Puja entered the kitchen to take her lunchbox and adored her mother Lata who was humming a song.
“She sings in any situation”, exclaimed Puja while patiently gazing at her.
Lata chuckled and asked her, “Are you wearing two different colored ribbons?”
Puja lovingly replied, “Yes Ma, I like both the colors, so I am wearing them together.”
“Okay, as long as you are happy. Take your lunchbox” while handing out the lunchbox to her daughter, Lata gently kissed Puja’s forehead.
In school, Puja feels miserable looking at her classmates and expresses sadness.
“Nobody talks to me. I am probably not worthy to be a part of their group. They all have such fancy tiffin and eat lunch in groups. There is no one to share lunch with me.” Saying this she sat in the corner of the class and started crying.
At that time, Puja’s class teacher just walked across the window and saw her weeping. She said, “Hi Puja, would you prefer to join me for a walk outside?”
Puja agreed and as they both were strolling out, her teacher immediately asked her, “Are you okay, dear? I see that you are upset. Is everything alright? To that Puja replied, “Mam, I do not have any friends. I feel all alone when I see them talking to each other, playing and singing songs. I feel I can never be a part of their group. Nobody wants me around. Nobody talks to me nor shares their tiffin with me. How can I improve my mental and emotional health?
Her class teacher pacified her and explained to her saying, “Puja I am proud that you are able to express your emotions. Your mother has packed nutritious food which is better than having a fancy tiffin box. I can understand that it must be challenging for you sometimes but you have the skills in you to respond to these situations in a positive way. You are not alone. Choose your way to manage these emotions.”
“My mother tells me to sing a song whenever I face difficulty in managing my emotions and I feel better,” said Puja wiping her tears.
During the lecture, her class teacher made an announcement that their school was organizing an Inter-School Singing competition and asked that if anybody is interested to participate, they need to sing a few lines now in front of the class.
Many students came and rendered their singing skills. The teacher called out to Puja and asked her whether she would like to share her talent with the class.
As soon as her name was taken, she started sweating and feared what other students might think of her.
She hesitantly got up from her place and while she was arriving in front of the class, the students started making fun of her.
“Look at her hair. She is wearing two different colored ribbons, how stupid of her.”
At that time, Puja thought to herself that her mother is so kind and supportive.
She mustered the courage to sing and crooned beautifully while remembering her mother.
Her classmates astonishingly looked at her. Puja managed to face her challenging emotions. As she stood out in her class, she stood with the same energy in the Inter-School Singing competition and won.
Knowing and managing emotions is very important. Like our capacity to see, hear, smell, touch, and think, our capacity to feel is equally important for self-awareness.
The ability to talk about feelings is important in adolescence when teenagers face emotional pressure.
HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE YOUR MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH?
Whenever we feel depressed, we often find asking ourselves this question “How can I improve my mental and emotional health?”
Our mental and emotional health is important. By taking charge of it, we can feel happy, more positive, and are in a better position to get the most out of life.
Research shows that there are five simple things we can do as part of our daily lives to boost our mental health and well-being.
We need to inculcate this in the minds of students from a young age in order to improve their mental health.
Below mentioned are five ways to well-being:
- CONNECT: Connect with those around you like family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors.
Look forward to spending significant time with people each day. Instead of sending an email, make an effort to talk to someone.
Speak to someone new, ask how someone’s weekend was, and really listen when they talk to you.
Arrange a catch-up with friends. Join a club or group of people who share a common interest. Building strong connections will support and enrich you every day.
- BE ACTIVE: Indulge in physical exercises by going for a walk or run, stretching, cycling, stepping out, playing games, do some gardening.
Most importantly, do some physical activity that you enjoy and that suits your level of mobility and fitness.
Being physically active every day causes changes in your brain which can positively affect your mood. Exercising makes you feel good.
- TAKE NOTICE: By taking notice means being present in the current situation. Pay attention to the world around you-nature, people, your thoughts, and feelings. Be curious. Notice the changing seasons, savour the moment. Becoming more aware of the present moment and reflecting on your experiences, it will help you appreciate what matters to you.
- KEEP LEARNING: Learn new skills and information about the topics that interest you. You can inquire and research something new. Re-discover an old interest or sign up for a new course, take new responsibility at work or learn to play a musical instrument, try a new recipe. Set a challenge you enjoy achieving. Learning can make you more confident and boost your self-esteem-it can also be fun.
- GIVE: Giving is about small acts of kindness for other people. It can be your time, patience, words, or a smile, the smallest act can count. Think of doing something nice for a friend or your family, make a cup of tea for someone, sign up for volunteering, and donate to charity. Giving back to society can create positive feelings and will enable us to be more satisfied with life.
HOW DOES EXERCISING HELP WITH MENTAL HEALTH?
We all know that exercising is beneficial. We hear it all the time that we should exercise because it is good for us. But, what does it exactly mean?
What a lot of people are not aware of is the effect that exercise can have on a person’s mental health.
-
- Exercise is proven to reduce day-to-day stress, increase happiness levels and lower the levels of sadness and loneliness both in short term and long term.
- Exercise can prevent depression and anxiety disorders and in some cases can even be more effective than psychological and medication treatment.
- A study also found that running for just fifteen minutes a day or walking for one hour can reduce the risk of major depression by twenty-six percent.
So, why does exercise have such a positive effect on the body?
Exercises boost the production of endorphins in your body, which are the hormones that help you relax, feel more pleasure, feel less pain, and reduce cortisol (stress-producing hormone).
Exercise produces more dopamine and serotonin which are chemicals responsible for making you feel happy.
HOW DO IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE?
Work is important to our well-being. Not only does it bring us income but the workplace can give us the opportunity to be productive and can be good for our self-esteem.
When we are mentally healthy, we bring productivity to our work. But, when we are struggling with our mental health, it can cause a big impact on our ability to work and relate to others in the workplace.
Now with Covid-19, the world is learning to live a new life and build community and work, which can heighten feelings of frustration, anxiety, and stress.
It is important for organizations to lead with mental health in mind by creating a supportive space for teams.
Before Covid, almost sixty percent of the employees never spoke to anyone at work about their mental health status. Many are not aware of the resources available or are afraid to use them.
Organizations need to ensure that their employees understand and make use of the help that is provided to them.
In conclusion, the way to improve your mental and emotional health is to always remember that you are not alone and you should share your feelings. You have love and support, your mental health and emotional well-being matter a lot.
Feel free to reach out to us for counseling and psychotherapy sessions from our trained psychologists, and psychotherapists.