Mental health is truly a serious matter. We don’t see it, but we can definitely feel it. And these feelings linger, affecting the way we work and love ourselves and the people around us.
It is truly a good thing that the world is now more open to discussions about mental health. This is in part due to the fact that more and more famous people like Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande have been brave enough to share their mental health battles with the world. As a result, resources are now being allocated for research on the subject, and there have been significant breakthroughs.
Among the most significant discoveries are psychological medications that help lessen or treat the symptoms of some mental disorders. There are now selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs that help flood the brain with serotonin, the neurotransmitter that is said to be responsible for feelings of contentment. This helps reduce the sadness felt by those who are depressed.
In addition to those, there are also food supplements that help improve emotional well-being. A good example is ProbioMood from Pure Encapsulations.
In addition to supplements, we also need other types of support. Human beings are social creatures and are sensitive to traumatic events. Here are some social factors that affect a person’s mental health below.
The social environment might be the cause of the mental problem
In many cases, the mental disorder is triggered by an event in the immediate social environment of the patient. They might have gone through a bitter breakup. One of their children might have died. A source of income might have been shut down by external forces. There might be constant bickering in the patient’s household. Even rich celebrities are not immune since they live in a world where they are constantly judged even for the slightest of mistakes.
Such negative events could understandably shake up anybody’s emotions. And they need to be addressed properly so that they won’t have the same debilitating effects on the patient anymore. So, aside from treating the patient, there must also be intervention for the people that they are living with. The breakup has to be processed, and if possible, closure must be reached. The death of a beloved must be accepted so that proper grieving can commence. The conflict within the household must be resolved, even if it means just agreeing to disagree.
If we don’t take care of the stressors in the social environment, the patient will end up in a bitter cycle of recovery and relapse.
Social support is needed for recovery
Quite frankly, our personal resources are too little to cope with the gravity of the events in our lives. We need reinforcement, and this comes in the form of social support from the people who we consider important. But in some cases, this support is absent, forcing us to face our problems on our own with whatever internal resources that we have.
If we are to truly recover and keep mental issues at bay, we need to build up our social support. Obviously, this requires the explicit cooperation of friends and family members. Their words of encouragement or even just their presence during our most difficult times are already a big help in keeping us sane.
Social support is very important in keeping us mentally healthy. However, we have this self-defeating tendency to downplay its contributions or even ignore it altogether. It’s now time to recognize the role of good social support not only in treating but also in preventing mental issues.
