The heart and the head connection is real when it comes to our physical well-being. Both physical health (heart) and mental health (brain) go hand in hand with each other and when one swings out of balance other gets impacted as well.
Mental health diseases like depression, PTSD, chronic stress and other mood and anxiety disorders are linked with cardiovascular diseases like heart attack and stroke, according to latest medical research. So optimal physical and mental health is crucial to minimize the risk of heart diseases in the longer run.
Mental Health Problems – Importance of Early Diagnosis
A mental health problem is a physical illness of the head (brain) that manifest in the form of the disturbance in behaviour, thinking, energy or even emotions. Abnormal brain chemistry, genetics, trauma, infection, or brain injury are common causes of mental health problems.
More than one billion people around the world suffer from some form of mental health concerns from time to time. And these concerns become illness when the respective symptoms aggravate causing mental problems that affect the individual’s ability to function normally. And what makes mental health disorders more dangerous is the fact that more than half of them do not get professional help due to the stigma that looms over mental health problems. Getting an early help form mental health professional can stop the symptoms from aggravating.
Two Activities to Improve Mental Health during COVID-19:
The soaring stress of the office work, blurring the lines of work & life, derailed body clock and all this while having to cope up with the home-cage amidst lockdown can make the mental space go awry. It is important to fortify our mental space and come of out of this lockdown with perfect physical and mental health and here are two simple tips to accomplish it:
Exercise: A work out can seem strenuous at this point of time but it can single handily can transform you inside your home. Daily exercise can energize you while keeping you calm and helps you focus on your work, give you a change of air and improves your sleep cycle. Walking, jogging, swimming are some of the simple aerobic activities that you can give you maximum returns.
Meditation: While exercise takes care of your body laying a pillar, meditation takes care of your headspace to keep you relaxed. Meditation with deep breathing increase your oxygen intake and pushes more blood into your brain giving your brain much-needed break and energy. According to numerous medical studies, meditation significantly helps in decreasing the symptoms of mental health problems like depression, anxiety and chronic stress. All you need is to dedicate 15 minutes for meditation with a focus on deep breathing.
Both exercise and meditation can help you get a complete 7-8 hours’ sleep which is necessary to reduce stress during this lockdown period. If you are still feeling taken aback by the mounting stress or any other mental health issue please know that it is completely normal and the majority of people today are going through the same so we advise you to consult a mental health professional as soon as possible. And also with this World Mental Health Day 2020, let us all take a day to break the stigma around the mental health problems and spread awareness.
