accepts the norms and values of the society in which he lives. Mentally healthy person
responds adequately to changing environmental conditions, has the ability to realistically assess oneself and the situation.
A person who is not healthy from a mental point of view strives to get rid of responsibility, retreats from reality into dreams or an anxious state, does not believe in himself and is prone to bad habits.
Difference between mental and psychological health
Mental health is a person's ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Psychological health includes a wider range of factors. These are not only adaptive, but also volitional, emotional, cognitive and other characteristics.
Why is mental health important?
All diseases are caused by nerves. If a person is constantly in a stressful situation, then he not only gets tired faster and recovers slower, but is also in a situation of nervous overstrain, which makes him more susceptible to various diseases.
Conversely, mentally healthy people are less likely to go to doctors with complaints of various physical ailments.
A direct relationship has been found between the general level of stress and heart disease, the general condition of the immune system and the likelihood of drug addiction.
So, the reasons why mental health is important:
- It directly affects the presence of body diseases, i.e. on physical health.
- Career and earnings also depend on it.
- Mental well-being in the family is the basis of children’s health.
- People who do not have mental disorders are more adapted to society.
- Overall, mental health is the foundation of a long and happy life.
Components of concepts
Psychological health is a combination of several components. Often people do not pay attention to how they live and inevitably lose as a result. At some point, they have to reconsider their main life position and draw certain conclusions. Let's take a closer look at what you need to focus on.
Feeling of self-worth
Unfortunately, relatively few people have a sense of their worth. Most people, to one degree or another, are ready to sacrifice themselves, trying to look “good” and happy with everything in the eyes of society. You must strive to cultivate a sense of self-worth. It will not come on its own, obeying only our desire. It is necessary to radiate self-confidence and be an open person. Psychological health presupposes that a person is ready to effectively work on himself and systematically implement new ideas and aspirations. If a person is truly prosperous, then he will be able to defend his rightness under any circumstances. Anyone who wants to achieve something significant in life should not give up in the face of the slightest obstacles. There is nothing sadder than to stop believing in yourself and dwell on the failures that occur.
Ability to maintain one's integrity
This point means the presence of inner strength in order to be able not to waste time on trifles, but to follow in the direction of the desired result. Every strong person must be psychologically healthy in order to maintain his spiritual core. Often fate prepares us numerous trials, the existence of which we cannot even guess. To be holistic means to be able to avoid wasting precious energy in vain. If all people worked on themselves, strived to show their best qualities of character, then, of course, it would be easier for them to achieve any goal. Even the most desperate aspirations would cease to seem something truly incredible.
Love for yourself and others
It is known that various conflicts are incredibly exhausting and contribute to the formation of mistrust. If we have negative feelings towards people, they will most likely respond in kind. Loving yourself and others helps release a lot of positive energy. A person suddenly begins to realize that he is truly capable of more than he can imagine. When we love and value ourselves, we begin to treat others with care. The thing is that people always reflect our attitude towards our own personality. If we are ready to infringe on ourselves in many ways, then they will do the same.
Increased resistance to stress
Our life consists of continuous stress. Stress leads to anxiety, worry and ultimately depression. The result is chronic diseases of the cardiovascular system, a decrease in the duration and quality of life.
Here are the recommendations that psychologists give to those who want to reduce stress in their lives:
- There is no need to think about what might happen in the future. We must live here and now.
- You need to occupy yourself with improving your current life, and do it actively, actively, and not through thoughts and fantasies.
- There is no need to be upset about minor troubles. Life is too short for this.
- Remember that your chances of getting into trouble are much lower than not getting them.
- There is no need to worry about what you cannot change.
- You shouldn't live in the past. It has already passed. We need to implement plans for today.
Prevention methods:
Method 1
1. Determine the root cause of the problem. For example, if you don’t have enough money, then this is only a consequence of the fact that you are working in a job you don’t like, or you lack education...
2. Create a long-term plan to solve each identified problem. Plan intermediate goals, a work plan. Incorporate regular rest and measures to reduce stress in your life.
3. Seek help from friends, colleagues and mental health professionals.
Method 2
1. All stressful situations must be resolved immediately, without putting them into a long standby mode. If these are conflicts with people, then they should be discussed immediately. If these are difficult situations, then you need to develop a plan to solve them and immediately begin to implement it.
2. Minimize communication with people who cause you unpleasant emotions. Try to communicate with those who are pleasant to you.
3. The number of stressful situations should also be minimized. If there is no way to avoid them, then figure out how to reduce their impact. For example, if traveling on public transport causes irritation, then you can buy headphones and listen to music that calms you down.
Method 3
1. Physical activity helps relieve tension and distracts from the influence of stress factors. And team sports also help to establish mutual understanding in the group.
2. Meditation helps a lot. 10-20 minutes a day with complete relaxation will allow you to remove anxiety from your life forever. Massage is also a good way to relieve tension.
3. Proper nutrition and healthy sleep are the basis of mental health.
Difference between terms in WHO
The WHO distinguishes psychological health from human mental health mainly by the fact that mental well-being is usually attributed to completely separate processes of the psyche, as well as its mechanisms. The psychological, in turn, is usually attributed to the personality itself in general. This makes it possible to separate the psychological aspect of any problem.
The aforementioned Dubrovina introduced the term “mental health” into the lexicon of science not so long ago. She believes that psychological well-being is an absolutely necessary condition for a person to function and develop fully in the process of their own life.
The connection between the psychological state and the physical state is currently undeniable.
Teen mental health
Adolescence is associated with hormonal changes, and they cause mental instability. This is a series of emotional outbursts, and a tendency to depression, susceptibility to destructive influences. Adolescents themselves, without the help of adults during this period, often cannot regulate their behavior. They just don't understand what's happening to them.
