Sometimes you have a Mental and emotional well-being That allows you to be happy with your life can be more complicated than one expects.
In life things happen to us continuously and adapting to all of them properly is not always simple.
However, although you have many stimuli that can make you difficult, you can achieve psychological well-being since your mental state depends on you.
What is mental well-being?
The World Health Organization Defines the state of mental well-being as a psychological state in which the individual is aware of his own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to his community.
Put another way: mental well-being is that state that allows us to function in an adequate and healthy way.
The term mental well-being is not synonymous with the absence of mental disorder but refers to a state of bonanza that encompasses the 5 dimensions that shape the person: physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual.
But eye:. The human being does not act peacefully in the mental well-being but does it in an active way.
The psychological well-being we create ourselves depending on how we interpret things and how we live our respective lives.
For example:
Jose, a 57-year-old man, works 50 hours a week with a salary of 600 euros a month, a family that maintains and without a great amount of friendships and social relationships enjoys in his life a complete mental well-being.
In contrast, Mariano, a man of 60 years, with a great purchasing power that enjoys all kinds of luxuries and vital facilities has a toxic state of mind that prevents him from enjoying his life.
A priori it would seem that the stimuli of the life of Jose would invite to have greater difficulties to have a good mental state, whereas those of Mariano would totally facilitate their capacity to enjoy the life.
However, mental well-being does not depend on these stimuli, but on how we interpret them and the way we approach our lives.
Let's look at 10 habits that if we do them properly can help us enormously to reach a state of mental well-being.
10 Habits to achieve mental and emotional well-being
Take care
To be well you have to be well with yourself. This phrase may be redundant or empty but it is not.
And is that even if it seems a topic, to enjoy the things of your life, you must first be able to enjoy yourself.
You will not reach a state of well-being if you are not well with yourself, if you do not like yourself or if you are unhappy with yourself.
So, dedicate time and effort to take care of yourself at all levels: physically, emotionally, psychologically and socially.
If you care you will reach that image of you that you would like to have, you will like yourself, and then you will be in the optimal state to be able to participate with your environment.
Taking care of yourself and erecting a good image of yourself means building good cements and a good structure to ensure that what you built above It will never falter.
2. Value what you have
Your life is not what you have but the interpretation you make about what you have.
As we have seen in the example above, you can have a myriad of goods theoretically cherished all over the world but do not value them and therefore do not Enjoy them.
Instead, you can have a few rewarding stimuli but value them tremendously and enjoy them 100%.
So, you have two options: to value the things you have and to enjoy them or to obviate everything you own and to lament you for what you do not have.
Obviously the first option will lead you to a state of mental well-being and the second will drive you away from it.
Think that your happiness will not be in the number of inches of the next TV that you buy or in the amount of horses that has the motor of your car.
Your happiness will not be in the number of friends you have, the social recognition you reach or the amount of compliments you receive during the week
Your happiness is in you and in the valuation you make of the things you have, whatever they are, I am sure they have their value. Dedicate yourself to Find it and find it!
3. Project illusions
Often we fall into the rut and forget to do different things or develop exciting projects.
However, change and illusion is one of the main needs of the human being, and one of the aspects that most help us to have a well-being psychological.
And it is that the new things give our brain a much higher level of gratification than can be provided by those things that are Immersed in our routine.
However, as you well know, reaching new things in our lives is often complicated, since the inertia of our day-to-day encourages us to settle To our customs.
So make an effort to get out of your routine from time to time and do projects that can be exciting.
Start a new professional challenge, make plans related to leisure, think about vital changes, desires or aspirations, you will know what it is that you Can bring illusion. Look for it and work on it!
4. Rest properly
In order to have an adequate mental state you must give your body the necessary rest.
As much as today's time and productivity have been established as the main values of people, human beings are not machines And we need to rest to function properly.
When the human being does not rest properly evidently it gains time, since it can invest the time destined to the dream in working, nevertheless this Time gain will never translate into higher productivity.
In addition, lack of rest directly translates into an inadequate mental state. Our mind just like our body needs rest in order to function.
So do not skimp on the rest that both your body and your brain need. A tired person becomes an easy prey for stimuli Around her, a rested person is capable of everything.
5. Share your life with others
The person is not understood without the presence of other people. Unlike other animals, humans are designed to relate to others and live in community.
In fact, the interpersonal relationship is a basic need that we all have to receive gratifying stimuli. Do not keep your things for yourself, your life you have to share with others.
