It is now more important than ever that we all take care of our mental health and well-being. We want to ensure that we do all that we can to be positive and happy on a day-to-day basis. But the truth is, that can be harder and less simple than you think. We all go through hardships. Our lifestyle and the concerns that we may have for our health can have a detrimental effect on our mental health.
Thinking positively and looking at your mood, paying close attention to any prolonged periods of sadness, anxiety, or frustration, can help you to identify when there is an issue with your mental health. It is completely normal to have bad days, we all have them. But you want to ensure that there are more good than bad. Anxiety, depression, and stress can all be factors that affect our daily lives. The truth is, some common worries and events can affect us more deeply and cause more harm mentally. With that in mind, here are some of the common things that we can all go through and worry about. Hopefully highlighting them may help you to handle aspects of your life in a positive way and feel better moving forward.
Your career and your job
Let’s be honest, not all of us are fortunate enough to have a job that we love to do. We can all try and enjoy the work, but often, if it isn’t something you feel passionate about, then it is a means to an end. After all, we all need money to pay our bills each month. Many of us won’t have known what we wanted to do during our time at school or college, and happen to fall into the career and job that we have to do. It works out for some, but not for others. Your career can be a cause of mental health concerns and stress in your life. The big factor would be the enjoyment side of things. You spend a big chunk of your time working, so to not enjoy either the work you do, or even like the people you work with, then it can get you down. Further to that, if your job is demanding, after time, this can start to have a negative effect on you. Stress can play a huge factor in your mental health. Take some time to work out what is causing you issues in the workplace, and then try and come up with solutions to resolve them. Be that a career change, a new place of work or speaking to your managers about the current situation.
Getting pregnant and starting a family
A big factor, especially for women, is the worry of starting a family. We can also assume there will be no issues with it, but not all of us are in a potion to get pregnant the moment we start trying. For some, there might be fertility issues that need to be investigated and explored. If you think there may be more to it than just one of them then you could seek out some guidance and arrange a consultation to discuss what you can do. There may be things going wrong that can be rectified with medication or procedures, or maybe there might be a compatibility issue with your partner or something to do with his male health. Exploring your options is a great thing to do and ensuring you have ticked all the boxes with things like exercise and diet can really help.
Having a baby
While there can be a lot of worry and stress involved in starting a family, there is one common area where your mental health can be affected and that is when the baby is born. Postnatal depression and anxiety is more common than people think. The baby blues can hit you anytime in those first 12 months of parenthood. The sleepless nights, the change in routine, the loss of identity, it can all have an impact on your mental health and cause you to feel down and sad. It is common, and many doctors can help with medication or therapy to help women who are struggling with postnatal depression. It is also less common, but still probable, than men can also experience anxiety and depression when a baby is born. They can feel like their world is changing and it can have a big impact on their mental health. Dads are less likely to talk about it, so if you do notice someone feeling down, communication is key to help parents feel less alone.
Dealing with loss and grief
Of course, a factor of trying for a baby does present the real risk of experiencing loss. Miscarriage and baby loss of any kind is devastating, and it can have a serious impact on your mental health as you may not deal with the emotions that come with it. Dealing with loss and grief is going to be different for everyone, but understanding that this could be the reason for your depression, anxiety, or low mood is important. Knowing what the cause is can help you to take positive steps to dealing with it better and handling the situation in a positive way. There are many ways that people can deal with grief, and often talking therapies can be a great way to open up communication. There are many tools that you can use to help handle the worry and upset from grief, and enable you to start to move forward with your life.
Past military service
There is no denying that being part of national service is an honor and a privilege that many embrace during their lifetime. But while we often see the medals, badges of honor, and courage that those people show, the things we often don’t think about is the effect it can have on their mental health. Be that someone who has returned from a difficult period of service in a warzone, to someone who has experienced capture, or seen truly dreadful things happen to colleagues or humanity. The mental health of that person can be affected massively, so it is more important than ever that there is support available through organizations such as Warriors Heart. They can help with all things including post traumatic stress disorder for people who have worked in military service as well as helping veterans reestablish themselves in local communities. We often don’t raise the true effect this can have on people, and it can be a common worry for anyone who knows someone or is someone that has been part of that world.
Your ability as a parent
There is no denying that every parent will feel guilt at times. They will feel guilt for an unhealthy meal, not spending as much time with their children as they would like, or even things like getting angry with them if you know it is justified for bad behavior. Being a parent is definitely one of the most roller coaster rides of emotions that you can have. You will constantly question yourself, constantly question your actions and every time you make a decision you will wonder if it is the right one. There is no manual, you just have to do what you feel is right at the time. But the guilt can build up and cause regret, regret that can harbor mental health worries and issues such as anxiety and depression. It is something that you need to address and talk about with your partner or anyone who may understand where these feelings are coming from. Often reassurance is all that is needed to feel better once more.
Financial hardships
Another thing that can cause worry and stress is finances. Your financial situation can be a huge test on your life, your relationship and how you live it. The more stress you feel in this area, the harder things can get. If you are struggling financially the worst thing you can do is bury your head in the sand. Tackle the issues head on, discuss them with a partner and come up with a plan and solution. You will start to feel better about things and the stress will eventually subside as you gain more control.
Worrying about your relationship
Finally, worrying about your relationship can often be a cause for anxiety and low mood. If you are not getting on, struggling together or arguing a lot then this can cause you to question whether or not your relationship is worth it. Of course, only you can answer that, but deep down you will know whether you want to fight for your relationship or whether the kindest thing to do would be to end it. Relationships will always go through difficult times, but talking can often be a great way to overcome those hurdles.
Let’s hope these highlighting some of these common concerns that affect your mental health can help you move forward with your life.
