Adolescent’s mental health (Part 5)

Emotions in Adolescents

Let us first understand the terminologies of emotions & feelings before we get into managing them or maintain good emotional health.

Emotions are responses associated with bodily reactions. They are innate qualities of human beings.

External and Internal factors elicit emotions. Emotions are not conscious but instead manifest in the unconscious mind. Lasts for 6 secs to complete the cycle of brain to body response.

Feelings are the conscious experience of emotional reactions. They are sparked by emotions and shaped by personal experiences, beliefs, memories, and thoughts linked to that particular emotion

Ex: “Sad” is emotion. “crying, silence” are feelings.

Feelings are under our control whereas Emotions are not. Feelings lasts longer than emotions.

Good and Stable Emotional Health is a state of mind in which an individual

a. realizes one’s own potential,

b. can cope with the normal stresses of life,

c. can work productively and fruitfully, and

d. is able to contribute to oneself and community

Negative Emotions:  fear, sad, angry, anxiety etc. Positive Emotions: happy, hope, gratitude, love, forgiveness etc. Neutral Emotions:  boredom, empathy, craving etc

We are now looking at one critical emotion disturbing majority of adolescents, which is anger.

What is Anger?

Anger is natural response to feeling 1. Frustrated: Not getting what we want, especially if we are expecting to get it 2. that others do not respect us or care how we feel

Anger is a natural response to perceived threats. Among the different types of anger, the Satwik anger is harmless to self but for a cause or correction of the other person ex: outrage at the injustices of the world — whether it’s the destruction of the environment, oppression of human rights, cruelty towards animals, violence in the community, or an abusive relationship at home

Causes of Anger

Inappropriate development of life skills to handle changes, situations or respond to people

1.       Sadness – family or friends arguing, no one to talk to, death of a close one, change of location, long distance relationships, etc.

2.       Fear – failure in exam, worry participating in activities, sick family member, personal illness, etc. 

3.       Frustration – low academic/professional performance, underdeveloped social skills, physical development/abilities, comparison to high-achieving fellow mates, sense of lack of control, etc.

4.       Guilt – sexual abuse victimization, let someone down, hurt someone (emotionally or physically), failure to follow directions, etc.

5.       Disappointment – didn’t get chosen for a group activity, poor performance, change in plans, financial limitations, etc.

6.       Embarrassment – social – in front of peer groups, physical appearance, feeling “stupid”, feeling “worthless”, awkwardness in social situations, low social skills, etc.

7.       Jealousy – comparison- friendships, siblings, classmates, parents ‘or friends’ time/attention, possessions, social status, etc.

8.       Hurt – abandonment, break-up of friendship/relationship, rejection, peer or family betrayal, etc.

9.       Anxiety – inconsistency, poor boundaries, social pressure, personal expectations, biological – anxiety disorders, etc.

10.   Shame – Inability to meet the expectations of others, Abuse (emotional/physical/sexual), Substance abuse (self or family), Previous disciplinary action, inability to control behaviors. Etc.

How to manage anger?

The purpose is to help a person decrease anger and not suppress. It reduces the emotional and physical arousal that anger can cause. It is generally impossible to avoid all people and settings that incite anger. But one may learn to control reactions and respond in a socially appropriate manner. 

The goal of anger management is to teach people how to examine their triggers. It also helps people adjust how they look at situations, provided individuals are willing to change.

Some techniques used in anger management therapy include:

1.       Acknowledge That You Have a Problem: you need to do is to be honest with yourself and acknowledge that you have a problem.

2.       Use Your Support Network- Let close friends and family know, about the changes that you're trying to make. They can motivate and support you if you lapse into old behaviours.  You can alleviate stress when you spend time with people you care about to control your anger.

