How to maintain good mental health

Accept yourself


Much of the popular psychology and self-help books highlight the maxim "love yourself". And in fact it is not at all a bad idea. The severe aversion to oneself, in fact, is often associated with an extreme sense of guilt, shame and depression. For this reason, for mental health reasons, it is essential not to underestimate the weight that believing in one's own abilities holds and to value one's uniqueness. It is true, in fact, that it is not uncommon for people to lead inauthentic lives defined by homologation with others who strive to accept. Self-acceptance is a crucial ingredient for triggering motivation and positive emotions, while accepting oneself even leads to greater acceptance by others. Accepting oneself, however, does not mean that one claims to be perfect, on the contrary ...


Always seek self-determination

The feeling of having control over decisions is critical to mental health. In despotic, punitive or dominant environments, the sense of importance and freedom is put to the test.

Sometimes it is necessary to adapt to the wishes and values ​​of others. In these situations, it is still possible to maintain a sense of self-determination if one tries to find a meeting point with the environment and circumstances. What happens if you want to paint your house with a bright purple, but the municipal decrees are not willing to issue the necessary resolutions? In the event that the public officials give consent to the lavender color, you will probably be able to tolerate the denial more willingly. Rarely (if ever) the peremptory directives on what to do or what to avoid are welcome.

Stay connected and nurture relationships

Sometimes it seems like modern lives are lonely. Screens or all computer screenshot screenshots all day, isolated

Sometimes it may seem that with modernity the big problem associated with deep loneliness has diminished. Everyone moves quickly in the car or they stay hypnotized to the computer screen all day, isolated from other people and busy with the details of their lives.

In these times of mega-cities and super-suburbs, it can be difficult to stay close to friends and relatives. Despite these conditions, there is considerable advantage in striving to maintain a proximity attributed only to people who really matter. The massive use of mobile phones, the Internet and social media on the one hand could be a clear symptom of how the desire to stay in touch is becoming more and more rooted, but on the other hand it could also reveal the problem deriving from the method adopted for success: fragmented and hectic.

Being always surrounded by friends and family is undoubtedly beautiful, but it is beneficial only if the relationships also seem to be qualitatively good. Some people are eager to distance themselves from groups of acquaintances or fake friends.

Feeling emotionally connected and supported by one's relationships is just as important, if not more important than simple proximity.

Human beings need to establish intimate relationships on which they can rely in the most difficult moments, they feel the need to have a trusted life partner with whom to share interests and ideas.

Always offer a helping hand

When one goes to meet the next in times of need, one often feels a strong sense of mastery over one's potential and the ability to manage the circumstances of life as one feels like investing one's energies in favor of a positive change at the level of social conditions . Offering your help benefits not only for those who receive it, but also increases the well-being of those who are inclined to offer it.

Find a meaningful goal in striving to achieve your goals

The feeling that life has no meaning and that everything is useless is a typical symptom and a distinctive depression. One of the drawbacks of modern society is the sense of alienation that can result from working day after day and ending up working to start working again in order to be able to take home the salary as a reward, the only reward.

Having goals that give meaning to one's existence is fundamental to mental health.

Indeed, research has shown that the process of development and investment in one's goals is as important as the goals themselves.

Sometimes the objectives are particularly difficult to achieve, so disappointment and disappointment arise and this creates a deterrent to the idea that setting goals as the purpose of one's existence is crucial. The only goals that are really useful for the mental health and psychophysical well-being of the subject are the realistic and meaningful ones.

Find hope and keep faith


Recent research shows that having a deep sense of spiritual faith can serve as a protection when you are faced with moments of loss, illness or psychological disorders. When everything appears dark, the hope and optimism towards the future and the possibility of achieving goals form the basis for maintaining mental and physical health.

Being pushed and supported by a positive aura helps to overcome fear by maintaining high motivation and being protected by one's own character in the society in which we find ourselves acting is like putting a filter on the vision of reality that makes everything a bit more beautiful.

What is certain is that if the pessimists claim to be more in contact with reality, clinging to small positive illusions that sweeten the everyday can not be a bad thing.



Find your flow and get involved

It often feels, in professional sports circuits, "being on the piece" when good results are obtained.

The Flow or Flow is the term that defines the experience of feeling totally involved, engaged, absorbed and concentrated in an activity. Living a happy life is a matter of constant learning to maximize and control the inner experiences that are lived and feel harmoniously engaged in activities for their own sake.

A piece of Buddhist wisdom teaches: If you are thinking of resting while sweeping the floor, you are not really living life as it is. When you sweep, it sweeps. When you rest, rest. Find the flow!




Enjoy the small joys of life

The ability to appreciate beauty is classified under the domain of aesthetics. The world we live in is brutalized by terror and negativity: wars, diseases, violence and degradation are all around. Which seems depressing and this is unquestionable, but it is precisely for this reason that being able to appreciate what is beautiful gives us life becomes a saving grace to be found on a planet so often victim of human ugliness.

The experience of beauty is an intimate and personal event, something that no one outside of the person who experiences it can define it in the same way. You can experience beauty in front of a famous painting or you can get excited by the beauty of the sun's rays that cut through the clouds. Even imperfection can conceal beauty, as well as incompleteness, and this is especially true for practitioners of the "wabi-sabi" doctrine derived from Buddhism. Finally a excuse not to clean the house!



Fight to overcome you; learn to let go

On the great path that is life it is normal to meet challenges and adversities. Being able to tackle them in a profitable way is the fundamental element for achieving and maintaining a state of optimal mental health and psychophysical well-being.

Each individual has a set of personal skills and techniques to cope with stress and adversity. Among the useful tips it is certainly to take an active part in the problem solving process, maintaining a certain degree of control in situations where this is possible and remaining involved passively if it is not.

Dealing with an active coping implies putting in practice a series of actions aimed at improving a given situation such as finding a job when you are fired instead of resigning yourself and being persuaded that you do not deserve an absolute job. In such circumstances, it is important to act in a consistent way as this attitude improves the results of the treatments and acts in concert with the factors that lead to psychophysical well- being and to the mental health.
The passive coping however, involves psychological and emotional acceptance processes. When a loved one is missing, for example, the path of the imputable which arouses a reaction or that which sees the subject busy diminishing the feelings of loss and sadness, is feasible, but the path from which it is impossible to escape is the path of acceptance towards an irreversible event.
Accepting reality when it is not possible to change it implies the achievement of a high degree of awareness and exemplifies the process of passive management of the situation, as happens in the case of forgiveness.



Do not fear change

Morihei Ueshibawrote is the author of a book called The Art of Peace. His secret to living a quiet life was the fundamental principle of Judo: go with the flow! When you are rigid and inflexible, you are more likely to experience resistance and strive to maintain your position. When you're flexible and willing to change a behavior that does not work, you're more adaptable and balanced.