Mental health matters. It’s connected to nearly all facets of life and is a driving force for how we are able to interact with peers, loved ones, and even strangers. It is also connected to our physical wellbeing, helping us to maintain certain normal functions such as maintaining our immune system and energy levels. Mental health can also determine how we are able to handle stress and cope with certain hardships. Why mental health matters are important to understand.

It’s easy to overlook mental health as a priority. We often move through our days quickly, failing to consider how our thoughts — whether good or bad — can be hugely impactful to our wellbeing. Neglecting mental health is commonplace. However, as more studies and mental health care advocates pronounce its importance, the more we consider its general effects on our ability to function well.

It’s important to note that mental health is frequently connected with substance abuse and dependency. Understanding how co-occurring disorders work helps to uncover more effective methods for treating comorbidity.

What Is Mental Health?

Though mental health is not a new or novel concept, it’s only recently taken center stage. Resources are providing clarity on mental health: what it is, how it works, and how to understand our own thought processes. Discussions are open to considering why mental health matters and what we can do to better promote mental wellbeing.

Mental health encompasses our emotional and psychological well-being, and how that in turn affects how we interact with the world and the people in it. It can also affect other things such as behavior, decision-making, and interpersonal skills.

As defined by MentalHealth.gov: Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

At times, it can be hard to decipher or identify symptoms of mental conditions and mental illness.

It’s important to speak with mental health professionals to accurately understand your own mind’s workings. When you’re battling a disease like addiction, it can be difficult identifying what to do next. AspenRidge Recovery is a leading provider of mental health and substance abuse treatment. Contact our dual diagnosis center today at 855-281-5588.

Top 10 Reasons Why Mental Health Is Important

We know that mental health is important, but why mental health matters are important to define. There are countless reasons to consider your own mental health.

Creating an environment for positive mental health can help a person define a more fulfilling life. Additionally, treating any conditions is important to help maintain positive emotions and thoughts, and even promote personal growth. Good mental health is known to:

• Increase productivity
• Promote self-love
• Improving the relationship with oneself and others

Since mental health is tied to so many crucial human functions, it can improve how we live day-to-day. Focusing on mental health care can also help us lower our chances of developing physical health conditions such as heart disease.

Why mental health is important is not limited, but we are listing a few reasons below. Consider how you address these items in your everyday life and why it’s important to incorporate mental health in your overall wellness care. Here are just a few things to consider:

Emotional

• Life’s Challenges: if your mental health is in good condition, then you will be much better equipped to deal with some of the challenges that life throws at you. Change happens, and it is impossible to prevent it, so having stable mental health means that you will be ready to face those changes head-on.
• Creates Connection: one of the realities of mental health is the stigmas that surround it. By understanding why mental health matters, we can be better at recognizing signs of symptoms when mental health is in jeopardy. Creating safe environments for these discussions is incredibly important.

Relationships

• Healthy relationships: no matter whether you are talking about close friends, family, or significant others, the way you feel mentally can have a direct impact on your relationship with them. Symptoms of anxiety and depression include short-tempers and hostility, which can lead to strain on personal or professional relationships.
• Caring for others: opening up about mental health allows you to better understand loved ones’ needs. Positive mental health also helps us become more empathetic to outside situations. Dismantling the stigma attached to mental illness is an important step to take.

Physical

• Promotes Strong Immune System: believe it or not, our mental health can have an impact on our physical body. Studies indicate that positive or good mental health can help keep our immune systems strong.
• Help Strengthen Our Body: strong mental health can promote wellbeing and help with productivity. When you feel good, you’re more energetic and can better take on larger physical tasks.
• Sleeping Is Easier: sleep is vital to our overall health. In fact, lack of sleep is linked with various chronic diseases, including depression. With good mental health, a person can find it easier to get sufficient sleep and it improves sleep patterns.

Psychological

• Coping Mechanisms: Taking care of your mental health can help you overcome some of the hardships you’ll undoubtedly have to experience. Because mental health directly correlates with how we handle emotions, better mental health may mean that we are more equipped to manage negative emotions and take on some of life’s challenges.
• Decisions making: mental health matters when you consider its connection to our ability to make good decisions. Strong mental health encourages positive behavior. On the flip side, poor mental health may unintentionally impact the decisions we make in negative ways.
• Mental illness: as it would imply, mental health matters because without addressing it, negative thoughts and experiences can cause or worsen other conditions, such as anxiety, depression, and even addiction.

There are hundreds of reasons you should consider caring for your mental health regularly. Therapeutic investigations provide us with ways to address mental conditions and answer why mental health & substance abuse treatment is really important.

Mental Health & Substance Abuse Treatment

Poor mental health and addictions can be very closely linked to substance abuse issues. Many people turn to things such as drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism to help them to deal with the symptoms of their illnesses.

This is why it is so very important to stay on top of your mental health and to be willing to open up about mental illness.

Many drugs can elicit pleasurable responses in the brain, which is why some people choose to rely on them as an escape from symptoms of anxiety and depression. The only problem is that the more drug use continues, the less of an effect those said drugs have. This means that more and more drugs must be taken at a time in order to treat symptoms of mental illness. This is why mental illness and substance abuse are so linked.

When dealing with both a mental illness and an addiction, also called co-occurring disorders, it’s hard to know where to start. With drug treatment programs that offer support through mental health therapy and drug addiction treatment, clients can benefit from receiving dual care.

Being honest about your mental health is an important first step in treating addiction, as it defines any underlying issues that may prevent long-term sobriety. It will also help you to recognize destructive thought patterns that can occur during addiction recovery so that you can prevent relapse from happening.

In order on how to improve mental health, it is important to implement self-care. Make sure to provide yourself plenty of time to relax and detox at the end of each day so that your mind can recover. Self-care is a very important part of recovery from addiction and substance abuse.

Often mental disorders can come about as a result of substance abuse, or vice versa. Knowing how the two disorders relate to one another can be very beneficial in helping your recovery. Identifying symptoms of both addiction and mental illness is referred to as dual diagnosis and is a crucial step in overcoming the disease.

AspenRidge Provides Mental Health and Addiction Care

The bottom line is mental health is important. It can feel next to impossible to cope with a chronic disease like addiction, but if mental conditions are not taken into consideration, recovery becomes more unlikely. AspenRidge Recovery provides dual diagnosis care and helps clients to achieve sobriety. We offer various treatment programs for a variety of substances, and each of our programs is tailored to your needs. For more information on our Colorado addiction treatment programs, contact us directly at 855-281-5588.