3.       Impulse Control - When you start to feel angry, try the following techniques:

a.       Use relaxation techniques like deep breathing (explained in previous issues)

b.      Count to 20 before you respond.

c.       Manage negative thoughts with imagery/Visualization technique (previous issue)

d.      Distract yourself from your anger – visit your favourite website, play a song that you like, daydream about a hobby that you enjoy, or take a walk.

e.      Self-talk - look only at the facts, it may be unproductive to respond with anger, observe about the person or situation, not what you're inferring about someone's motivations or intentions. Does this situation deserve your attention? And is your anger justified here?

f.        Use Empathy - If another person is the source of your anger, use empathy to see the situation from his or her perspective.

4.       Use thought log to trace the anger and do course correction.

This needs some amount of hand holding, to see evidences against what you feel. But, talking to support network, you can get lots of different perspectives.

Example of Angry log – Event 1

Create such rows for all events which have triggered your anger.

Thought log

Trigger	Action	Evidences for your thoughts	Feeling/ Response	Evidences against your thoughts	Feeling /Response
My mother had cooked food with vegetables that I hate the most	I started shouting at my mother, screaming at her as to how insensitive she is, how she hates me, how she purposely does such things only to irritate me. (Extreme cases throw the food plate also)	1.She had cooked same vegetable last week just to irritate me 2. She cooks only vegetables liked by my sister, insensitive to me 3. She does this frequently, hence hates me	Either my mother will become very sad and silent/ she shouts at me/. I will start feeling miserable, guilty and sad	1. She is doing this every Thursday, maybe she has loads of work on Thursday 2. She had done vegetable liked by my sister 3 days and the other 3 days she cooks what I like 3. I need to ask her the actual reason and see if something else can be done as an alternate	·         Composed, ·         Able to think creatively ·         Ability to find solutions and not dwell on problems. ·         Opening channels to communicate.

At the end of the day/week

Do you notice any pattern related to your anger?
How would you like to react differently given the same situation ?

5 See the Humour in Your Anger -Learn to laugh at yourself and do not take everything seriously.

Ex: imagine that you're angry because your mother cooked vegetable that you hated.

To catastrophize the situation, you think, "Wow, she must be either trying to flood the days with same vegetable either for me to change or rest of the family members to start hating the vegetable."

When you imagine a ridiculous and overblown version of the story, you'll likely find yourself smiling by the end of it.

6.  Relax: Little things should not bother you. Remember one principle, mindfully let go of things that you can’t control and creatively think of solutions for those that you can control. If you learn to calm down, you have energy to focus on creative thinking. Regular exercise can help you relax in tense situations. When possible, go for a walk, or stretch. You will also feel more relaxed when you get enough sleep and eat a healthy diet.  Dehydration can often lead to irritability too, so keep hydrated throughout the day by drinking plenty of water.

7- Build Trust - Angry people can be cynical. They can believe that others do things on purpose to annoy or frustrate them, even before anything happens. However, people often focus less on you than you might think!

Build trust with friends and colleagues. That way, you'll be less likely to get angry with them when something goes wrong. To build trust, be honest with people. Explain your actions or decisions when you need to, and always keep your word. If you do this consistently, people will learn that they can trust you. They'll also follow your lead, and you'll learn that you can trust them in return.

8- Listen Effectively - Miscommunication contributes to frustrating situations. The better you listen to what someone says, the easier it is to find a resolution that doesn't involve an angry response.

9- Be Assertive - When you're aggressive, you focus on winning. You care little for others' feelings, rights, and needs. When you're assertive, you focus on balance. You're honest about what you want, and you respect the needs of others. Let other people know your expectations, boundaries, and issues. When you do, you'll find that you develop self-confidence, gain respect, and improve your relationships.

10- Live Each Day as If It's Your Last - If you spend all of your time getting angry, you're going to miss the many joys and surprises that life offers, destroys relationship, or caused you to miss a happy day with friends and family. That's time that you'll never get back.

11- Forgive and Forget - It’s not easy to forget past resentments, but the only way to move on is to let go of these feelings. You should be alert not to get victimized next time but at the same time, don’t hold onto events as thought baggage. The mind becomes garbage bin and there will be less space for good thoughts that are essential for your growth and development.

