In our everyday life, no one is devoid of problems, but a few take a moment amidst their problems to take care of themselves. Yes, people want to be happy, cared for, and loved. But as we grow older, our problems increase and we end up losing ourselves. Let’s get straight to the point. What I want to talk about is mental health and why it is so important.
Why do we need to be mentally healthy? Some people even ask this as they tend to forget that health means not just being physically fit. People still think that mental disease is not a disease but a state of being possessed by something supernatural, and people believe such things blindly. Good mental health is akin to being free. Being free of worries or being able to remain peaceful no matter what hurdles block our way, is a sign of a truly healthy person in my opinion. But no one can be perfectly healthy as we are just mortal beings. Nevertheless, we can be comparably healthier, if we take some measures even if we cannot be perfectly healthy, mentally or physically.
What I have just implied is that we need to be free to be happy, thus becoming healthier. Being free of worries, cravings, or fear of any criticism, and desire for any admiration, is a sign of a truly free person as per what I have understood from my experiences. What I’m also saying is, the mind, the body, and the soul; all three need to be in a good condition for us to be truly free. The mind must be healthy, the body must be healthy, and then the soul must be content. But rarely that happens, as we are infected by one thing or the other, and either the mind gets damaged, the body gets diseased/wounded, or the soul is scarred.
Let’s talk a little about what I mean when I say, ‘the soul’. We know that people meditate, exercise, travel, donate, and do a lot of things that end up making them euphoric and content. That is really important to make us see the hopeful side of our lives, which brings out the good in us and the good in others. But the problem is people rarely want to do these things often. People just want to enjoy, live in luxury and satisfy their desires, be it indulgence in sex, gambling, intoxication or food, and so on. Whatever raises dopamine, people indulge and start making excuses to escape from reality. Some even gloat and show off, thinking they are superior to others and fool themselves into that they are happy. Little do they know that happiness comes from within. Either you meditate (and make it a routine) to stimulate your senses and develop control over emotions and thoughts, or you travel; take a walk; go someplace peaceful and beautiful, donate to needy people, or pursue your passion. All those things help make us free, content and satisfied overall. Meaning our soul is healthy. Even being loved and cared for, fills us with joy and increases our passion for spreading more love. And that, most call God, which I want to define as the soul. So, we must never tarnish our souls, with evil intentions, temptations, or puny desires, as our soul is the life force we rely on. Sigmund Freud, however, claimed in his theory of Psychoanalysis, that our psyche (composed of id, super-ego and ego) is the soul. Meaning, our mind and soul are the same. We can relate to this as well; our conscience comes from our mind, but also from our soul. Carl Jung, who founded Analytical Psychology, and was a contemporary of Freud, also somewhat based his interpretations similarly. So, we can say that our mind plays a vital role, regarding our perceptions, and emotions.
Moving on, ‘being healthy’. This brings a core concept, which requires taking measures to prevent diseases, be it in the body or the mind. Yes, a healthy body is very important for us, but our mental health is just as important. A friendly atmosphere, helpful souls who help us forget our traumatic experiences, a positive outlook towards life (to build which, people are given counselling), peaceful moments every day, and friendly surroundings; all of which are necessary for us to be happy and then mentally healthy. Being free, and being happy, takes us to a whole new level of confidence and builds and empowers us to tackle our problems. And then, no matter how big our worries are if there is at least one person who listens to us, we become free of worries, and insecurities. But that doesn’t happen often; we get disappointed. Some people expect too much, some trust too much, some love too much with extreme attachment, and some may even hate too much, which only builds up tension in our minds, when our expectations are not met. Some people are bullied often or have been in the past, some have been tortured and abused, some are ignored, and some do not find anyone to talk their hearts out to, all of which ends up making those people feel helpless, worthless, or alone. Some experience traumas through loss, while some through separation. While some people face these problems later on, some of them face them in their early stages of life. Physically or mentally abused ones have trauma that can grow a lot more if left unnoticed, and people end up suffering from anxiety, depression, mania, sleep disorders, eating disorders, and many more. If we can care for mentally unhealthy people or people who are alone or needy, we might be able to save them from the worst. The least we can do for them is listen to what they may have to share and lend a helping hand or give a shoulder to rest their weary heads.
