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professional staff at Solutions of Hickory provides
helpful information regarding various health topics.
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Healthy Mental Health…….What is it? |
When I get asked what I’d like to write a book on, I
always say something to do with “How to have a healthy
mental health?” Why would someone want to have a healthy
mental health? Is the new year an opportunity to
evaluate what it is and how to get it?
According to
William C Menninger,MD, he defines the criteria of
emotional maturity as:
- the ability to deal constructively with reality,
- the capacity to adapt to change,
- a relative freedom from symptoms that are produced by
tensions
and anxieties,
- the capacity to find more satisfaction in giving than
receiving,
- the capacity to relate to other people in a consistent
manner with
mutual satisfaction and helpfulness,
- the capacity to sublimate, to direct one’s instinctive
hostile
energy into creative and constructive outlets,
and
- the capacity to love. Wow!!!! What an impressive list of
things to
work towards.
In my near
thirty years of clinical experience, I have been blessed
to have many opportunities to help individuals help
themselves work towards attaining some of these criteria
of emotional maturity. Some things that have worked on
their journeys are :
1) good physical health by having positive eating and
sleeping habits, a regular exercise routine, and
periodic visits to a medical healthcare provider;
2) cognitive approaches by using constructive thinking
(ie, have an ability to counter negative thinking, with
seeing the glass half full and not half empty), and
using a task-oriented vs. reactive approach to problems;
3) emotional wholeness with having a positive support
system, a hobby and/or healthy way of recreation, having
a sense of humor, and have ways to nurture oneself; and
4) making time for a spiritual life that includes
prayer, and using the gifts our Creator has given to
each one of us.
One young
adult I interviewed thinks healthy mental health is:
“being happy with yourself and who you are, and having a
mutual respect of oneself and others.” Another young
adult views healthy mental health to include “not being
too much into any one thing.” “Be eager to learn new
things and have passion for something good” were other
bits of information from another adult
In
conclusion, if you are in search of a healthier mental
health, and willing to step out of your comfort zone,
give yourself permission to call a competent mental
health professional.
Dianne Sanford, MED, NCC, LPC
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