And just in case you are wondering, mental health doesn’t mean the person is crazy or something
Mental health is like physical health
Just as you want your body to be healthy, we want our minds to be healthy too
The question is, what is mental health?
There might be several definitions of what is mental health whether it is from a psychologist, a doctor, or even from your best friend
I’ll use physical health again
Just like our physical health can be in a good state free from disease (or dis-ease), our mental health can be in a good state free from dis-ease too
And yet, once in a while, when our boy gets a cold or the fever, it can help to strengthen the body
Thus similarly, when we get a moment of sadness or anxiety, it can help to strengthen the mind too
Wait what? How does that work?
The basic idea is that all our emotions serve a purpose
And you might notice they all have an opposite to some extent
Love and hate
Happiness and Sadness
Anxiety and calm
And so on
What I want to share with you is this
If you never felt sadness in your entire life, have you truly felt happiness?
And can you appreciate happiness?
If you never dislike anyone, can you understanding liking someone?
From this standpoint, to my understanding, our emotions play a part in helping us appreciate the good and the bad
Now I agree, shit happens
So if you felt happiness before, and haven’t felt it in a long time cause you were sad, yes, you might be in a depressed state or a state of depression
But you see, you felt happiness before, and that’s why you know you are in a depressed state
Whereas if someone were to never have felt happiness before, they might wonder what happiness feels like, but they may not really be sad either
It’s more of a numb feeling
Let me share my story for a bit
Long story short, I nearly died in my sleep when my lung burst and started collapsing
I still went to school to deliver a presentation too!
Anyway, I’m now at the hospital and the X ray has shown that my lung had collapsed to the size of an egg, and the doctor said
“You will die in the next few days from suffocation or in the next few minutes when the air crushes your heart”
Doctor in A&E
And I collapsed to the ground, crying, seeing my life’s regrets and my life flashing before my eyes
Little did I know, that I developed a post traumatic stress disorder from this incident
The next 2.5 years in Ngee Ann Polytechnic was suffering
After every presentation in school, I had to run to the toilet
Because I’m having a physical, mental, emotional breakdown
I had this intense amount of fear, collapsing onto the sink, unable to move my body as my tears, mucus and saliva came gushing out…
Man… that was an horrible experience…
I subsequently fell into depression as I wondered why did God put me through such an ordeal…
Nobody knew by the way
Cause I didn’t tell anyone
At that time, I thought I had severe stage fright
*Awkward laugh*
Anyway, I’ve healed through the power of the mind
Through understanding how the mind works many years later in my courses of NLP and hypnosis
That’s when I begin to heal
And only when I realize how my skills could help others who are suffered like me
Then I started this professional practice as a hypnotist
Now I’m sharing this because I want to emphasize one thing
You can have moments of sadness and anxiety and it’s ok
That’s what I said in the beginning of this blog article
Cause they have the potential to strengthen your body
However, just like if you didn’t seek medical attention when you have a cold or fever
And your body’s physical health can deteriorate too
Similarly, if you do not take care of your mental health
Or allow such anxieties and sadness to grow and escalate
Then you might develop a mental health issue
Whether it’s an anxiety disorder or depression etc
However, if you experienced something traumatic like what I gone through
Then you need to seek the right help almost immediately
That’s my advice
And it doesn’t have to be me, it can be anyone that could help you recover fast
By the way, before I forget, how to tell when a small bit of anxiety is creating a big issue in your life today?
When it creates disorder in your life
When the issue is taking hold and preventing you from function in daily life, or at work, or in relationships etc etc
That’s why they call it a disorder
If you have reached such a state, then you need to seek help almost immediately
Because I didn’t recognise the signs (due to lack of understanding, knowledge and awareness)
I continued to suffer after my graduation at least another 3 years before I started my path to a healthy state of mind
So if you read up to here, that’s awesome
And then, I want you to look at your life and your state of mind
I want you to spend some time to reflect and be honest with your self
- What issues are troubling you right now?
- Whether they are emotional, physical, relationship issues?
- Can you do anything about each specific issue?
- If yes, what’s stopping you from resolving the issue?
- If no, why worry or fear about it?
And for those who want to resolve those issues that can be resolved, seek the right help almost immediately
You might have noticed I used ‘almost immediately’ instead of just ‘immediately’
Because you can only resolve those issues when you want to, and are ready to resolve them
And you may need some time to think about it
Alright hope this gave a couple of insights
And if you feel a friend needs these insights, do share this with them too
