The Effects of Mental Health on Our Life

“Eat your vegetables! Exercise! Get a good night's sleep!” We’ve all known to take care of our bodies since grade school P. E. class. But what about our mental health, isn’t mental health just as important as physical health?

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It helps determine how we handle stress and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. If this is true, why do so many of us sweep our feelings under the carpet? Only recently did I piece together parts of my life to fully grasp the full effects of mental health. Let's start from my earliest memories.

When I was 5 my mom put my sister and me in the car and took us to the local drive thru safari. This would sound fun to most kids and I'm sure that fun was what my mom had in mind, however that’s not exactly how things played out, in fact it was quite the opposite. All was well watching the exotic animals from a distance but as a giraffe approached our car window I began to scream in fear and managed to fit myself under the car seat. This moment follows me throughout my life with jokes and occasional giraffe themed gifts. Even though this is a small example, it marks the first-time signs of my anxiety had shown through. As might be expected, me being so young, I had no idea what I had been feeling or how to deal with it. Of course, my anxiety progressed with age and I could recognize it a little better.

The whole anxiety thing overall was confusing, being fearful of a situation when you know there's no reason to fear is contradicting to your brain. For example, I knew giraffes weren't mean and I knew my mom wouldn’t let anything happen to me, but I still reacted in fear. It wasn’t until recently I fully understood anxiety and ways to deal with it. Before, my mental state was taken over by fear, controlling my every action and thought. It hindered my daily life and it was important to find ways to better deal with it. Perhaps anxiety is something I'll always struggle with but it's like everything else, you have to practice getting better at it and it doesn’t happen overnight. When I was around the age of 7 my mom had chosen her carrier to be a mental health therapist. This helped shape who I am today, it helped me put life into perspective. We weren't a foster home, but we sometimes took in children who needed a place to stay for a while when theirs were no longer suitable. Meeting these people and the things they’ve gone through really taught me gratefulness. Not only did my mom being a therapist help me be grateful it also helped me understand the why behind the what. And by this, I mean everyone sees what people do but most don’t know why people react and respond uniquely to situations.

Mental health ties into all of this, as I stated before, mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It helps determine how we handle stress and make choices. Everything that has happened to us is the foundation of who we are and how we view and react to situations. Hence the why behind the what. With that being said, it’s important to work through your mental health to make sure you’re making the most clear and best decisions.