12 Observational Learning – Do observe how other people respond in situations which are irritable to you. This learning is the most effective and quickest form of learning. You need to hone your life skills till death.

 

Adolescent’s mental health (Part 4)

This issue is in continuation with previous topic on adolescents’ common problems. We are discussing on issues faced by good number of adolescents who would need counselling at the right time t

o correct their course of action, stay focused, develop emotional stability and become healthy societal members. We will be covering in subsequent issues, the medium to severe mental disorders,  if these common problems are untreated for a long time.

 Some more common problems and solutions

3. Exam Fear:

Do you experience most difficulty while you’re studying for exams? Or, in the exam room itself?

The symptoms can be expressed from physical aspects like sweating, heart palpitation to procrastination, poor concentration and less of focus to drug abuse.

Catch 22: You are aware that to study effectively you have to focus on the material, but the thoughts are about ‘what happens if I fail’ or ‘what if I go blank during the exam’. Negative thoughts are the killers.

Remember the 2 states of mind (part 2), conscious mind should be fed with positive thoughts for the subconscious mind to work 24x7 and make us do the right things. Following are some of the techniques:

1.       Visualization or Imagery:  You should imagine that you are going to exam hall, receiving the question paper, read all questions and you are starting to write the answers of questions of your choice, you are able to write all answers covering all the points and coming out successfully. This is positive thinking and imagination. Practice this scenario every day after 10 mins of deep breathing.

2.       Deep Breathing: Relaxation technique of concentrating on slow inhalation through left nostril and breathing out through right by closing left. Again, start with right nostril to breathe out through left. This not only supplies sufficient oxygen for the brain to keep you with energy, but also helps in diverting the negative thoughts. More oxygen to brain and body, the better effort from your side is exerted. Also, relaxation and stress cannot co-exist. So, you are driving away stress.

3.       Preparation:  If you have not started reading and writing from the beginning, at least start now.

a.       Put up a schedule for the remaining days for the subjects that needs to be studied. Prioritize on difficult subjects first.

b.      Do Read-Write-Rehearse for 45 mins and take a small break. Last issue covers the studying and rehearsing method.

c.       Solve question papers, a way of estimating writing time and rehearsing the exam moments. This practice is a must. It is called as “Graded Exposure”, you are getting exposed to exam like scenarios and helps in planning, executing well with several rehearsals.

d.      Keep doing Visualization and Deep breathing every day.

4.       Avoid the following

5.       Diet and Sleep: Stick to nutritious balanced diet with plenty of water intake and sufficient sleep

6.       Previous day of Exam:

a.       Get a good night’s sleep

b.      Make sure you know the venue of exam and time of exam, plan for the commute time to reach the exam 1 hour prior to exam.

c.       Get pens, pencils, erasers, your watch, ID, Hall tickets, etc ready the night before

d.      Do not read anything new. Go through the written notes or key points. Revise and Rehearse.

7.       Day of Exam

a.       Breathing and Visualization must activities to begin the day.

b.      Mentally plan time schedule for answering the different sections in the Question Paper.

                         i.      5 mins glancing the questions – mental note on confident, not so confident etc

                         ii.      Last 10-15 mins for revision is a must. This should accommodate 5 mins 

                       iii.      1^st question will take 5 mins extra, you need to make up for the rest of the questions.

    c.         Stop analysing the questions and answers written post exam, its done deal. Conserve energy to focus on next paper.

 

 

Next issue, we will cover the important topic on Anger and its management. This will include maintaining healthy relationships.

 Adolescent’s mental health (Part 3)

This year’s (2020 – 2021) mental health theme is " Mental Health for All: Greater Investment--- Greater Access". Part 3 of this mental health week (10th October) is dedicated to adolescents. They are the ones exposed to maximum challenges in their developmental years in all facets biological, emotional, social and cognitive. This phase is a critical foundation for the rest of the life development.  Also, this population is the future of the nation and world. Best of both nature and nurture are utmost important during this phase. They have to be handled with care, love and affection!! Pray that this pandemic has repairable and less negative impact on them.  Preventive and preserving mental health is utmost important.

