Mental health deserves real conditioning and taking care of – just like the entire body. Some disregard a lot of mental issue to stress and simply choke everything up to the need to relax. The truth is that you need to have more consideration of these issues. And while there may be several treatment options that can be chosen, knowing the causes behind them in the first place can help you decide on the best approach to treat these issues.

Having mental issues affect your everyday life, including the following:

• Ability to enjoy life
• Adeptness to balance diverse aspects of life
• Capability to develop and identify strengths and weaknesses
• Flexibility to express various emotions
• Resilience to recover from challenging times

One of the key factors that result in mental health issues is having an unhealthy lifestyle. Unhealthy lifestyles do not only provide physical effects but also mental ones. 

Amount of your physical activities

The activities you are involved in, as well as the exercises you do, affect your mental health just how they affect your body. In fact, there are some studies which demonstrate that physical activities are as effective as taking antidepressants. Exercise reduces muscle pain and caters to mobility and pain challenges. If you do not want to go to the gym, you can opt to go walking or running. Simple movements like taking the stairs and taking your dog for a walk may seem simple but they are enough to affect your mental health. They can help in providing the following benefits:

• Relieve depressive and anxiety symptoms
• Helps you to think clearly
• Improves your self-worth
• Adds structure to your day-to-day tasks

Present physical health and condition

Your mental state and health can undeniably be affected by your physical health. Face it, both your body and mind can never be separated from each other. If you have mental issues, it can reflect in your physical health. And if you have physical conditions, it is most likely that your mental health will be affected. Some specific conditions cause mental conditions like endocrine system disorders. These disorders can lead to depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders.

Social activities

Your community and social activities are able to contribute to and affect your mental health. Research shows that the value of friendship when it comes to people with mental issues is highly valuable. Simple friendship makes a big difference in mental health condition since people in isolation are considered to struggle more with mental issues than people who have an active social life. In fact, simply going out with your friends once a week can improve your mood and contribute to a healthier mental capacity. And this is even better when involved in larger communities.

Here are some examples you can try when it comes to socialisation:

• Go to volunteer work with a large group of people to help you feel more connected since altruistic behaviour is considered to be effective in helping you cope with everyday struggles. 
• If you are religious, visit church functions regularly (Research shows that religious people are happier).
• Find the level of socialisation that is just right for you and makes you comfortable.
• Start with a small group or simply a friend if you find it hard to socialise with other people.
• Choose to be with people who makes you feel good about yourself.

Romantic relationships

There are studies that show incredible advantages in mental health when a person is in a healthy romantic relationship. With a healthy romantic relationship comes the avoidance of anxiety and neurotic personality traits. Your relationship can give way to a sound and healing mental health.

Healthy sex life can also provide positive effects on your mental health. In reciprocation though, mental health issues could also create sexual problems in men,  and also among women. The key is to continuously find comfort in each other and try to ease your mental issues by using the factors that usually affect one’s mental health. A loving relationship can help mental issues. It is also important that you know how to control your emotions.

Work environment

Your work environment is highly possible to affect your mental health either positively or negatively.

Here are some of the questions you could ask yourself to evaluate if it is a positive or negative factor in your mental health:

• Are you able to genuinely connect with other people on your job?
• Do your supervisors and colleagues respect and value you?
• Can you handle the workload?
• What you can do in order to make a more positive presence at work is to combine mutual rapport to your very own personal drive.

Relaxation and meditation

One of the best methods in easing your mental issues is to use relaxation and meditation techniques. It is necessary to have a consistent meditation activity. Over time, meditation and other relaxation activities alone can help people heal their mental issues. In fact, simply breathing deeply can make a huge difference. Some of the positive effects of meditation are:

• Improves the ability to tolerate frustration
• Helps in controlling your temper
• Lends a hand in managing your anxiety

Healthy sleep routine

A healthy sleeping routine can influence your mental health just the same as it affects how cranky you get in the morning when you didn’t have enough sleep or how you feel frustrated when you struggle to get yourself out of bed.

The real key in a healthy sleep include:

• Regular sleep schedule
• Seven to nine hours of sleep every night
• Regular sleep-wake cycle

Final reminders

Our mental health can be significantly influenced by our own lifestyle. While professional help should be sought if you are suffering symptoms of a mental illness, there is much you can do to help yourself manage your condition along with any healthcare you may be receiving from a qualified practitioner.

Brian Adam is a researcher and adviser with a passion for men’s health and wellness.