Take time to tell your family things to your friends and listen to the experiences they tell you.
Invest time in enriching your relationships, because the people around you will be the sustenance of your well-being, who will provide you with a greater Personal gratification and those that will help you recover a beneficial psychological state when in the moments that you can lose.
6. Express your emotions and concerns
Just as it is beneficial for your mental state to share your things with others, so is expressing your emotions and concerns.
Many times we think that the problems and feelings that we can have are our own and we must keep them for ourselves.
And in part it is true, since we must be able to control and manage our emotions and thoughts on our own.
However, this does not prevent us from expressing them in a suitable way to those people who we know will accept us this type of externalizations.
Negative feelings and thoughts are normal and do not have to be harmful, they often fulfill an adaptive function.
However, if we manage them improperly and we keep them in our interior, they can become a bigger problem.
So when you are sad, worried or stressed, share those feelings with the people you trust, you will see that it will make you feel good and your state Mental health will improve.
7. Stay Active
To be well we need to do things. If we spend the day inactive, lying on the couch or lying on the bed doing nothing, our mental state will deteriorate irreparably.
If you have a job you may already be active enough, or not, this will depend on your personal characteristics.
If you feel active enough you will not have a problem, if you do not feel that way, you better look for more activities to increase your occupation.
If you do not have work it is possible that the feeling of lack of activity you have more present. However, this need not be so.
There are many activities you can do: develop an active job search, invest time in helping your family and friends, examine Play activities you would like to do, start a volunteer task...
It is not so important the type of activity that you realize but how you feel when doing it. If you like it, it is to your liking, it gives you personal satisfaction and A sense of well-being and functionality you will have the objective fulfilled.
8. Exercise
Physical exercise helps us to be fit, healthier, and less likely to have a physical illness.
However, the benefits of physical exercise are not just for our body, they are also for our mind.
Performing physical exercise promotes the release of Endorphins in Our brain And increases the production of tryptophan, increasing levels of Serotonin In our neurons.
And what does this mean?
| Physical exercise increases: | Physical exercise decreases: |
| The trust | The confusion |
| Emotional Stability | Anger and anger |
| Intellectual functioning | The Depression |
| The state of mind | The headache |
| The perception | The phobias |
| Positive body image | Stress |
| Self-control | The tension |
| Sexual satisfaction | Hostility |
| Welfare | Psychotic Behaviors |
| The fun | Smoking |
| The self-esteem | Emotional instability |
| Quality of life | Drug consumption |
9. Avoid stress
Stress Can be one of the greatest enemies to our psychological well-being.
When we suffer stress , Our body and our mind adopt a state of permanent activation higher than normal.
There are times when this greater activation is necessary, but many others in which it is not.
For example:
You have a very important meeting which will dictate the future of your business. In this situation it will be good that your body and your mind take a greater activation to reach your maximum potential.
However, if you keep this state once the meeting is over, when you get home, when you go to sleep, the next day and during a period Time, this activation will no longer make any sense and the only thing that will do will wear your body, and steal your mental well-being.
So, analyze your agenda, your activities and your way of facing every aspect of your life to realize if you should reduce your stress or not.
10. Spend time on yourself
Finally, to improve your mental well-being it is very important that you do not forget yourself. Do not forget that your life is yours and you are only going to have one to enjoy it.
Do not forget that for many obligations you have to fulfill, none should be so important as to deprive you of having a moment to perform Activities that are to your liking.
Invest time in doing those playful activities that bring you well-being, do not leave aside your hobbies and hobbies, since they are a source of Reward you can not afford to lose.
These are 10 habits that can help you improve your psychological well-being. Do you practice any that we have not mentioned? Share it with us for Help readers. Thank you very much!
References
- Amanda L. Wheat Kevin T. Larkin (2010). Biofeedback of Heart Rate Variability and Related Physiology: A Critical Review. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 35: 229-242.
- Blair SN, Morris JN (2009) Healthy hearts and the universal benefits of being physically active: Physical activity and health. Ann Epidemiol 19: 253-256.
- Capdevila, L (2005) Physical activity and healthy lifestyle. Girona: Documenta Universitaria.
- OGDEN, J. (2007). Essential readings in health psychology. Berkshire, UK: Open University Press.
- Sjösten N, Kivelä SL. The effects of physical exercise on depressive symptoms among the aged: a systematic review. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2006; 21: 410-18.
- Spanish Society of Clinical and Health Psychology: http://www.sepcys.org/.