This issue onwards, covers

·         Challenges, mild to medium range problems affecting daily life and solutions. 

·         The role of parents

·         Untreated, ignored issues that could lead to severe mental health issues,

·         Causes for those mental disorders and more on interventions to overcome the negative impact.

 Why is my growth different from that of my classmate?

Differences in growth rates are normal. Adolescents do not all begin puberty at the same age. -  Girls (8 to 13yrs); Boys, on average after 2 years. The physical changes vary from person to person at different rates and different times based on genetics, environment, nutrition, physical activities etc. All these lead to lot of discomfort both physically and emotionally.

1.       The physical parts also grow variedly and at different times ex: Hands and feet may grow faster than arms and legs. This disproportionate growth often leaves these youngsters in a clumsy and awkward situation. They may drop things frequently, their movements in sports, dance etc may be impacted, this creates lot of stress.

2.       Sometimes, young girls are unable to cope up with the physical changes and managing menstruation with all the associated discomfort, pains etc is too big a challenge till they get adjusted.

3.       Blame it on raging hormones for mood swings, sulking, a craving for privacy and temper tantrums

4.       Some may worry excessively about: school performance; appearance/ body image (too short, too tall, too fat, too skinny or too pimply); popularity; not having friends; drugs and drinking; Oversensitive - (Belief: “Everyone will laugh at this baseball sized boil on my forehead.” Reality: The pimple is tiny and hidden by hair.)

5.       Thoughts far from reality can contribute to feelings of loneliness and isolation. Teens’ emotions often seem exaggerated. Their actions seem inconsistent. It is normal for young teens to swing from being happy to sad and from feeling smart to dumb. They are similar to the “terrible twos toddlerhood. “They want to be treated and taken care of like a small child in next minute they are pushing adults away, saying, ‘Let me do it.’ Or their earlier enthusiastic greeting hugs can turn into a wave or a smile or pulling away from the parent.

6.       Mental changes or cognitive changes happen in this phase.  Their logical reasoning, ability to solve complex problems and understand abstract concepts are higher. They are able to think better through problems and see different points of view or actions. Their application ability which is very high, again varies, they may not apply many things on themselves. That’s exactly how they begin to anticipate how their parents will react to something they say or do and are always ready with an answer or explanation.

 Who am I ?

Ability to identify themselves also called identity formation starts beginning, accompanied by identity confusion as well. This is one of the most essential phases where they explore range of identities. If this exploration is hampered, then all possibilities that they develop depression, anxiety related disorders later. It is best to allow individuals to discover themselves even if it means allowing them to falter. Lot of emotional clashes and adjustment later in life is a result of over protection in this phase.

My friends are everything

Adolescents have more affinity with their peers or cohorts. They are more likely to have greater association with peer group, want to be recognized by peers, want to emulate them. This is one of the reasons why good set of friends with good habits become important.

They seem to have lesser association with parents, since they are in state of identity confusion. Is my friend correct? or my father/mother? They are likely to try out the friend’s way rather than any advice from a parent.

They detest interfering parents. However, peers do not replace parents. Parents are still most important influence in their life. Hence parents need to be more like friends, overview if the peers have good influence, get to know the friends & their families, discuss with them about good company and bad ones.

What are the problems that I am facing? How do I solve them?

Habits get developed in 21 days. 100 days are required to set habits as life style.  Positive self-talk is the most essential mantra for the solution options listed.

1.      Health Problems

Having seen the development challenges and emotions that have not been expressed to anyone, health problems are bound to spike with mental health issues also.

·         Read books on physical development or talk to people, approach any counsellor if you are hesitant to speak to family member instead of holding on to assumptions and fears.

·         For both underweight and overweight, eating nutritious food with proteins pulses, grains, eggs etc, fruits & vegetables.

·         Move your body to keep healthy mind.  Walking, Jogging, Cycling, Swimming, Yoga. Play outdoor games for 1 hour. You need to sweat. This helps balancing the growth hormones, body weight and keeps mind happy

·         Cleansing mind and body – breathing, daily bath, keep yourself and surrounding clean are most important activities.

