The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. “Mental Health” was always included in the comprehensive definition of health given by WHO (World Health Organization). A complete state of health is not just an absence of disease but harmony as a whole individual. In Homeopathy, the idea of health is also identical.
How did we deviate from the path of complete health, and only circled physical health? I think we all know the answer to this question and I hope you understand that physical illnesses are more likely to be seen as a concern requiring solutions.
Mental health has never been a priority because it is invisible to the people around you. The disability is mostly confined to the sufferer rather than the community. It can be a reason for ignorance. Let me ask you a question and you should answer that to yourself. Have you ever paid attention to someone suffering from anxiety or to someone with acidity? I don’t mean that both bring the same intensity or level of suffering. But I mean to ask the level of attention and concern you had for them. Every disease is different in each person. We cannot put a number and scale on that.
What is Mental Health?
Mental Health is a state of well-being when you can function healthily for all behavioral, psychological, and social requirements. It helps you to live a balanced healthy life in society. Mental health is important at every stage of your life and it brings harmony to learning, decision-making, handling stress, relationships, and even our physical health.
World Mental Health Day 2024 is around the corner and it will be observed on 10th October 2024. The importance of mental health is well explained and might be felt by everyone reading this. We will celebrate it this year with a special theme “Mental Health at Work”. We spend a significant time at work which is 46 to 48 hours per week. If we don’t feel relaxed and accepted at our workplaces, it can heighten the levels of cortisol (stress hormone) in our bodies. This year WHO chose this theme especially to cultivate awareness among individuals related to work stress management.
What risk factors can affect your Mental Health?
Mental health is defined as a condition of wellness in which an individual can deal with the usual difficulties of life. This condition enables efficient production and significant inputs to society.
However, several conditions might impact your ability to handle life’s unexpected challenges. These circumstances may also disturb regular tasks and your ability to handle these changes. That is the sole reason why mental health is so essential.
Certain factors make you prone to disturbance in your mental health such as:
- Childhood Trauma: Having a history of childhood abuse whether physical, mental, or sexual will reflect in adulthood as any of the mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, personality, or mood disorders. The intensity of the symptoms or disease can vary in each person. Childhood trauma may be reflected in adults through substance abuse and drug addiction.
- Environmental factors: A person’s environment describes a lot about his or her mental condition. People living in healthy physical environments that are properly ventilated with good sunlight tend to have better mental health than those living in marshy areas. That also applies to the psychological environment. If a person is living in stressful surroundings, then it is going to disturb their mental harmony.
- Genetics: Studies have discovered that mental disorders have a hereditary component, but a mix of both environmental and genetic variables presumably causes it. Furthermore, some mental health diseases, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and depression, have a stronger hereditary component than others.
- Lifestyle: Your lifestyle might influence your state of mind. Smoking, having a bad diet, drinking alcohol, using drugs, and engaging in unsafe sexual activities can all cause psychological trauma. These habits have been associated with depression.
What are the early signs of Mental Health troubles?
Early detection of any disease can help prevent a lot of trouble and the same goes for mental health disorders. You can observe some perceptible signs and symptoms in yourself and others and seek help at the earliest.
- Avoiding friends, colleagues, relatives and others
- Considerable changes in personal hygiene and lifestyle patterns.
- Deviation in mood on extremes.
- Altered sense of reality and hallucinations.
- Increases or reduced appetite to the extent of anorexia or overeating.
- Disturbed alignment of thoughts and haziness of ideas.
- Sudden dependency on stimulants such as alcohol or tobacco.
What can be our approach to that?
In today’s competitive environment, we cannot eliminate stress but we can learn healthy ways to manage it. We all can have a better understanding and responses to our stressful stimuli. Let me discuss some of the easy ways to do that.
- Exercise: Whenever we want to achieve anything, firstly we need physical and mental fitness. At least 150 minutes of weekly exercise is recommended for a healthy body and mind. Exercise helps release the happy hormone dopamine which helps boost your immune system.
- Healthy Diet: As per studies, healthy eating habits and hydration have been linked to better mental health.
- Adequate Sleep: Lack of sleep is associated with negative health impacts. Getting enough sleep and a regular sleep cycle can enhance your overall health.
- Mindfulness: Being mindful of every daily activity is important. Practicing meditation with breathing exercises and focusing on your present moments will be healthy for your mental health.
- Practicing gratitude: Manifesting the power of gratitude is an important step towards your mental health. When you go to sleep always say one thing you are grateful for.
- Seek help: If none of the above is helping with your situation and you are mental health is not improving. Confide in someone you trust and seek the required help from professionals.
How can Homeopathy help?
Sometimes the therapy alone is not enough and you may require homeopathy medicines for a speedy recovery. Homeopathy has been clinically proven an important tool in cases of anxiety, depression, fears, insomnia, etc. These are a few homeopathic remedies that can help with mental health disorders.
- Belladonna: Belladonna is a delusional treatment that should be used when one experiences agitation, nervousness, or a desire to rip one’s garments. Such individuals tend to jump out of their beds and injure others around them. They appear to be afraid and see things as they close their eyes. Patients speak and behave with haste.
- Hyoscyamus: This is a remedy for extreme insanity characterized by sensory excitement and aberrant impulses. The patient continues to flee from an illusory opponent. They are extremely chatty and typically jittery.
- Cimicifuga: It is one of our most effective treatments for depression. The sufferer is enveloped in a drab, gloomy, and mental atmosphere. He or she is suspicious of individuals and objects that appear weird or out of place.
- Stramonium: This remedy is for people who are insane and behave most terrifyingly. They generally experience pipe nightmares in which they see rats, mice, snakes, and other monsters approaching him or her.
- Sepia: It is another treatment option for individuals who experience dull predictions about their illness, poor memory, and a sense of fragility and weakness. They are afraid of practically anything, are often discouraged, and fear solitude.
- Sulphur: Sulphur is a remedy for various mental problems, most notably religious sadness. They turn out to be anxious about their own lives. They are also easily distracted, and such people will pause for extended periods to consider how phrases are spelled.
- Cannabis indica: This treatment is for people who have heavenly intense dreams and fancies that are not possible in reality, yet appear genuine to the patient. A moment looks to be a long time and anything might seem hundreds of yards distant.
Conclusion:
In today’s time when stress factors are increasing exponentially, we need a more comprehensive approach to deal with that. The above-mentioned tips and suggestions may play an important role but if they don’t seem to work for you then seek help from a professional. Homeopathy can be a savior when taken from a physician.
Dr Aditi
Dr Aditi (BHMS) from NHMC Delhi, HMO ( Chandigarh Administration), Ex- SRF ( CCRH ), currently doing a research study of effect of Homoeopathic medicines in Mother and Child Health care in Chandigarh.