‘There are three kinds of destructive beliefs that one should be aware of. These 3 beliefs can affect our mental health in a major way: unhealthy beliefs about yourself, unhealthy beliefs about others and unhealthy beliefs about the world.’
– Amy Morin
The notion of strengthening mental health is within you and how you respond to situations. Mental health is one of the least talked about things in a country like India and is still frowned upon. How many of you reading this article can tell your parents that you want to go to a therapist and they will be ok with it? The number is quite low and this is due to the stigma that our society holds against mental health.
In this article, we will go through the various aspects of how to enhance your mental health by making a few changes in your life.
1) Social media impact on mental health
According to the Pew Research Center, 78% of 18-24-year-olds use Snapchat, while 71% use Instagram, and 68% use Facebook. In addition, 94% of 18-24 years olds use YouTube and 45% use Twitter. This number is high but now some will argue what’s the harm in using social media? It is a place to connect with your friends and family. As per National Institute of Mental Health, Young adults aged 18-25 had the highest prevalence of any mental illness at 22.1% compared to adults aged 26-49 at 21.1% and aged 50 and older at 14.5%.
The above statistics are facts and now let’s get into why there is such an impact of mental health due to social media.
‘Social media is a palace of happy emotions, the only problem is that they are not real’
Social media is a place where ideally people should socially interact with each other. However, it is quite fundamental for a human to present its best, though in that process the human hides its negative emotions. Now, suppose you are going through a bad time, maybe you had a fight, a breakup, lost your job, now when you open your social media you see someone celebrating. However, it may be true that the person celebrating is also going through something.
Social media creates a myth of being happy and in the parallel subconscious make you feel depressed. This is due to the fact that the human brain draws a comparison with other people’s life. So, what should you do, stop using social media? No, all you have to do is accept the truth, a person smiling is not always happy and a person posting stories and posts celebrating out is not always euphoric. This acceptance can create a major shift in the way you use social media and keep your mental health in check. However, this should not be a partial acceptance of this fact, rather a full one.
2) The power of self-belief
The three beliefs that are unhealthy are: about yourself, others and the world. Now, the power of self-belief is directly related to confidence in one’s ability. You have to understand that every human is capable of doing anything he or she desires, all you have to do is work for it. Most people feel depressed because of one crucial factor: they don’t believe in them.
Now, this is a hack that no one really talks about which I am about to tell you, this will help you achieve your targets and keep your inner-self boosted with confidence. Imagine a graph, at the ‘X’ axis, put your target(the goal you want to achieve) and on the ‘Y’ axis you assess your potential to achieve that target. Now in order to be happy and satisfied, there should be a state where there is an actual equilibrium. If your targets are highly set, you won’t be able to achieve it and get demotivated. At the same time, if you are setting low goals, there would be boredom.
The great boxer Muhammad Ali is considered to be the world’s greatest, this is because of the power of self-belief. By believing that you can do great things is the only way to do so. Even Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’. Great people have saved this time and time again and now it is high time you should imbibe this quality in you.
3) The art of dealing with failure
The biggest trigger that pushes people into depression and a bad place is the feeling of failure. First, you have to understand, it is natural and necessary to fail. The notion that it is necessary to fail must be understood, you only fail when you try. A human who never tried isn’t a winner, he or she is the biggest failure among us.
‘A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.’
– Albert Einstein
Now, what is the definition of failure? It about loosing in a competition, having a small beat in life? Or even the more complex feeling that your life is not going according to you and you feel like a failure? Great words were said by great humans in this context. Failure is a temporary state which demands actions to turn in into success. By trying you never fail, you either win or you learn. The application of what you learnt must be applied to the next opportunity and you can finally seize it.
‘You never fail until you stop trying’
-Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a wise man figured it out very early in his life. The only thing that is responsible for failure is your ability to not try again. All you have to do when you have a setback is to make a note what you did wrong, don’t repeat it and try again.
Conclusion: These three factors are fundamental in order to enhance your mental strength. Social media occupies a large chunk of your time and hence it had to be stated the amount of effect it has on your mental health and how you should deal with it. The power of self-belief is a trait treated in personality development institutions which is not so hard to master, it is a psychological game that you must play. At last, the art of dealing with failure is one thing that would always be with you in life, if you master it, you would never fail.