Just do:  Eat right, Move More, Breathe Easy

2.      Poor Concentration, Slow learning and Poor Memory

Some of the symptoms are:  No Motivation, Attraction and Distractions TV/Mobile Friends,

Worries and Tension, Emotional Distress, Ill Health

        The rays of the sun, when focused upon an object with a sun glass, produce heat many times greater than scattered rays of same source of light and heat. This is true of attention. When you focus your attention upon an object, your every voluntary and involuntary action, is to obtain that object. If you can focus your energies upon a thing, excluding everything else, you generate the force that can bring you what you want. Refer to Part 2 of how Subconscious mind works.

Some of the exercises that you can do:

1.       Mindful breathing - Begin with 5 mins. Focus on breathing in left and exhaling through right. Be aware of the air flow.

2.       Controlling Desires: Treat yourself after you have achieved a set goal, until then stick to the schedule of accomplishing the goal. “ಹುಚ್ಚುಕೋಡಿ ಮನಸು ಅದು ಹದಿನಾರರ ವಯ್ಯಸ್ಸು” Smartly and diligently tutor the mind to divert the desiring thoughts to later time.

3.       Sleep: Adequate 6-7 hours’ sleep will help the mind to relax. Relaxing mind will help retain the required information in the memory.

4.       Techniques for retention:

a.       Mnemonics – creating meaning full word of list of things to be remembered. VIBGYOR (Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red)

b.      Create a story/poem by linking all key points ( Ex: Mother Saw Father Wearing The Turban Suddenly– for the Rahu kala time 1.5 hours calculation starting with 7.30 am on Monday, Saturday, Friday etc)

c.       Chunking – group related key points in a group. Ex: remembering 10 numbered telephone number 3-3-3-1 (944 662 062 9)

d.      I hear I know; I see I remember; I do I understand – Audio, Video, Practical. Listening to teachers, audio recordings. Create colourful images in notes to remember (Geography, Biology). Some of the experiments, doing practically will never let your memory down or teaching someone is a way to remember.

e.      3 R : Read, Rehearse, Recall-  Read for 45 mins and write notes of key points. Within 48 hours, rehearse or re-read the key points and Recall them. Sometimes do read aloud. Discussing with a friend is another way of rehearsing and re-enforcing concepts into the memory.

f.        Mirror Talk: Recall or teach an imaginary student in front of a mirror. That is the best way to learn-correct the reading method. You will understand your learning errors.

g.       Use both left and right brain – While studying for academics do forget to draw, paint, sing/listen music, read nonacademic books. Keeping both active is most important for rewiring the brain network and encoding the new learning.

 How to use the mind?         Part -2

In the last article, we just understood various aspects of mental health, symptoms and factors contributing to unstable mental health, significance of maintaining healthy mind and all of what we can do to maintain stable, healthy mind.

In this article, we are going to focus on using the mind in effective way to improve and maintain healthy mind.

 Powers to achieve our goal

We have 2 powers to achieve our goal. 1.Muscle 2. Mind. Ex:  Porter is one who needs to use lot of Muscle power. A Teacher is one who needs to use Knowledge to share. Surgeons need skills in operating humans while the Innovators need ideas to build creative products. Based on the requirement, one needs to invest time and energy to strengthen the power for efficient and productive usage.

The physical form of the mind is the brain. We will currently focus on the mind. In future articles, we will also see how the current trend in the world of technology is mimicking the brain and trying to use maximum power of brain, which is called as Artificial Intelligence.

The mind comprises of the following components:

The power with which we think is “mental dynamite,” and it can be organized and used constructively for the attainment of definite ends. If it is not organized and used through controlled habits, it may become a “mental explosive” that will literally blast one’s hopes of achievement and lead to inevitable failure. —Andrew Carnegie

Having seen the above components of the mind, we need to agree with Napolean Hill who said – “ Whatever mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.” Which is why it is so important for positive thinking. This is the basic principle in enhancing the good and stable mental health.

