Mental health is often something that gets sidelined in our daily lives. Taking care of our hearts and minds is however, vitally important, since a breakdown in our mental health can have disastrous consequences.

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PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN THE CURE

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Mental health is an issue that is best managed by you maintaining your mental health and taking care of your emotional needs regularly, rather than ignoring problems until they become bad enough to cause you some trouble.

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It may seem troublesome to take time to maintain your mental and emotional well-being, but this time and effort is well worth the benefits of preventing a lapse in your mental health.

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A mental health issues can result in any number of consequences, ranging from something mild like ultimately having to take more time off work, to something serious, such as having a chronic low mood and feeling depressed for a prolonged period.

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It is far more preferable to prevent something like this happening, rather than trying to treat it once it has happened.

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HOW DO I KNOW IF SOMETHING IS WRONG?

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When you fail to take the time and effort to look after your mental health, you may start to notice some signs and symptoms of deteriorating mental health after some time.

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This happens when the stresses of your daily life slowly overcome you, and you start having mental health issues and mood issues. These problems may seem mild in the beginning, but they can slowly grow to become serious issues.

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Poor mental health and chronic stress can cause problems in yourself, and in the way you interact with others.

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Most of us may notice the effects of poor mental health in our mood first. You may notice your mood becoming very low, and you may feel very sad, or ‘low’ through most of the day. You may also feel that you do not take pleasure in the activities that you once enjoyed doing. Some people may even feel hopeless in their daily lives. You may also find it difficult to focus during the day, and the people around you may complain that you are becoming very forgetful.

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Poor mental health also takes a toll on your body. You may start to feel chronically tired, even after a night’s rest. People with poor mood also start to experience various non-specific issues in their bodies - they may get frequent headaches, bouts of stomach discomfort, nagging aches and pains in joints and muscles, and episodes of weight gain or weight loss.

 

People with these medical complaints arising because of mental health issues may often be told by their doctor that there isn’t anything seriously wrong with them and their blood test and X-ray examinations may be normal, although these symptoms may be quite persistent and bothersome.

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Our mental health also affects our sleep. We may feel tired all the time, because of the ongoing stress in our daily lives. We may try to sleep for prolonged periods to make ourselves feel better, but may often find our sleep to not be very restful or restorative. We may also notice ourselves developing insomnia, and being unable to fall asleep at night, or waking up early and being unable to go back to sleep.

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Of all these issues, I’ve found that a common one is actually that you may feel very lethargic and tired though the day. You may want to rest and sleep for prolonged periods, but you may also find that your sleep isn’t very restful. People with these symptom often complain that they just need a good, long nap to feel better, although their symptoms may recur soon after, because of their underlying mood issues.

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Mental health issues can also affect your interactions with those around you. You may notice that it becomes more difficult to maintain relationships with your loved ones, or make new friends, because you don’t have the mood or energy to engage socially with other people, or because you may find yourself feeling temperamental and snapping at those around you over minor issues.

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If you notice any symptoms like these, it’s time to take some time for yourself, and get your mental health back on the right track!

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MENTAL CARE REQUIRES TIME AND EFFORT

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Maintaining a healthy mind and emotional state is often not difficult to do, but it does require time and effort, on a consistent basis.

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You need to set aside the time to review your thoughts and actions, meet your friends and interact with them, exercise regularly, indulge in your hobbies, get enough sleep, and so on and so forth. The list of things you can (and should) do to safeguard your mental health is an extensive one, and we’ll take time time to slowly explore some things you can do to look after your mental health.

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If you’ve very busy and find it difficult to take time for yourself, try to remember that your mental health affects every aspect of your daily life, and is worth taking care of. You can start by setting aside one day in the week to catch up on your rest, and spend a few hours on that day doing what you enjoy, before taking the rest of the day to meet family and friends, or run errands.

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WRAP IT UP!

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Taking care of your mental health requires time and effort, but it is absolutely essential for you to safeguard your mental health. Actively take care of your emotional and mental needs. Don’t wait until there is an actual problem before trying to fix it!

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