The 7 main signs of a mentally healthy person - checklist

Of all the many issues of our time, we often overlook one. We are now talking about mental health. If it is still possible to analyze our physical state, it is more difficult to determine our inner state. Boundaries and limits, as many people say, are blurring. Although it is quite realistic to try to conduct a certain “check-up”.

Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which each person can realize his or her own potential, cope with the usual stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and contribute to the life of his or her community – WHO.

Mental health ensures that we can communicate, function and solve problems. It allows us to live a fulfilling life. There are various criteria of psychological health. Of these, we have tried to highlight the most important ones.

What scientists and doctors say

Again, WHO says that mental health depends not only on the person himself (his genetic-biological characteristics and social-emotional intelligence), but also on:

Social circumstances (socio-economic status, housing, educational and labor conditions);
environmental factors (use of basic amenities, cultural beliefs and practices, social and economic policies).

These components are linked, and changes in their functioning can both threaten our mental health and, on the contrary, serve as protection.

Tatiana Poshatalova

psychologist, founder of Integral Space Academy, Mindfulness teacher

Choosing a job, a partner, an environment and even a city – all of this is based on how good your psychological health is. If it is undermined, something will constantly “sag” in one or another aspect of life. For example, a person will not communicate with the people he wants to, because he will think that he is not worthy of it. Or he may have everything not bad in life, but will be constantly haunted by states of anxiety, sadness and anxiety.

Signs of psychological health

Realization of the constancy and identity of one’s self

A truly “healthy” person recognizes themselves for who they are. For example, a 50-year-old woman will not associate herself with a teenager. The fact is that a mentally healthy person realizes “who they are,” “what they are doing now,” and “where they are.” A person looks at himself, at the world through his own prism and is aware that “I” am my body, feelings, thoughts and behavior.

The ability to stay active

People of primitive society could not afford a passive and relaxed lifestyle. This would have led them to their imminent demise. Therefore, evolution has helped to ensure that our bodies are constantly in touch with physical and mental activity. Both of these activities are essential for our complete health.

Managing our own emotions

Not everyone can “boast” of this. A well-developed ability to control our emotional state is also important for our psyche. During mental disorders such as:

depression;
anxiety;
mania;
psychosis,

– the ability to recognize feelings and thinking will be impaired.

A healthy management of emotions first of all helps to cope with various kinds of difficulties and daily issues. At the same time, it is undesirable to resort to extremes and not to lose touch with the outside world by trying to suppress unwanted feelings inside.

Control your behavior in accordance with social norms

Remember the commandments? “Thou shalt not kill”, “Thou shalt not steal” and others. In other words, a person with mental health, accepts and understands the line where his boundaries of “allowed” end and someone else’s begin. For example, hooliganism, stealing and robbery for reasons of “well, this is how I want it” – this indicates an inability to control his behavior.

Ability to plan and realize plans

Arrange a meeting with a friend or plan a trip to the store for pet food – and do not do it. Not because it’s scary or you don’t want to, but because you couldn’t organize yourself. What do you think of these examples? Being late for flights and important meetings, paying for training courses or a gym membership that you’ll only use a couple of times at best. In fact, one could go on for a long time.

At the same time, isolated cases are not critical, because there are factors beyond our control. But if such behavior becomes a habit – it is worth thinking about, or better yet, look for a specialist.

Full acceptance of ourselves

Do not confuse with the first of our signs. The ability to accept yourself, no matter how ordinary it sounds – an important step on the way to good mental health. Otherwise, not liking yourself is a serious risk for mental health problems. In turn, “acceptance” has two components: self-esteem, which is the evaluation of one’s own qualities, and image, which is the sum of all perceptions of oneself.

Self-acceptance will require a healthy self-esteem and an adequate self-image. Know exactly what your important positive qualities are and recognize your value in society? Great. But people with low self-esteem and an inadequate image are the most likely to suffer from mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety.

If you feel you lack confidence, a simple remedy can help – start writing down all your accomplishments, even the smallest and “weightless” ones.

The skill of answering – “no”

Here we are not talking about self-denial, but primarily about personal boundaries. Try to remember, a mentally healthy person knows exactly his comfort limits. He knows where they are, constantly defends them without embarrassment, fear or discomfort for himself.

How to improve mental health

The most effective help to improve mental health comes from working with a psychologist. The main thing I can recommend is.

Engage in meditation practices. There are some that do not require any beliefs – neither spiritual nor religious.
Ask yourself several times a day: “How am I now?” You can set alarm clocks, mark your hand, whatever. The main thing is to do this steadily and regularly to train yourself to notice how you are feeling. Then you can ask, “What can I do about it?”. Seems like simple questions, but if you ask them regularly, it can noticeably improve your quality of life.