HOW TO BE EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY
Emotional health is a piece of mental health that deals with the ability to know and manage positive and negative feelings, thoughts, and emotions. Emotional health is a vital part of your overall health.
You know you are emotionally healthy when you have a sense of control over your feelings, thoughts, and behaviours. You can keep the problem in perspective and pull through stumbling blocks. You can cope with challenges that come your way, feel good about yourself, and relate well with others.
Having sound emotional health doesn’t mean you do not have problems or challenges or are always happy. No! It simply means you are aware and can deal with the positive or negative emotions arising from these challenges.
Emotional challenges are real. Not sure if you are having any emotional health difficulties? Experiencing one or more of the following emotional states can be an early symptom:
- Eating or sleeping excessively or insufficiently.
- Regressing people and common activities.
- Little or no motivation to do anything.
- Feeling emotionless or like nothing counts.
- Having mysterious aches and pains.
- Having a sense of helplessness or hopelessness.
- Substance abuse such as drinking and smoking.
- Feeling oddly disordered, oblivious, edgy, irritated, distraught, anxious, or terrified.
- Unnecessary shouting at or fighting with friends and family.
- Going through acute mood swings that cause difficulties in relationships
- Having insistent thoughts you can’t get out of your head
- Thinking of hurting yourself or others
- Inability to perform daily tasks
These and many more are early warning signs that you might be having emotional issues. However, you do not have to be in that same state permanently. Here are steps to regain, maintain, and improve your emotional health.
- Live a balanced lifestyle: A balanced diet is essential to your physical health, so is a balanced lifestyle for your emotional health. Do not allow your work to eat into your personal life. Ensure your social life doesn’t take too much of your emotional real estate. Be moderate in every activity –rest inclusive. A balanced life will help your emotional health.
- Eat and sleep moderately: To live a balanced life, you must eat a balanced diet and have a regular sleep pattern. Lack of sleep and an inadequate meal is not only a sign of emotional illness but can also cause emotional illness and further damage your health.
- Connect with people: Withdrawal is one of the symptoms of emotional illness. Connecting to people is one good way to stay sane. Stay connected to family and friends by spending quality time with them. If you have the means, you can see them face to face. Virtual connection is a valid option to stay connected even when distance is a barrier.
- Exercise: You need to be both physically and mentally fit. Engage in physical and psychological activity to improve emotional health. It does not have to a very long or hard. A few minutes of jogging, walking, or simply dancing is enough for the day.
- Pick up resilience strategy: Quickly recovering from a bad experience is key to your emotional health. You must learn how to bounce back easily and fast whenever you have a setback. The lesson will help you properly manage stressful situations and difficult emotions. A plus is that the things that help you become more resilient also help improve your emotional health.
- Be aware of yourself: Self-awareness is one of the ways to be emotionally healthy. You must know what makes you emotionally stable or unstable. You have to remove yourself from things that upset your emotional stability –anything that makes you sad, angry, or frustrated. Self-awareness will also help you to manage stress. It will show you to desist from some actions, people or thoughts.
- Think before you act: Never put the cart before the horse. Get control of your thoughts because they guide your actions. Give yourself time to think through the situation before you say or do anything. This will help you on your way to becoming emotionally healthy.
- Find purpose: Frustration usually comes when there is no goal, or the goal is feasible. You have to figure out the things that are essential to you. That will be your purpose. Your progress towards achieving this goal is enough satisfaction. This goal also gives your life meaning. The goal may be a combination of your work, family, charity, a milestone, or something meaningful to you.
- Express yourself: Sometimes, mental illness does not physically manifest until you speak out. If you are down or feel bothered about anything, speak up. Let people close to you know that something is up. Bottling up your concerns and feelings will do you no good. Speak to someone before the problem eats you up or escalates into something else. To get adequate help, you need to express your feelings appropriately. You can also consult experts about your situation.
- Meditation: Meditation is one of the most effective ways to put your emotions in check. It is a great tool for your emotional health as it is a good way to manage stress. Meditation is a focused type of guided thought. Meditation is often paired with other physical stress busters such as tai chi and yoga. You can also include deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and deep breathing. Practising this a few times a week can go a long way to keeping you emotionally healthy.
My word of advice to you: Keep yourself away from anything that could cause you emotional harm. Learn to say “no”. It will help you a long way. Do not bite more than you can chew. If you cannot handle it, do not do it. Ask for help if you think you can manage it but if it has a hint of stressing you, leave it.
Taking care of your emotional health is as essential as staying mentally and physically healthy. Sound emotional health will help you manage whatever life throws at you.
To speak with any of our counsellors at Light House Counselling, call or whatsapp +2348060286476.
We provide 5 different types of Counseling ranging from Marriage and Family Counselling, Educational Counselling, Rehabilitation Counselling, Mental Health Counselling, and Substance Abuse Counselling.
We have professionals and we provide affordable services.