Understanding The Importance of Mental Health

Mental health is a crucial aspect of people’s lives. How you feel about others and about yourself is determined by the state of your mental health. Your mental state affects not just perception but also your productivity, focus, and almost every decision you make. 

Student life is a transformative experience for most people, and being mentally unwell during this period can hinder growth. However, with all the stress and constant life-changing events, students are one of the most vulnerable groups regarding mental health issues. 

So, let’s dive into it in detail and understand the importance of mental health for students! 

Why is Mental Health Important for Students? 

Mental health is essential to living a healthy, functioning and fulfilling life. Like your physical health, mental health affects every aspect of your life. As a college or university student, your mental health affects your academic performance, social life, and how you see yourself. 

With deteriorating mental health during your academic years, even the most basic tasks may become frivolous, leading to procrastination and despair. Such factors can make life difficult for students and thus hinder a happy, adventurous college experience. 

The first step is understanding where the issues stem from to understand the importance of mental health concerns and how to handle them better. Let’s find out some mental health risk factors in detail! 

4 Mental Health Risk Factors 

From past experiences to major changes in life, mental health concerns can stem from many sources. Knowing the importance of mental health can help you understand these sources better and thus can be the first step towards healing. 

Here are some such factors that make students vulnerable to poor mental health during the academic years: 

1. Past Trauma 

Trauma is one of the biggest risk factors for mental health issues. Trauma can come from absolutely anything and everything negative that happens to a person, including -

• Abuse
• Bullying 
• Discrimination 
• Parenting faults 
• War or natural calamities

The negative experience then stays in the subconscious mind and moulds every decision and thought process that the person has. The importance of mental health comes into play in understanding how such trauma works.

2. Hereditary Biology 

Your genetic makeup can decide the state of your mental well-being too. Many mental health disorders, like depression, ADHD, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, etc., have been found to be run in families and passed down to the next generation through genetic factors. 

Understanding the importance of mental health can help manage these concerns in better ways and then you’ll be equipped to educate others as well. 

3. Environment 

When it comes to understanding the importance of mental health, it is important to know that even the environment around a person can affect their mental health. External factors can affect certain hormone production in your body and leave a mark on thinking patterns. 

For example, gloomy, cold weather outside can cause seasonal depression in people. Even elevated levels of pollution in the environment can contribute to bad mental health. 

4. Lifestyle Changes 

While moving away for higher education, students go through drastic lifestyle changes. Everything is completely new, from their food habits to their social interactions with people around them. These sudden changes can contribute a lot to mental health. 

For international students, homesickness can also contribute significantly to mental health deterioration. Getting into risky behaviour like abusing substances can also increase mental health issues for college or university students, costing them their academic life.

10 Early Signs of Mental Health Concerns 

Deteriorating mental health can be difficult to spot by the person suffering and those around them. There are, however, some early signs that you can look out for that can indicate potential mental health concerns. However, understanding the importance of mental health can help you pick on these early signs. Here are some such signs to look out for:   

1. Low energy levels 
2. Less enthusiasm in any and every activity  
3. A persistent feeling of hopelessness and despair 
4. Substance abuse 
5. Confused emotions and unhealthy processing of feelings 
6. Severe mood swings 
7. Self-harm 
8. Extreme apathy 
9. Extreme social anxiety disguised as ‘shyness’ 
10. Unexplainable negative emotions 

Tips for Taking Care of Mental Health

Mental health is vital to living a healthy life. Especially if you are a student, taking care of your mental health becomes essential since it directly affects your academics and social life. Here are some things you can do to ensure your mental health is in good shape: 

• Make healthy lifestyle choices  
• Prioritize healthy sleeping patterns 
• Eat well and eat nutritiously
• Try meditation and mindfulness 
• Take up healthy habits, coping skills and hobbies 
• Keeping in touch with loved ones and people who are good for your mental health

However, it is important to remember that these things will only treat the ‘symptoms’ of mental health concerns. People with severe trauma or rapidly developing mental health concerns may not find these ‘superficial’ solutions helpful. In such cases, it is okay to ask for help. Professional therapy and wellbeing services can help such students manage their mental health better and slowly help them improve their quality of life.  

5 Benefits of Good Mental Health 

Having good mental health is a privilege and thus can change the course of a person’s life. It doesn’t just make you happier and healthier, but it also helps you navigate through difficult situations better. Here are some benefits of having good mental health to perceive the importance of mental health better: 

1. Better Coping Mechanisms

A well-maintained, balanced state of mind can do the trick for you while you are in a difficult situation in life. Negative emotions like sadness, anger, fear, etc., are a part of life and cannot be completely eradicated from the mind. 

However, what’s important is that these emotions are processed better. Understanding the importance of mental health better can help you find better coping mechanisms like

• Journaling
• Meditation 
• Clear communication
• Pursuing hobbies

2. Improved Self-Image 

With bad mental health, people often develop a negative self-image and thus suffer from low self-esteem. With improved mental health, this can be turned around. Especially for students, it is essential to have a positive self-image to experience their university life fully. 

Better mental health helps you see the good in yourself and thus love yourself. This can lead to a happier and more fulfilling life. 

3. Healthy Relationships 

When you are not in your survival mode and love yourself, it is also easier to love others. Giving time and affection to your loved ones becomes more seamless as you have them abundantly for yourself. 

This results in better and healthier relationships with friends, family, and even your partner! 

4. Quality of Life 

With better mental health, you are left with much energy to focus on the quality of your life rather than just surviving. This can be beneficial especially for students as they can take part in community activities, hobbies, and extensive networking when their mental health is maintained optimally. 

Thus the importance of mental health is significant in getting growth opportunities and fulfilling university life. 

5. Professional and Academic Enrichment 

With all the above-mentioned benefits of having a stable mental state, focusing on your academic and professional life becomes easier. You aren’t forced to invest most of your energy into completing basic tasks. 

You thus are left with much motivation to put effort into your academics and work, leading to a growthful, enriched career path as a student. 

With the destigmatization of psychological issues, the importance of mental health is now more prominent than ever. Open conversations around the importance of mental health and the ways to seek help when needed are vital to the student community. Good mental health means a better and more neutral perception of the world, which can help you make the right choices and thus set a better life course.