Importance Of Mental Health

(by Khushi Meena , Class IX)

As rightly said by Maxime Lagace “Life gets better when health becomes your first priority”. Health is not only limited to physical fitness but also your inner stability, i.e.  your mental well-being. I define mental health as not only being able to handle stress, but also living a fulfilling life.

Mental health affects every arena of our life. Being a student myself, I think mental health is most important for us, students.  A good mental health is what helps us to deal with exams, extra-curricular activities, competitions, socializing, being confident etc., during our school life.

Especially during teenage years, the pressure to perform well in school may overwhelm us and causes us to overthink.  All these activities may drain us physically as well as mentally. It’s obvious that we are concerned with how we are perceived, and then, we end up comparing ourselves to others.

However, students can't always handle this stress, and sometimes it's quite difficult to recover. The hardest thing in such a situation is to ask for help. As a result, we tend to keep things to ourselves most of the time.

Many a times, when students experience bullying, sexual abuse or discrimination, they are not able to decide what to do, whom to tell and this may lead to overthinking and anxiety.

Therefore, it becomes imperative to prioritize our mental health and take a break if needed.

So now, what can we do about it?

1. Take deep breaths to calm your self and relax.
2. Meditation is an effective way to clear your mind and have control on your thoughts. Thus, meditate every day for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Physical health is directly linked to mental health. Being physically active helps us to distract ourselves from anxiety, stress and depression. Also it increases our confidence, helps in efficient working of brain which directly boosts our mental health. You can try yoga every morning, try a new sport or simply go for a walk outside for 30 minutes.
4. Spending time in nature improves our mood and overall health.
5. Sharing your emotions with anyone you trust, that person can be your parent, sibling, friend etc. Sharing your emotions is not easy as we sometimes fear of being judged, instead you can write journals and keep a diary.
6. Engaging in our hobby gives us joy and long term happiness. It is a good way to give time to yourself and declutter your mind.
7. Give yourself a me-time everyday and practice self-care. You can take a walk alone, go to your terrace, listen to music such as BTS (trust me they are very inspiring) etc.
8. Give yourself positive affirmations every morning and practice gratitude.

 Mental health affects every part of life; therefore to work efficiently we need a good mental health. Being mentally healthy also helps us to live our life to the fullest. We only get to live once, so make yourself better, embrace the change and love yourself. Remember life is tough but so are you!!