Mental health is a critical aspect that requires early attention throughout everyone’s life. It encompasses a state where individuals might struggle with self-control due to stress or feelings of loneliness. Nowadays, many people seek help from psychiatrists to address and manage mental health issues. According to researchers, mental health is crucial for a person’s overall stability and well-being. It includes emotional, psychological, and social aspects, all of which contribute to a balanced and healthy life, as noted by Business productivity specialist and Astro Strategist Hirav Shah.
Hirav Shah emphasizes, “Healthcare professionals and older individuals themselves often recognize mental health issues, but the stigma surrounding these conditions can make people hesitant to seek help.”
Risk factors for mental health problems in older adults include:
- Depression: This is a significant concern that needs close monitoring. Mental health issues can impact physical health, and vice versa. For instance, older adults with heart disease are more likely to experience depression compared to those in good health. Additionally, untreated depression in older adults with heart disease can worsen their condition.
- Elder Abuse: Elderly individuals are at risk of various forms of abuse, including physical, verbal, psychological, and financial abuse, as well as abandonment and neglect. Evidence indicates that 5 out of 25 older people experience elder abuse. Such abuse can lead to physical injuries and severe, long-lasting psychological effects, including depression and anxiety.
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Improving Mental Health
According to Hirav Shah, these were the factors that can be helpful to elders or older adults to improve their health care.
Improve Your Mental Health – Eat Well
A very efficient and proper intake of foods helps in the proper growth of elders in order to keep them fit and healthy. This is one of the best ways to keep them active all the time. Healthy whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, pulses are the way to go. With healthier foods, the food is absorbed slowly, and thus there are no mood swings.
Improve Your Mental Health – Have a Good Sleep
Sleep is the major concerned element that can provide all beneficial things to the human body. Sleep releases many hormones in our body that make the right change for us. As with age, we become lighter sleepers; we need a longer sleep duration to get adequate rest. In addition, sleep improves concentration, memory formation and restores any cell damage, overall refreshing the body’s immune system.
Improve Your Mental Health – Do some Extra activities
A well-known and loving activity such as writing, reading, cycling, playing, singing, etc., might help keep the person young from the inside. With time on our hands as we age, identifying such activities and making an effort to engage in them can turn our day of loneliness into a day of enjoyment.
Improve Your Mental Health – Exercise Regularly
Stay fit and staying healthy is the base that might help in staying perfect. Exercise is known to improve mood and emotional well-being. It thereby prevents mental health issues. The double bonus is that it improved your overall physical health as well.
Improve Your Mental Health – Maintain proper relationships
Stay together: Stay in touch is the anthem that should be maintained once you turn old. Good relationships are the backbone of good mental health. It is often considered the most important contributor to happiness and well-being. Be it family, friends, colleagues, or neighbors, our relationships provide us with a support system that helps us cope with stressors and provides support in times of need for intervention. In addition, sharing our feelings with others is a proven method of de-stressing.
Include spirituality to Improve Your Mental Health
Stay in touch with God; he stays in touch with you. The first and foremost impression that we Indians possess on the term is known as spirituality. Being involved in spiritual or religious practices has been linked with improved well-being for many people.
Get a pet
Care for a pet, and it cares for you more than you can do to yourself. Getting a pet involves caring for it, enjoying and relaxing with it. Even you might get new friends when you take it out on a walk in the evenings; along with that, walking helps you stay fit and active as much as you can. They are also likely to improve satisfaction and well-being.
Give to others
Give and take is a general policy and a form of kindness that helps you grow and stay happy at heart, even for small things that you usually used to. Performing small acts of kindness can give us a feeling of happiness and self-worth. It helps cancel out negative feelings about ourselves and leads to a feeling of contentment. You can engage yourself in the community, donate to a cause you believe in, or volunteer at an NGO. It will not only be a service to society but will also be a rewarding engagement.
Convert into a technophile & stay in touch
Be a part of technology and get closer to your people who stay away from you. Sending emails, messages, photos to friends and family can be a regular part of an elderly routine. Staying in touch on social media sites such as Whatsapp & Instagram can also prevent social isolation for the elderly, especially when their children live far, or in a different country.
Take care of health
Health is considered an important factor; health is wealth. The entire struggle we face is just because of it. Our mental and physical health are related, and maintaining physical health is significant in our attempt to maintain mental health. Making healthier life choices, taking time for exercise, and regular doctor’s visits can help achieve this goal. It is never too late to take control of your health.
Final Word
Simple ways can boost many things, it can be a bare foot walk on the grass or a hike in the woods. Research shows that being in the outdoors can increase energy levels, reduce depression and boost well-being.
Use the basics. The human body has a mechanism within. Simple smiling or playing with kids can help to lower your heart rate and simmer you down. The human body has intelligence within to calm down, to energize, to move us into action…
Always resort to things the natural way. Better to stay away from energy drinks or too much caffeine. All it needs is a bit of effort, a bit of discipline and a bit of consistency- Concludes Hirav Shah, Prolific Business Transformation Leader.
