IN THIS BLOG
IN THIS BLOG
- What is Mental Health ?
- How Easily is the Heart Affected by Mental Health?
- How Can You Reduce the Risk of Deteriorating Your Well-Being?
- How Can You Reduce the Risk of Deteriorating Your Well-Being?
- When Should You Seek professional Help to Maintain Mental Well-Being?
- Improve Your Mental and Physical Well-Being with Psychological First Aid
Mental health remains a vital component of your complete well-being, including the health of your heart. The facade of happiness during the holiday season often masks the challenging emotions that come with celebrations. In fact, 52% of Canadians report increased levels of anxiety, depression and isolation during the holiday season. The holidays may intensify negative emotions if you already experience depression or anxiety.
What is Mental Health?
Your emotional and psychological state and social well-being are part of your mental health. It involves how you think, make choices, act, and feel. Mental health issues affect peoples’ moods, thinking, behavior, and how they relate to others. Whether long-term or short-term, studies have revealed that mental health issues like depression, trauma, and anxiety place intense stress on the body, particularly the heart.
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How Easily is the Heart Affected by Mental Health?
Several mental health disorders increase the risk of heart disease. These include mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder because of their daily effect on the mental well-being of the sufferer.
Anxiety disorders, especially when people fear certain situations or objects, also severely strain the body and the heart. Some anxiety disorders include social anxiety, phobias, general anxiety, and panic attacks.
Traumatic life experiences and the resulting post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) place severe stress on people, as does chronic stress.
The physiological effects of all these conditions include an increased heart rate and higher blood pressure. It also means that their levels of cortisol increase while the blood flow to their heart decreases. These changes to the heart can lead to hardening arteries and heart disease.
Furthermore, people with mental health issues often have an increase in riskier behaviors like an inactive lifestyle, smoking, and not taking prescribed medications as they struggle to find coping strategies. The less healthy their lifestyle choices are, the more their risk for heart disease increases.
Finally, some medications for mental health disorders can increase the risk of heart attacks, obesity, diabetes, stroke, etc. Maintaining a healthy routine may seem difficult when facing a mental health issue, putting your heart health at risk.
How Can Working Out Help Improve Mental and Physical Well-Being?
Studies continue to prove that regular physical exercise reduces stress and positively affects mental wellness. Walking, yoga and swimming, team sports, golf, and dancing are just some ways for people to increase their self-confidence, improve their sleep, and reduce depression and anxiety. These activities also increase the desire to participate in more social interactions.
The key to improved mental health is finding a physical activity you enjoy and practicing regularly.
How Can You Reduce the Risk of Deteriorating Your Well-Being?
Unfortunately, mental health issues often lead to social isolation and loneliness, linked to an increased risk of heart disease. Therefore, they need to find activities that increase their social interactions.
Community work, developing a hobby, connecting with others, especially family and friends, and joining an exercise class or sports team are all excellent ways for anyone to increase their social interactions.
Besides physical exercise, you should also practice mindfulness to promote mental wellness. It would help if you learned mindfulness in your everyday life to help you reduce stress, feel balanced and connected, and help you sleep. In addition, research continues to show that practicing mindfulness may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
There are numerous ways to practice mindfulness, including breathing exercises, meditation, and physical relaxation techniques. Moreover, this exercise of the mind requires that you practice being fully present at the moment without overreacting or feeling overwhelmed in situations.
When Should You Seek Professional Help to Maintain Mental Well-Being?
Managing stress and anxiety alone is often difficult. If you have included mindfulness and exercise in your routine but still find it difficult to relax, you need professional support. First, seek help from your family doctor or a psychologist. Once you start talking about your problems with someone, managing your mental wellness issues often becomes much easier.
Improve Your Mental and Physical Well-Being with Psychological First Aid
Emotional distress is not visible like physical traumas. However, its effects are just as serious to individuals after a life-altering event. Psychological first aid focuses on providing early interventions in cases where people suffer from stress or trauma, particularly when faced with traumatic experiences. Situations that create mental distress and require psychological first aid include war, infection outbreaks, natural disasters, etc.
Helping people reduce the negative implications of these types of disasters with an evidence-informed approach empowers them to cope as they return to their everyday lives.
The goals of psychological first aid are to create an environment where individuals can feel safe, calm, comfortable, connected, self-empowered, and hopeful. Psychological first aid is not a degree but a skill you can learn to offer support to all age groups and all professions, including emergency personnel and first responders. Psychological first aid training is only available for private training.
