Do you think you are a mentally sane person?
You may have heard of mental health before. It is certainly a term commonly used today. It is often mentioned alongside mental strength, resilience or positive thinking.
Mental health is definitely more than not having a mental illness. It includes the following:
- to know about your strengths
- to live according to your potential
- to actively participate in life
- to be socially engaged
- to master daily life even under difficult circumstances
- to accept things that cannot be changed
Very often, people who feel sane have got a purpose in life which helps them focus and concentrate on things. This purpose can be their work, their spiritual or religious beliefs, a social or political project, or whatever is necessary for them. Through successful engagement, these people can feel self-efficacy. They grow personally and progress towards their goals; they overcome obstacles and move on.
In addition, as you probably already know, mental health has other basic requirements, such as proper nutrition, daily relaxation and regular exercise.
With regard to my professional career, I would like to emphasize another special situation:
not feeling mentally healthy at work
This is very tricky – you feel overwhelmed and exhausted, but you ask yourself:
- should you talk about your negative thoughts or hide them?
- is it psychologically safe to show vulnerability or do you get laughed at?
Hopefully you have got someone at your workplace that you can lean on. Then you could feel safe and work on your problems, maybe together with a professional like me.
So here is the question: Do you feel sane? Who or what helps you to find balance every now and then?
Please write useful comments in the box below. I am curious about what you think.
Cheers, Stefanie