Therefore, children need to explain the reasons and nature of the processes that occur in their bodies. It is important to notice in time if they have persistent manifestations of feelings such as sadness, irritability, excessive excitement or vice versa, depression, guilt or difficulty concentrating.
How to help a teenager:
- You need to be interested in the child’s mood and affairs. Do not scold or criticize him, but try to suggest the right decision.
- We need to direct all the teenager’s energy to physical education classes and help him find the types of physical activity that he will like.
- Create conditions for the teenager to communicate with peers. The more live communication he has, the less time he will spend wandering aimlessly on the Internet.
- By your own example, you need to show children the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
A lot of experiences
Who do you think is more likely to catch an unpleasant disease: an oligophrenic or a genius? This question was asked by employees of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of London and the University of Delaware, USA. During the research, doctors found a certain “genetic fitness factor.” In their opinion, it simultaneously controls the functioning of the body and thinking.
The experiment involved 3,654 military veterans aged from 31 to 49 years. Former soldiers were divided into 2 groups: some served in Vietnam, others in Germany, Korea and the USA. First, scientists checked their physical condition. Everything was taken into account - from allergies to chronic ailments, even forgotten problems were considered. Lifestyle was not left without attention, identifying heavy smokers, drug addicts and those who like to drink a can of beer once a week. After all the meticulous questionnaires, tests were conducted to determine logic, level of intelligence and other indicators.
Experts converted the results into a system for identifying health status, dividing it into 8 categories. The result confirmed their speculations about the influence of intelligence on well-being: in 6 out of 8 categories, intelligence significantly influenced physical indicators. Research author Rosalind Arden drew the line:
“Low intelligence affects poor health more than lifestyle factors such as bad habits, obesity and service in Vietnam. Health problems were linked to one another even where there was no obvious medical logic.”
Previously, we talked about the influence of external factors on health and intelligence, for example, poverty has become one of the main factors for problems with the nervous system. Arden's experiment challenged the value of these works - genes, not money, determine who you are: narrow-minded and sickly or a genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist. But in practice, everything turned out to be more complicated: many intellectuals often cannot boast of health, and athletes do not discover new planets. Popular legends generally say that all jocks are stupid. I wonder what the authors of the studies think about this.
Positive thinking
You can find positive aspects in any situation. The ability to find positivity and treat failures as life experiences will help you find new opportunities to improve your life.
How to start thinking positively:
- Avoid bad people. We must learn to interrupt communication with those who cause discomfort.
- Everything that is is for the better. This saying should become exactly the point from which you evaluate all events in your life.
- Smile. Even if there is no reason, it will still improve your mood.
- Find time for small joys, they fill your life with positivity.
- Break the task down into small goals. This will allow you to do a great job gradually and without unnecessary worries.
- Don't be afraid of failure. Failure is simply an indicator that something has been done wrong. We need to take this into account and move on.
- Do not stop. Life is constantly moving. Only by moving forward, through successes and failures, can we achieve something.
The influence of intelligence on old age
It is difficult to talk about the objectivity of such experiments, because intelligence is determined at the genetic level in 50-80% of cases. But there is no point in criticizing Adner, because what is not in the genes is compensated by knowledge and lifestyle. In any case, whatever the intelligence, it can have an impact on the body. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh, Oxford and University College London conducted research on the influence of IQ on human life expectancy. Their experiment is a real reality show: back in 1947, experts selected 65 thousand people for observations (which is comparable to the population of a provincial Russian city). The participants were only 11 years old at that time.
By age 79, people with high intelligence were less likely to have heart disease, stroke, cancer, respiratory disease, fatal injury, digestive disease, and dementia. Some aspects you will call super obvious, for example, fatal injuries - it is clear that a smart person will control the car on the road and will not reach into the socket with wet fingers. But it’s these little things that make up vast knowledge.
Scientists have not ignored parallel factors that influence human development and life: lifestyle, work, etc. Even within the context of these parameters, IQ had a significant effect. But it is too early to draw final conclusions; the results should be compared using the example of other generations (and there is no such study), because wars and other adversities left a significant mark on people born in the first half of the last century. Most likely, your indicators will differ from those already known.
But how to explain the conclusions that experts came to? Perhaps age-related changes in the central nervous system are one of the most important mechanisms of aging of the body. In other words, aging of the nervous system leads to aging of the entire organism.
What is the opposition saying?
Experiment is different from experiment, and it is difficult to take the work of Arden and other British scientists at face value, because there are experiments with completely opposite conclusions. Experts from several US universities under the leadership of Dr. Ruth Karpinski found that high intelligence is associated with poor health. Smart people are more likely to suffer from mental disorders and allergies, doctors attribute this to continuous brain activity.
The guinea pigs were the smartest people on the planet - members of Mensa - this is the largest, oldest and most famous organization for people with high IQs. Its participants are smarter than 98% of the world's population. 3,715 volunteers spoke about existing health problems, if any. It turned out that depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, asthma, autoimmune diseases and allergies are more often found in smart people. The percentage data was compared with information on diseases across the country on average.
But there are two holes in this experiment. Firstly, data on diseases was obtained from the words of the participants - no tests or analyzes were carried out. Secondly, Mensa members are only 0.02 of the US population, and 3,715 subjects are a small number even for the organization itself, this is less than a tenth of the American Mensa.
It is also worth noting that Ruth Karpinski, following Arden and colleagues from the UK, confirms the direct influence of intelligence on health. Only in this case the dependence is inversely proportional: the smarter a person is, the weaker his health. We will have to find out in the future in which direction the mechanism actually works. Who knows, maybe the fate of the next generation will be predicted even before its birth.
