How It Affects You or People Around You.
Introduction: What is Mental Health?
When a person cannot deal with the everyday… When a person is angry, frustrated or saddened by seemingly mundane things in life. A person who may not find happiness even when they seem to be trying very hard, nothing seems to fill that empty hole. At times the new road, the new adventure is full of hope and optimism. However, that positivity is quickly destroyed by negativity, self-doubt and sadness.
When going out seems like an amazing idea, yet mental illness quickly sets in to create a state of mind that prevents a person from going.
How to Improve: Check your Mental Health
Sometimes mental health tips can help and quickly improve one’s state of mind. Other times they can do more harm than good. Not everyone responds the same way. This is what happened to a very close family member of mine. He did his best to cope with the struggles of every day but the negativity that hovered above him like a dark cloud was too much.
Resorting to eating for temporary happiness was one way of coping with the sadness, frustration and whirlwind of emotions that accompanied him. Frustrated with himself, terrible drivers and slow cashiers were some of his aggravations. Not being able to deal with stupid people was a whole other level of anger and negativity.
All these seemingly little things turned into big things. There didn’t seem to be a way to improve his mental health. The so-called tips to improve mental health didn’t work.
Mental Illness and the Workplace
Mental health at work was on another level. The immense amount of frustration was at a boiling point every day. Nothing worked out. There were no positive steps in any direction, a micromanaging boss and kiss ass yes-men were not helping his fragile mind. Workplace mental illness and work-related stress were at a breaking point. This may or may not have had something to do with him being let go from a very good position. We will never know if it was COVID related or not, but the end result was a dismissal,
Mental Illness in the Family
The worst part of all this was that there was no support from his bossy, entitled and emotionally unavailable spouse and very little support from friends. A very close sibling and a family dog were the only sources of happiness and laughter. When going home from work is worse than staying at work, what escape does someone have? Having a family member around with mental illness or depression is no fun for anyone, including the depressed person.
Conclusion: The Importance of Mental Health in Everyday Life
There is no quick fix here… The end result was to sign into a facility for a month that was ready to help and assist with his mental health. Heading into a place where one would be closed off from the outside world was very distressing. No cell phone, very little computer and telephone time are going to be stressful. Smartphones are much the same as a numbing agents or a painkiller.
Endless scrolling numbs the pain and like drugs, it helps one’s mind disconnect from the stress of the moment or the day. It is a Band-Aid and being buried in it is nothing but temporary. The mental health, the depression and anger all come crawling back bit by bit and slowly it all takes over as it did before.
The importance of good mental health and a healthy coping mechanism is something people take for granted. Sometimes one needs to take drastic measures in life to get better and to seek help before it is too late. If you know of someone dealing with mental health issues, please reach out and help as much as you can.
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Zsolt Zsemba 