 

States of Mind Conscious

Mind comprises of 2 states.

Courtesy :https://www.yourvibration.com/2943/iceberg/

1.       Conscious State: The state of immediate experiences Ex: mind that is working right now - while I am writing this or you reading this line etc. Only 10% of mind comprises of this state of mind.

2.       Subconscious State:  The stored memory which is not conscious but can be brought to conscious state. Ex: What did you have for breakfast today ? The response can be brought from memory to current conscious state. This state is around 90% of the state of mind.

Prof William James from Harvard University said – “Even the most successful people use up to 10% maximum of their mind power.”

Conscious part works only when we are awake while Subconscious state works all 24 hours, making things happen based on our habitual thinking.

Conscious state is responsible for setting goal, Subconscious mind achieves the goal.

Benefits for using subconscious mind

1.      Build Self Confidence
2.      Reduce Anxiety, Fear and stress
3.      Kick in your choice for execution
4.     Heal oneself
5.    Unleash your full potential for effective living,
6.    Stable, healthy mental state
7.     Scientific way of relaxation
8.    Law of attraction
9.    Power of thoughts, belief
10.    Problem solving

How must we use the mind?

Some of the techniques that are practical and in vogue are :

1.       The full potential of a person is unleashed only if maximum mind power is utilized. Conscious mind is the director, the subconscious mind takes the orders based upon what conscious mind believes. The subconscious mind is the executer of the body. Ex: If the body is aching, if we keep thinking about the ache, the ache keeps increasing.  Hence it is important to do positive self-talk almost always for wonders to happen in our lives. Technique called as Visualization or Mental Imagery is very useful.  Olympic Gymnastic players are trained in this technique to imagines completing in ‘x’ secs during their practice sessions. Ex: If you have exam anxiety, start practicing deep breathing, relax your mind and body, imagine that you are entering the hall, reading the question paper, you are able to recollect answers for each question, able to write well within time and able to come out of the hall. This should become a habit, since the rehearsal would have cultivated into a habit, the real exam would have become familiar and whether or not you are able to answer all questions. Of course, answering all questions will solely depend on your preparation & recollecting!!

2.       To remove discord, confusion, lack, and limitation, the cause has to be removed and not think about changing environment and circumstances. Cause is the thought and imagery happening in the conscious mind. Ex: If there is a traffic jam, getting irritated is of no use, the situation is not under our control, if the cause of irritation like, am I feeling tired due to delay? or is it some urgent work that has suddenly cropped up? Based on the reason, one can start on the problem solving or solution approach. The intelligent, conscious mind will suggest various options. Argumentative method - reasoning where you convince the patient and yourself that his sickness is due to his false belief, groundless fears, and negative patterns lodged in his subconscious mind

3.       Look within for answers.  The subconscious has the answer to all problems. If you suggest to your subconscious prior to sleep, “I want to get up at 5 A.M.,” it will awaken you at that exact time. Sleeping technique – relax body, mind, in the sleepy state, repeat the change that you want to see in yourself, slowly for about 10 mins. This is like inducing the subconscious mind

4.       Affirmation technique: To affirm is to state that it is so, and as you maintain this attitude of mind as true, It is belief(thought) statement towards health, harmony, peace for oneself or others. Never think or say “I can’t do it” or “I can’t afford it” for a cause which has virtue of its own, or that which doesn’t affect anyone negatively. Sentences and imagination should be that things happen according to how positively, effectively that you desire. Subconscious mind can’t reason like conscious mind. As we sow the conscious mind, so we reap the benefits.  All things that have happened are based on thoughts impressed on our subconscious mind through belief. The constructive, harmonious thoughts should be frequently repeated for the subconscious mind to accept, leading to new and healthy habits of thought and life. To get the subconscious to work for us, we need to keep conscious mind busy and habitually positive thinking. Ex: If for no reason somebody says that you are looking sick, pale, it is up to your conscious mind to accept or negate with logic. The negative suggestion should have no power on you to accept.

