Wondering why you should prioritize your mental health like going to the gym? In this article, we’ll provide you with good reasons to spend more time working on your mental health.
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Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
Mental health is a popular topic, and for good reason. Without feeling at peace within ourselves, it can be extremely difficult to accomplish everything we need to in our busy daily lives. From work and family commitments to keeping up with our social circles, self-care can often be pushed to the bottom of our priority list.
For highly sensitive people and empaths, this can be even more of a challenge. We find it especially difficult to give ourselves the time and attention we so desperately need, as we spend the majority of our time helping and caring for others.
To help you understand the importance of prioritizing your mental health, we take a look at why it’s a crucial aspect of living a fulfilling and healthy life.
Increased Stability and Resilience
If you constantly give 100% to every commitment in your life but leave only a slither of energy for yourself, you’ll soon become burnt out and emotionally overwhelmed. Afterall, you can’t pour from an empty cup. Giving yourself permission to focus on your own happiness, self-care and wellbeing enables you to give more wholly to others, and will also leave you in a better mindset for when stressful situations arise.
Life is never going to stop throwing obstacles in our path, so it’s vital to be in a position to handle them efficiently. Prioritizing your mental health, in whatever way works for you, is the best way to build emotional resilience and create a stable base from which to handle daily stressors.
Clear Focus
When we’re struggling, be it with high stress, chaotic schedules or overwhelm at work, our perception becomes skewed. This makes it more challenging to cope with the little things in life which irritate, frustrate or rile us. Without taking the time to recentre ourselves and soothe our central nervous systems, we are more likely to act undesirably towards our colleagues, friends and loved ones when they present us with a challenge.
Consistently ignoring your own needs can lead to long-term mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, which can have dire consequences if left untreated. Some may even use alcohol or drugs to numb the pain. (If this is relatable, please make sure to reach out to an addiction hotline for further help in your recovery journey. You need to make yourself a priority in order to show up with a clear, rational focus to all aspects of your life.
Brain-body Connection
If you still think that these difficult feelings are something you just don’t have time for, or you’re patiently waiting for them to disappear, let us reassure you that there is concrete scientific evidence behind the reasons why you need to look after your mental health.
If you’ve ever had the opportunity to study psychology, you’ll know that stress is felt as an internal brain-to-body connection which cannot be solved by external means. Only when you pause and reassure your primitive nervous system that you’re out of danger will you be able to feel better. Prioritizing your own mental health doesn’t mean you are putting yourself above anyone else, it just means that you are recognising that you are important, too.
Do What Feels Right
As you can see, prioritizing your mental health is not a luxury, but a necessity. Whether you do so by enjoying a solo walk in nature, soaking in a hot bath or by organizing your closet to make your mornings smoother, be sure to take a little time each day to do something that makes you feel relaxed and centered.
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