Why is Mental Health Awareness Important? 10 Examples Why

Well-being and mental health awareness is the foundation to building a happy, successful and fulfilled life.

Mental health awareness is important as it can drastically impact someone’s life inertia. Mental health issues can cause relationship problems, issues at work and can also limit someone’s potential to live a healthy and fulfilled life. Being aware of mental health does not have to be a daunting task.

In this article we’ll go through 10 examples of why mental health is important, tips to start becoming more aware of it, helpful tools and more.

10 Examples of Why Mental Health is Important

Did you know that your mental health impacts everything and everyone in your life? Your finances, loved ones, goals and even physical health are all impacted by the state of your mental and emotional well-being. Here are a ten life changing reasons why being aware of your own mental health is so important.

Reduces Anxiety

Being aware of triggers that cause anxiety is helpful not only to avoid them but also to learn about yourself. Understanding what triggers your anxiety as well as why can help you get to the bottom of any reoccurring anxieties you might constantly have.

Personally, when I started therapy, just knowing that I was being proactive about my mental health and working toward eliminating areas that causes stress and anxiety gave me a sense of instant relief. I soon realized that I tend to create anxiety for no reason.

This has to do with a lot of underlying limiting beliefs and confronting it lead to helping myself out in other areas that I wasn’t even aware of.

Improves Sleep/More Energy

When you’re in a good place mentally, your body will be able to make the most of the sleep you’re getting. When mental health issues are being addressed, the quality of sleep improve, but many people find that they have more energy.

This is due to improved sleep but also because when the weight of mental health issues is lifted, daily tasks seem less draining. People have often experienced a renewed sense of energy and excitement for their typical days. It is not uncommon for exciting new breakthroughs and changes to come as a result of this as well.

Better Relationships

Being aware of your mental health is great for improving relationships, as well as creating great new ones. Especially if you’re looking for a long-term romantic relationship, taking care of your own mental and emotional well-being will help significantly.

Being aware of and understanding what makes you “tick” is a great tool to have. It will help you communicate better and will allow your partner to understand your needs. Also, will give you peace of mind that you’re doing everything you can to build a solid, safe relationship.

More Work/Career Success

It’s a fact that happier people attract better things into their lives. The same goes for opportunities and success in both love and career. In order to be happy you need to feel supported, excited, rejuvenated and as if you have all the resources you need to make your goals a reality.

Being aware of your mental and emotional health and taking active measures toward your well-being is the foundation for your own happiness. While you can experience some happiness while experiencing mental and emotional instability, it is sure to be long lasting, if you prioritize your mental health practices.

Often, mental health starts with physical health. A healthy diet, some exercise and other healthy habits (such as not smoking and limiting alcohol consumption) will all have a huge impact on your mental health. If you’re dependent on substances, it might seem like a scary and/or dauting thing to become healthier. However, there are resources and support system in place that can help you achieve that.

Boosts Immune System and Prevents Disease

Paying attention to your mental health and doing things reduce stress and anxiety not only feels good but it could literally save your life. A continued release of stress hormones have been known to cause depression over time.

Also, when you’re constantly dealing with stress or things such as depression and/or anxiety, it can take a serious toll on your immune system. When your immune system is weakened, your body won’t be able to fight off infections and disease as well. Unfortunately, this has the potential for someone to contract an infection when they might otherwise have been able to avoid it.

In some cases, the immune system can be so weak from a poor state of mental health that your body might not be able to withstand any sort of infection which could lead to a fatality.

Healthier Weight

Weight gain is a common result of poor mental health. Often, this is because people tend to use food as a way to comfort themselves.

Also, when mental illness is experienced, hormone levels might shift to an unhealthy, irregular level. Changes in hormones have been known to inhibit metabolism from properly functioning which could cause weight gain as well.

Improves Empathy

It is not uncommon for someone who has struggled with mental health issues to go on to help others through their experiences. Acknowledging whatever mental/emotional issue you’re going through and being proactive about it can help someone really understand what other’s might be going through.

Someone’s behavior can say a lot about them, but it can also say a lot about what they’re going through as well.

Can be Better for Your Bank Account

When mental and emotional health issues are being properly dealt with, that usually means people are making healthier choices. This could be less self medicating with food or alcohol, eliminating a shopping/gambling addiction or quitting smoking.

All of these things can also significantly improve someone’s financial well-being. If this is the case, you could pay off debt faster, afford a new car, take more vacations or any other positive financial related goal that you’ve always wanted to do/experience.

Increased Personal Happiness and Fulfillment

Something amazing happens when you finally start taking steps toward improving your overall well-being. In my own experience, I’ve experienced less resentment toward others and an empowered self of self. All of that happened just by deciding to commit to my mental and emotional health more.

Some days you might find that you do more for yourself than other days. Personally, being aware of my alcohol consumption (I love red wine and a good craft beer) and consciously limiting myself has made a huge difference – and in ways I didn’t expect either.

