For some people, their mental health is outside of their control. There’s nothing that they can do to tame the beast. But for many, feeling miserable is actually the result of poor mental hygiene.
We don’t talk much about the concept of “mental hygiene” much in the West. It’s still quite far off the radar. But it is something that we need to practice, particularly given the exploding rates of conditions, such as depression and anxiety.
The following are some bad habits that put you in a low mood. Check them out below:
Dwelling On The Past
Having a human mind can be an advantage. You’re able to learn from the past and then apply the lessons in the present so that you don’t make the same mistakes again.
However, many people get into the habit of dwelling incessantly on the past. For instance, they might think about how a certain colleague mistreated them at work or perhaps how a lover betrayed them.
Dwelling on the past in this way doesn’t help, though. If anything, it makes your condition worse.
To get away from this, do what top mental health treatment centers encourage their patients to do: be present and focus on the opportunities that life gives you. There is nothing you can do to change the past, so don’t focus on it.
Fixating On The Future
There are some people who do the opposite. Instead of thinking about what has happened in their life, they might consider what will happen.
Pinning your hopes or fears on the future is, again, poor mental hygiene. The reason for this is simple: it takes you out of the present.
Imagine you spend all day Sunday worrying about a job interview that you have on Monday morning. Even though the interview isn’t even happening, it is still having an impact on your mental health. You want to be able to enjoy your time off on Sunday, but find that you can’t because the prospect of being interrogated the next day is souring the experience.
Hope is another bad habit. Hope is the anticipation of something good that might not happen in the future. Sometimes, it comes to fruition and you feel satisfied for a while, but many times it doesn’t, and you feel dashed.
To avoid this, don’t think about the future at all – except in a practical sense. Concentrate on the now.
Believing The World Is Out To Get You
The world can seem like a scary place but, fundamentally, it’s not out to get you. In fact, when you think about it, it provides practically everything you need and more.
Observe your body, for instance. The Earth is providing it with warmth and oxygen right now. Society offers food to nourish it and more entertainment than you could ever possibly consume in a lifetime.
Be mindful of this as you go through your daily life. Appreciate that more than 90 percent of your needs are already met. Even though you might be having a bad day, appreciate the fact that you’re still here. Your body is still working. You’re still able to control how you feel internally.
0 Comments