The media frenzy around the recent health scare of Remo D’souza and Saurabh Ganguly had sparked a conversation about health in all our homes but the focus of this conversation was only physical not mental. We often hear well-meaning adults draw correlations between mind and body. Yet there is a huge imbalance in the way we treat and talk about physical and mental health.
When we discuss physical health, we conveniently leave out any mention of mental well-being. That is because we often think of our body and mind as two separate and unrelated entities, when in reality they’re more intertwined than we realize.
Our body is a machine where all its parts are interconnected together. Just a single part out of place or not doing its job right can hinder the workings of the whole unit. Mental well-being is an important part of life. Our mind needs love and care to go on working smoothly.
Now, what is mental health? It is a state of optimal performance of mental functions that result in people being productive, having fulfilling relationships, being able to adapt to change, cope with daily and life challenges.
Mental health is always put on the back burner and rarely prioritized. We avoid paying attention to our mental well-being until something goes wrong or until we absolutely have to. The stigma around psychological ailments is definitely declining and that’s surely a step in the right direction. But what about daily behaviours that can be deprecating for our mental health.
Self-deprecation is when you reprimand yourself by undervaluing, disparaging, or belittling yourself, or being overly modest. This behaviour is sometimes used in humour and tension release. When you make yourself, your abilities, and achievement seem less important and impressive than they are, it’s an example of you indulging in these self-deprecating behaviours.
It’s important to understand why we do this, why we undersell ourselves instead of believing in our abilities? Because of low self-esteem. People that exhibit self-deprecating behaviour use it to deflect their self-esteem issues.
Women in particular are victims of this behaviour.
We still live in a patriarchal society where women are effectively not treated as equals. They’re expected to fit into multiple roles and the expectations from them are way higher and more rigid than those from men. They are taught from a young age to prioritize others' needs before their own. Because of this, they develop a habit of neglecting their own problems especially their mental wellness. Because of these expectations to maintain a certain image and fit a specific role, women’s self-expression is often discouraged and neglected. What people don’t understand is that self-expression is the key to freedom of self. It helps us promote our individuality. Suppressing self-expression and or ‘bottling it up’ like a lot of women do can be harmful to our mental health in ways we don’t even realise.
Maintaining our mental well-being is a constant effort. Just like eating right and exercising are vital to maintaining physical health, developing habits of self-love and self-care are necessary for keeping your mind healthy and fit. Self-Care habits aren’t always putting on a face-mask and getting enough sleep, taking care of yourself is more than that. It requires real introspection of the soul. To achieve a peaceful way of living you must focus on being grateful towards yourself. By appreciating your achievements and efforts you can begin the journey to happiness that stems from within. Stress and Anxiety can make you feel caged in your own life. If you want to break out of this suffocating cage and become more in tune with nature and the universe you must practice mindfulness.
Developing these habits and maintaining them can seem like a lot of work, which is why you don’t have to do it alone. You have the power to change your reality but you might not have the tools. This is whygetting help and reaching out is a monumental step in the right direction. When you allow a professional to guide you, you are gaining insight that you may not have known on your own; an objective look at your situation. When you're immersed in your life you lose all perspective. An outsider’s view can help you realize the true nature of problems that seem smaller or bigger than they are.
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