Just making small changes in this one area have improved my self-esteem, decreased anxiety, have forced me to find healthier ways to relax which in turn keeps my mind quieter. I’ve even experienced less guilt for random stuff that I probably should never have felt guilty about in the first place (but hey, I’m an overthinker and I’m working on that). I didn’t know this in the past but the effects of alcohol last longer than you feel it. It can actually trigger anxiety to occur the following day – for me, that was life changing information.

Less Crime

Less mental health issues would result in less unhappiness/disorders which means there would be less crime. Aside from being interested in mental and emotional health topics, I’m also a bit of a true crime junkie – like many other women my age tend to be.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that most heinous crimes are being committed by people with some serious mental health problems. The majority of the time a criminal has experienced some sort of trauma which leads to a disorder developing, among other issues usually.

Such disorders as multiple personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, narcissistic disorder and paranoid personality disorder are typically results of severe trauma and abuse which usually took place when the individual was a child.

While I’m not excusing the criminals who commit horrible acts, the fact that it all may have been prevented if they were aware of their mental health and sought proper treatment fascinates me.

Imagine how different the world could be if everyone took more responsibility for their mental and emotional states of mind!?

Tips to Becoming More Aware of Your Mental Health

1. Notice what upsets you

It might seem obvious to some, but for others, knowing what upsets them and why is not so clear to some. Once you are able to observe things that typically upset you or cause stress, you can hone in on why that might be, analyze it and take helpful action from there.

For example, if you’re busy at work and loud noises keep annoying you to the point where you want to throw your computer out the window, stop and ask yourself why that is. It might be because you feel like you can’t get organized enough to focus on one thing at a time. Maybe you need to switch up your schedule to give yourself more room to comfortably create a reasonable to-do list for the day.

When you’re already anxious and annoyed, there’s nothing less motivating than feeling like you have 100 things to do and don’t know where to start.

2. Observe what you dislike about others

It’s true that people project their own insecurities through the judgement of others. If there is something that you always find yourself criticizing in other people, chances are you’ve got something relatable buried inside of you.

Perhaps you always judge the way people look? It might mean there is an opportunity to improve your own self-esteem or self-worth. There could be several underlying reasons hidden behind a certain thing you might dislike about people in general.

3. Make time to do nothing

Getting to know yourself requires a lot of self reflection. This means that you have to be comfortable with yourself when there are no distractions.

Reading a book related to self-help, mediation and going for a long walk (with no distractions such as music, texting or talking on the phone) are all great examples of things you could do to start tapping into your subconscious.

4. Ask yourself questions

Something as simple as asking yourself questions can help you become more aware of your mental health too. Here are a couple examples of questions I’ll ask myself whenever I feel I need to:

• How am I feeling right now?
• Why do I feel stressed?
• What can I do to eliminate stress/discomfort/anxiety?
• Do I need to be more patient?
• Am I doing everything I can to feel supported?
• Am I being dramatic or is my frustration justified?

Extra tip: I also tell myself helpful affirmations such as:

• I am guided, supported, blessed and loved.
• It is okay to not feel okay right now.
• Just because I feel sad/depressed, does not mean that something is wrong.
• I am capable to achieve all of my goals.
• My current anxiety is a useful tool what is urging me to “insert what you need to do“.
• “Insert topic of frustration” does not really matter and it’s in my control to change it.

Helpful Tools

There are several resources available to help with everyday mental and emotional health struggles. Here are a few that are highly rated:

Panic Away – Program on how to stop panic attacks and end general anxiety.

Anxiety attacks and dealing with anxiety in general are one of several difficulties that come along with a variety of mental illnesses. Panic Away is a program designed to eliminate the root of your anxiety to help you achieve a higher quality of life. Check it out HERE to see if it’s right for you!

Mosaic Weighted Blankets and Accessories – A variety of top of the line weighted products.

Weighted blankets and accessories have been known to help ease a number of mental and emotional health symptoms such as anxiety and depression. Check out the quality weighted products from Mosaic HERE.

OnlineTherapy.com – 20% off your first month of online therapy plus a full toolbox including extra supportive activities.

Online therapy can help with any emotional and/or mental health issue you may be struggling with. Getting started with a certified therapist is easy with OnlineTherapy. If you’d like to start online therapy with a certified therapist you can get 20% off your first full month with this special discount link!

Mental Health First Aid Course

Get the training and the tools you need to be able to help someone experiencing a mental health crisis. Sign up for training HERE.

Best Self – Journals, Planners and other Personal Development Essentials

Working toward your mental and emotional well-being is the first step in influencing the best version of yourself. Best Self offers a variety of journals, planners and more, to help you organize your thoughts and reach your personal goals. Check them out HERE and start working toward your best self, mentally, emotionally and/or physically, today!