No amount of discussion and awareness regarding mental health can ever be enough; there is always room for more. Mental health is as important as physical health. If a person suffers from mental health issues, his physical health also deteriorates.
Many stigmas surround mental health and especially about seeking help for it. In the past, people felt hesitant to seek help because they were afraid of becoming a typecast because of the myths about mental health issues. But now, more and more people are stepping forward and out of their comfort zones to improve their mental health. Although the present situation is better than the past, we still have a long way to go.
If you are someone who is suffering from mental health issues or you know a loved one who is going through such a situation, seeking help will benefit you more than you can imagine. To convince you, we have put together seven ways that make it beneficial to seek help for your mental health.
Better performance at school or work
Most adults suffer from mental illnesses due to the pressure of studies or work. Having to manage your family, friends, study or work, social life, and all kinds of activities can take a toll on your mental health and make you feel burnout. Seeking professional help can improve your performance at work or school. Many experts offer counseling services or talk therapies for you to overcome such type of stress. One such example is Open Change which provides different services, for example, well-being guest speaking for employees and teams to boost their confidence and well-being. This helps workers to overcome the hurdles of mental problems and perform better.
Breaking out of vicious cycles
It keeps getting deeper when you fall into the pit of mental health issues. With mental health issues, you develop some harmful patterns of behavior that trap you into vicious cycles. Seeking help can save you from these scenarios. Say you feel stressed or anxious because of a due assignment; you can now not focus because of the high level of anxiety. And because you cannot focus on your assignment, you end up stressing even more, and so on. You get trapped in these types of vicious patterns, which destroy your mental health. With professional help, you can break these cycles by better understanding your situation, learning how to control and manage your stress and anxiety, etc.
Low risk of other health issues
The adverse effects of poor mental health quickly spiral down into your physical health. If you have depression or anxiety, you must find it hard to sleep, which can cause other medical issues. Some people develop eating disorders as a result of psychological problems, which lead to becoming underweight or overweight. Some people fall prey to substance abuse and become alcoholics or drug addicts, thus worsening the situation. You can save your life by preventing other medical issues by seeking help with your mental health. If you follow the guidelines of your therapist or psychologist, not only will you improve your mental health, but also drop other issues that it can cause.
Build better relationships
If you are going through a tough phase tackling your mental health issues, chances are you feel all alone in this fight. The truth is, everyone is going through something, and you are not alone. It can be very easy to isolate yourself, thinking no one will understand you or offer you help, or worse, they will judge you. With mental health problems, you often distance yourself from everyone. But proper treatment can change that.
If you see a doctor, psychologist, or counselor, they will help you realize you are not alone. You will get to know how you can communicate with people in a better way and build better and stronger relationships. You will learn how to cope with your issues and maintain good relationships at the same time. These things can coexist, and honest and clearer communication with your loved ones will improve the quality of your relationship.
Develop coping mechanisms
A counselor can help you figure out which coping mechanism suits you best. When you seek professional help, you discover a lot of new things about yourself. Those are not new things, but the things that you did not pay much attention to before. A professional can help you find your coping mechanism by asking you to do more of what you love and genuinely enjoy. You will realise that when you are, for instance, gardening, you do not have negative thoughts, and you feel calm and content. Maybe you are someone who finds peace in reading or exercising, etc. This way, you create a healthy coping mechanism that helps you calm down when you are having anxious thoughts or are stressing out.
Improved quality of life
Seeking professional help will benefit you in unimaginable ways, making you a better person. You will be better able to handle challenging situations daily. You will get to know what works for you and what doesn’t. Your coach will help you gain more confidence. You will become more decisive, clearly aware of your long-term goals, and won’t let your past traumas stand in the way of your future and happiness. Likewise, you will be able to better cope with things that trigger anxiety or harmful thoughts in your mind and will make a significant change in your behaviour, leading to a better, balanced lifestyle.
Bonus benefit
If you are suffering from mental health issues and decide to seek help, you benefit the whole society. Our society has always been harsh towards people with poor mental health and even more with those seeking help. By seeking help, you are breaking the stigma. You are benefiting yourself and motivating others to seek help too. You are paving the way for others not to feel shame for seeking help to improve their lives.
Having mental health issues can harm your life in many ways. The right thing to do is to seek professional help. Seeking help will allow you to overcome these issues and will give you many benefits. This article describes seven benefits that you gain by seeking help for your mental health.
Dennis Relojo-Howell is the managing director of Psychreg.