5.       Prayer asking with a belief and hope is positive thought. It is affirmation with strong belief that your request to God will be fulfilled. Also, thanks giving is acknowledging that affirmation is fulfilled. The hope increases, positivity increases and this becomes a habit of positive faith.

All of the above requires some kind of knowledge to the mind. To acquire that, we need to read books, seek information on media of the same kind. Be in the company of positive people, since observational learning is the quickest and most effective ways of learning. Keep practicing till the skill is developed.

Conclusion

Our Patanjali, Yoga Exponent of 200 BCE spoke about – “When you are inspired by some great purpose, all of your thoughts break their bonds, your mind transcends limitations. Consciousness expands in every direction. You will find yourself in a new, wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents are unleashed and you discover yourself to be far superior a person than you dreamt to be. The best examples are Ms. Jessica Cox (first armless pilot), Ms.Arunima Sinha( first female amputee to scale Mount Everest),  Mr.Barack Obama and his brother Mr. Malik Obama (healthy mindset and attitude of Barack, while is brother is still sulking in Kenya), Dr.Abdul Kalam ( from newspaper selling), Shree Narendra Modi (from tea selling) etc

 

                         Understanding Mental Health and its significance

What is Mental Health ?

In simple words, Mental Health means feeling good about who you are, having balance in your thinking, feelings and behaviour or actions.

Mental Health - According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is “a state of well-being in which

a)      the individual realizes his or her own abilities,

b)      can cope with the normal stresses of life,

c)       can work productively and fruitfully, and

d)      is able to make a contribution to his or her community

It is a state of the individual at the emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. An individual is said to be in good mental health, when, one is able to

1.       adjust internally - has self-confident, able to resolve one’s conflicts without stress, has ability to adjust to changing or new environment, less inconsistencies

2.       The internal adjustment has to be done also in a social frame work which has its own value systems with both culture and tradition.

 

Why is good mental health important ?

Positive mental health enables individuals to

1.       Utilize full potential. This is the ultimate state that one aspires as per our Indian philosophy.

2.       Coping with stress. Environment keeps changing either for good or bad. We should be able to handle with ease or at least able to become resilient in our journey of growth.

Resilience - the ability of each of us to "bounce back stronger, wiser and more personally powerful." - Nan Henderson.

3.       Work productively. Each individual needs to have goal to keep one self-motivated. The goals should be high, so that the process of achieving the goal is the learning and development process in life. It is essential to keep stable mental health to prioritize and meet the goals.

4.       Meaningful contributions to society. Individuals and Society are inseparable entities. We can help others only when we have helped ourselves. Purpose of life is achieved by drawing satisfaction by contributing towards communities and needy.

 

Early Symptoms of unstable mental health

List is exhaustive. Some of the prominent symptoms are below:

1.       Eating or sleeping too much or too little

2.       Pulling away from people and usual activities. Social shyness.

3.       Having low or no energy. Feeling tired, no motivation, procrastinating, inability to perform daily tasks like taking care of your kids or getting to work or school

4.       Having unexplained aches and pains. Psychosomatic diseases or

5.       Feeling helpless or hopeless. Unable to get into solution mode.

6.       Smoking, drinking, or using drugs more than usual

7.       Feeling unusually confused, forgetful, irritated, angry, worried, or scared

8.       Yelling or fighting with family and friends

9.       Experiencing severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships

10.   Thinking of harming yourself or others

11.   Hearing voices or believing things that are not true

 

Factors influencing mental health

Factors influencing or affecting mental health is right from the child birth, growing years of development, through adult hood, old age until death. Example: we do find people with good mental health through out do get into depression during their last stages of life.

Let us see some of the significant factors

1.       Life Style : Healthy life style is most important with good eating habits inclusive of balanced diet. Adequate sleep. Hygiene factors in keeping not only physical body but mental state with positive thinking and mindful thinking.