Some people have become disturbed by external things, while some by internal factors. Some are affected by other people’s actions, while some from their own. Some have been influenced by bad people with bad intentions, such as thieves, robbers, criminals wanting to make easy money, murderers, rapists, human traffickers, drug dealers, most drug addicts, and most alcoholics, while some have had their trust broken, all of which can leave a bad impact on a person’s mind. Some succumb to bad company and situations. But some resist too. Some start doing crimes for money, power, or even pleasure, some start substance abuse in their adolescence or even earlier, and some develop a sense of hatred towards any individual or community, due to any traumatic experience they have had; all these reasons are responsible for making people’s minds gloomy, dark, and unhealthy. Some are addicted to gambling, some to drugs and alcohol, some to sex, some to money, and many more addicts exist, who care only about their cravings, pleasure, and desires, and disregard the grievances of people they might have stomped upon. And all these make a person conceited. These people develop disorders in life certainly at a point. Heredity is another factor responsible for mental disorders in people sometimes. But as I said earlier, his/her company is more responsible for changing a person. But there are other factors too, which I have not yet talked about. A person’s preferences; like the music they listen to, the books they read, the movies they watch, the food they eat, and the list is long if we go on. Another is his/her routine.
Yes, food, along with an organized routine is also necessary for a healthy mind. There is a concept of three qualities of energy, which we call ‘Guna’ in the Eastern Vedic philosophy; them being Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, which are directly linked with our food, routine, and thoughts, which result in the actions we do. Sattva is the quality of purity and virtues and is associated with knowledge, conscience, and wisdom. Morning activity increases Sattva and a Sattvik diet is a diet that benefits us, such as fruits, milk/curd, grains, and vegetables. Rajas is the quality of action and passion. Daytime activity increases Rajas and a Rajasik diet is not necessarily harmful to us but not useful to us as well. Rajasik food is distinguished by a matter of taste and those that are addicted to tasty food have a high level of Rajas. Tamas on the other hand is a quality of pure negativity and is associated with ignorance and lethargy. Night-time activity increases Tamas and a Tamasik diet is a diet that usually harms our bodies and fills us with negativity, such as meat (which comes through killing) and intoxicating things like alcohol, and many more. This relates to our modern-day world well, as there is more nightlife and less spiritual practice. People long back would wake up at around 3 or 4 a.m. and would go to bed a couple of hours after it got dark, which few people follow nowadays. And people focus more on taste than health and spend on expensive liquor on every occasion. Understanding these things will surely help us understand why there is so much chaos in the world nowadays and so much chaos in our minds.
Now, after analyzing all the points above, I think it is okay to assume that optimistic thoughts and positive actions make us mentally healthy. And yes, people have agreed to it and acknowledged it to be true. But still, people divert from these, and that poses a big problem. Reading or watching Tragedies, Horrors, and Crime stories, usually explicit ones, make us unstable most of the time, and that is true. Yet some enjoy these, and most of the so-called sociopaths and psychopaths have these things in common, which I think is because of the building up of negativities. How negative thoughts build up, as we have already discussed, I have a few more modern-day examples. Like listening to Death Metal, Hardcore Rap, and other music emitting negative vibes; preferring grotesque art; watching (or also engaging in) uncivilized porn stuff, hunting or killing animals, and anything that takes us closer to negativities will make it worse, as only those things will remain fascinating for us. Then all the pure, serene, virtuous, and innocent things, we will want to ridicule.
