Emotions play a strong role in our own well-being. Studies have shown a strong connection between structured mental health and our body's physical health. A better holistic health approach will always contemplate the state of both our mind and body, in other words mind-body connection.
We all go through rough times, because life is all about the ups and downs, the highs and lows, for some people it’s another way to know that we are not flatling. But sometimes being overwhelmed with so many traumas, emotional stressful situations, breakups, loss of friends, Loss of family members or loved ones in addition to the day to day work stress can leave a massive amount of pressure on your mental and emotional status which can directly put a pressure on the physical health resulting in different health issues from heart problems, blood pressure, cancer, and many more.
It is super important to recognize how emotional wellbeing directly impacts physical wellness as to prioritize providing mental health treatment sooner. mental illness becomes more and more prevalent especially after two years of the current pandemic which has contributed to increasing the stress levels and depression all across the globe.
According to The American Heart Association notes that “depression and negative psychological health conditions are associated with a less healthy heart and body…and improving psychological health can lead to a healthier heart and healthier body.”
People who are emotionally healthy are in control of their thoughts, emotions, reactions, feelings, and behaviors. They’re able to cope with life’s challenges. Accept when faced with changes and internalize emotions and deal with them in a healthy way, they can keep problems in perspective and bounce back from setbacks and hindrances. They feel good about themselves and have good relationships, friendships especially ones within themselves. Where the root of all problems can be solved. On the other hand, being emotionally healthy and inline doesn’t mean you’re happy all the time. It means you’re aware of your emotions and your thoughts. You can deal with them, whether they’re positive or negative. Emotionally healthy people still feel stress, anger, and sadness. But they know how to manage their negative feelings. They surely know when a problem is more than of what they can handle on their own. They also know when to seek help from their doctor, therapist and even from people around.
WHAT IS EMOTIONAL HEALTH?
Emotional health is a major part of mental health, it is your ability to deal and cope with both positive and negative emotions, involving your awareness of those thoughts and emotions.
Emotionally healthy people developed during time a healthy coping mechanisms for negative emotions, and they also know when to reach out to a professional for help.
We must keep in mind that a person can experience mental illness or bad days, and still have good emotional wellness. Mental illnesses often have deeper causes like a chemical imbalance, trauma, loss, Grief. Emotional health has more to do with our emotional regulation, and most importantly our awareness towards our thoughts and feelings, and these strategies and coping mechanisms can be used by people with or without a mental illness
How to know if you’re struggling with your Emotional Health
Some warning signs of emotional health in need of care include:
• Isolating yourself from friends, family, or coworkers
• Lethargy and decreased energy levels
• Finding no interest in things you used to do
• Sleeping and eating too much or too little
• Not wanting to talk about your stressors and traumas
• Attempts to end your life
• Increased use of substances
• Racing thoughts
• Lower performance at work
• More interpersonal conflicts than usual
• Irritability, guilt, hopelessness, or worthlessness and helplessness
Ways to maintain or even improve your emotional health:
• Be aware of how you talk to yourself. Mostly negative self-talk can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, or just put you in a negative mindset, a cycle that keeps feeding your emotions with negative thoughts which increases the likelihood of believing those talks. Try to work on creating a positive image of yourself with your words. Your thoughts may soon follow. And they will cultivate the cycle of emotions/ thoughts regulations correctly.
• Set goals and achievements for yourself. It can be hard when we have lost track to the things we love, but bring a paper and try to give yourself something to strive for to build self-esteem and positive feelings about yourself.
• Learn strategies for resilience. This is your ability to react to difficult emotions and stressful situations. Many of the same things that help you with emotional health can also improve your resilience, One of the most important factors to that is convincing your mind that you only live in the present moment, as to stop grieving the past or worrying about the future. This mindset will keep your grounded, and work on improving your thoughts and time related matters.
• Find meaning in your life. Some people have jobs that give them a feeling of purpose, but that's not the only way to find meaning in your life. Something as simple as caring for a child, pet or volunteering for a cause that you're passionate about can also give you that feeling. It might get harder when you are in a not healthy mindset, but again improving the quality of thoughts and the positive self-talk will guarantee you come back on track of your goals and aspirations as well as meaning in your life
• Know when to reach out for help. Sometimes we are truly unable to handle negative emotions on our own. Knowing when to reach out to a mental health professional / Psychotherapist for help with difficult emotions is a useful skill to have. You should also reach out to one if you have tried to improve your emotional health, but still aren't feeling your best.