How do we sustain the healthy life style ?  The coping techniques focus attention to proper diet, exercise, sleep, prayer, avoiding use of abusive drugs, relaxing, break monotony, entertaining oneself, hobby etc. Build good support network by building healthy relation with family, friends and relatives for emotional support.

According to Parashar (2000) unmindful modernization is proving to be a curse for the health of Indian people. Almost half of the Indian population is suffering from some physical disease or mental disorder. Apart from hypertension, diabetes, Cancer on rise, the mental disorders of depression, anxiety, insomnia, schizophrenics are increasingly rising, Cases of personality disorder and adjustment problems are also on rise. One of the main factors responsible for this situation is the faulty life style we have chosen in the name of modernization.

2.       Nature and Nurture. Genetics – Some of the disorders are carried through genes from parents, their siblings and grandparents from both sides. The family environment (Nurture) significantly contributes on its own as well. If there is a single abusive parent, parent using substances, conflicts and aggressive environment at home will create impact during the development stages of a child. The symptoms or outburst of unstable mental health is shown during adolescent ages. Ex: Depression and anxiety are some of the prevailing disorders that are on high rise.

Sometimes, any trauma or abuse can significantly impact the mental health of an individual.

3.       Emotional Regulation: One must have the ability to recognize and modulate one’s own emotions. Ex: feeling sad overtly more than 1 month over an issue or even grieving a death of a closed one for more than 6 months such away that daily living is affected, diagnosed commonly as depression.

4.       Flexibility: Ability to revise a course of action in difficulties or obstacles or adverse events, change one's own ideas with new evidence, and adapt to changes in different life situations, is an important requirement to mental health maintenance.

 
How should we maintain or develop good Mental Health ?

1.      For a normal good mental health, following are most important to follow:

a.       Thoughts are what drive us. In Sanskrit, “ Yat Bhavena tat Bhavathi”, which means what happens is same as what you think. Think positive, behaviour and emotions follow the thoughts.

b.      Being self-aware of limitations, strengths and feelings.

c.       Work towards a goal, this keeps individuals motivated. Be clear on the needs

d.      Dwell and Act in the present, not to rake the past or think of future. Plan for future for fruitfully investing in life.

e.      Ability to let go things not under one’s control and give oneself to the fullest potential on things that are under control.

f.        Life skills such as problem-solving skills, Communication, maintaining adequate social relationship, empathy, humour etc are most important.

g.        Lastly, the elderly individuals need to demonstrate care and guidance for next generation. This phase does come in the age of 40+, where desire for one’s own achievement reduces but giving back to society increases.

h.      Positive mental health is not just being a joy to others but also experiencing well-being, facilitate self-care with positive contentment. Important positive emotions are love, hope, joy, forgiveness, compassion, faith, awe and gratitude.

Conclusion

Building resilience is primarily most important in the life cycle. Child development becomes responsibility of every parent in providing good environment, enabling child to get into healthy life style focusing on balanced development on physical (body), cognitive(intellect), sociological(relationship) and psychological(thoughts) aspects.

The Adolescents and Adults can do course corrections through observation of their role models in various facets. Elderly population can focus on their last stage of their cycle by giving back to society in whatever way they can. Purpose and connection to bigger things outside ourselves boosts our mental health. It gives us a good perspective and meaning to our lives.

Finally, one can always seek help and support from counsellors for getting back to normalcy. Effective treatments and interventions that are also cost-effective are now readily available. Maintaining good, positive and healthy mental health is the greatest contribution that we can give back to ourselves, our families and our society.

 

                                                About the Author

Smt Meera is a Computer Engineer, who held various senior positions in IT top companies. She chose to follow her passion in Counselling and Psychology. She has an MA in psychology and a certified counsellor at Prasanna Counselling Center. She is a NIMHANS certified Life Skills trainer. She volunteers at Youth for Seva in Life Skills workshops, Career Counselling, Adolescent counselling for college and high school students. She has conducted workshops for employees and managers as part of Organizational counselling.

She can be reached at meera.sathyamurthy@gmail.com