Economic crisis, the need to compromise safety and only facing dangerous challenges, will also destabilize a person. But when they feel they can’t find any shoulder on which they can rest their heads, they take blind and drastic measures even when there are people who care for them. A similar thing happened to a close person of mine right after the Covid pandemic. He could no longer bear it, and his life ended unexpectedly. He had forgotten the family he cherished, his responsibilities and dreams had all been washed away by the hands of pain and gloom. It is in these hard times that we must support one another and take notice of our dear ones. So, listening to and being able to convince people to share their stories, is an important skill in life to help another. Some people are so lonely, that they become whimsical and take drastic actions, which is what gives birth to tragedies that we must prevent. I don’t want such tragedies to happen to anyone. Thus, the need to develop good communications skills with empathy, rather than sympathy.
What can we do to help ourselves? And what can we do to help others? And yes, we have to discuss these things often and we have to be open about mental health, as people don’t like to talk about their mental issues or illnesses thinking it will pose a big problem in the future. Practicing Yoga/meditation, reading inspirational stories, listening to good music; such as classical music and other uplifting music that grabs a good ambience, watching beautiful views like sunrises and sunsets, going travelling to a place filled with natural beauty and greenery, painting or observing paintings with warm ambience, being engaged in productive and creative activities, not overthinking, and sharing our feelings and thoughts to a close person. All these things help us ease our minds. Similarly, people diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, Schizophrenia, and other complex personality disorders, need to take measures to make themselves healthy and must be guided to do so by those who need to take care of them and make the family environment healthy as well. Meditating, engaging in creative activities like art, music, and literature, reading and learning, keeping oneself busy doing something, and also consulting a good knowledgeable and experienced psychiatrist, introspecting for self-examination and reflecting, and socializing, are some ways to keep oneself mentally well. To not keep the feelings bottled up like people earlier used to, will help people a lot. People should be willing to help others as everyone needs help, so we should be ready to listen to family, friends, and even strangers for we might be of help to them too. And rather than focus on the past (which is already out of control) or worry too much about the future (which is still unknown), we must make effort for utilizing the present. Not trying to say that the past isn't useless, as learning, experiences, knowledge, wisdom, these all we have gotten from our past. And future is also very important, as many things such as duties, dreams, and countless other things, need to be fulfilled and things that had gone wrong, need to be fixed, but thinking too much about what we have no control over, only makes us more anxious. We need to look at our current steps which we need to take now, in the present. A vision is needed, for the future surely, but not a vision same as the past but by learning from the past and reconstructing and strengthening the vision, so that the present moment will be well utilized and only then will the future be better than the past. We might need to think about the future too, but not as much as the present as it will decide the future. We only need to know what is important and what is not, what is right and what is wrong, and cherish the present, and cherish all life, and cherish what we have, and cherish the Truth. Gratitude, Wisdom, Love and Compassion, along with Hope, are the keys I think and feel.
To conclude, we need to open up and remove the stigma we feel we have, and we need to remove the discrimination and taboo regarding mental health. As everyone must be mentally healthy to make a healthy society, we must take measures to make ourselves, as well as others around us healthy. If listening to someone a little helps them, why not listen? If sharing a little really helps someone, why not share? So, let’s make it easier for everyone to talk about their mental problems and issues, and let’s make it easier for people to get access to mental treatment, and good treatment. There really is no health without mental health. We must support these agendas, and if there are no initiatives, we must also be ready to take initiatives. We must have hope within and spread love as well, meaning we must keep a positive outlook toward life. By being true to the self, and being unaffected by others’ perceptions of us, we can differentiate what is right from wrong and act accordingly, and we will not need to fear any judgement from anyone then. Lastly, a smile is the best medicine for the mind, and it is only possible to really take advantage of this medicine if we embrace love and compassion and walk the path of Truth which is also considered to be the real essence of the soul by great spiritual scientists and sages that have walked the Earth!!
-Sachét
(Published in "The Rising Nepal": Friday Supplement; under the changed name "Ways to stay healthy and happy". As the article was too long, the editors had to edit and omit many parts for their ease, and the short, incomplete version was published, and the article's name was changed as well.)
