A Young Wrexham Contributor (MissWriter)
What Is Mental Health?
Many of us suffer from mental health issues but don’t truly understand the meaning of it. As young adults, we often find ourselves asking what is mental health and how does it affect us? What is this thing that eats away at our friends and families and doesn’t allow them to seek out and ask for help? How is it that it has the ability to control our minds; what we do, say and think? And what can be done to help or stop it.
Mental health is the emotional and psychological well being of a person. It affects how we feel and act towards something and whether we are able to make the right decisions for ourselves. It also determines how we are able to cope with the surroundings and how we deal with stress. People often struggle from this and are unable to express their feelings. Mental health problems can lead to extreme or damaging impact on someone’s life leaving them scarred. It could make them feel useless or pathetic- even feeling low or blatantly stressed out for no particular reason. Small things during everyday life would feel like a chore; as though the whole weight of the world was upon their shoulders. The constant feeling as if the world was conspiring against you. This would soon start to follow up with low self- esteem which would eventually affect them in every aspect of life. The list could go on and sadly would not include any beneficial or favourable feelings. The factors that contribute to mental health problems include:
– Biological factors- brain chemistry or genes
– Family history of mental health problems
– Abuse or trauma
Such circumstances are unfortunately common amongst the younger generation of today’s society. Things that we have no control over. Things that we are not to be blamed for. However, we do have the ability within us to move on and embrace the future. Professional help and council is available and always recommended for anyone who has gone through so much. Additionally, by staying in contact with your friends and families is alway a benefit and a comfort to yourself- to be able to share and open up to someone you trust will make you feel a lot better and will help you to move on.
At any point in your life, you might have come across a situation where you feel nervous or anxious about a new endeavour or experience that you are about to face. A feeling of insecurity- the ‘what ifs’ that slowly creep into your mind and settle down with a feeling of uneasiness.
You might know someone who has gone through a similar position, someone close to you. Someone who you care about that isn’t able to tell you how they are feeling. This is where you need to step up and be able to understand and help them throughout their hard time. Stay positive. Have fun and show your friends that life goes on. That no matter what, life always provides opportunities which allows you to be happy and live healthily. This will then motivate your friend to think optimistically and will improve their stability and self esteem.
Nowadays, we see adults and children spending more time on their phones and on social media rather than with each other. What goes on on social media bothers us more than what goes on in reality. We take this false sense of security of a perfectly organised online life too seriously. Especially when it comes to expressing ourselves or perhaps making an opinion. Why not go out and make that opinion in the open? What’s stopping you? The truth is nothing is stopping you. Nothing is in your way. You’re just afraid. You won’t admit it but you are. Afraid of what the world will think of you, of what the person next to you will think of you. This sense of judgment that you believe will somehow make you look weak or less of a good person, stops you and makes you think twice. But what will life look like if you constantly think twice? If you don’t take the opportunities that are given to you? You’ll forever live with the regret that you haven’t fulfilled something extraordinary and taken the chance while you had it at your disposal.
Social media plays a huge part in our lives. It affects the way we think and act towards something. Because of this ongoing trend that we cannot live without, we do not actually realise the effects of it and the impact it has on us and and our daily routines. A lot of us spend more than 4 hours glued onto our phones and are unaware of the things that happen around us. We miss out on various activities just so that we can go back onto our phones and check our feeds and posts. Sometimes, we don’t get enough sleep because of this- the deprivation of sleep which does have a negative effect on us and can lead to severe mental health issues. Constantly feeling tired or exhausted will lead to not being able to function properly or healthily and will make you feel miserable. Adequate sleep is an important factor in reducing the risks of major mental health problems. By sleeping, the body is able to relax and regain its strength. It is also beneficial for the heart and for your mind. Many studies show that college students that do not get enough sleep receive worse grades than those who do. They also suggest how the reoccurring lack of sleep can impair learning skills and abilities. We should all be getting enough sleep so that we are able to maintain ourselves and be able to have a healthy balanced life. Sleep can also reduce levels of stress which is very likely for any students to be doing. During your time in college, you are likely to stress about whether you will pass your course or not, but this should not affect your sleep! So go ahead and have an early night. You will feel a lot better and automatically you will start to relax and see a different in the results.
