Many individuals mistakenly equate mental health and mental disease, but there is a significant distinction between the two, according to a professional psychologist.
Seth Asafo said mental illness is an extreme depletion of the mind where an individual exhausts all their resources to keep surviving.
“Mental health is not a mental illness and perhaps that’s the reason the field is so stigmatised because when people hear mental health, all they hear is mental illness.
“Mental illness will normally look at falling below 0, so if I had a speedometer, it starts at 0 and that’s neutral because you’re starting off and you’re progressing but if you fall below 0 that’s where an illness comes in.
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“Typically you can wake up on a day and you don’t feel 100% but you’re not sick, you’re just not yourself, that’s where the mental health component comes in and the sickness comes in when you have depleted your resources for coping and you’re struggling, so let’s not confuse the two,” he said.
On Tuesday, April 11, Mr. Asafo remarked that while most activities that improve both physical and mental health are free, people frequently turn to taking pills because they believe that taking medication is the only option.
“Staying active or exercising is free, it’s within everyone’s capability, sleep is free, staying connected is free and those are exactly the things that we aren’t doing,” he stressed.
In order to help stabilize the mind, the psychologist emphasized the importance of open communication and physical interaction with others.
He explained that this exposes the individual to a lot of problems which will require solutions and while working towards solving the problem, resilience is built which goes a long way in improving their mental health.
“Mental health thrives on a principle we call resilience and resilience is your ability to bounce back even when you’re facing adversity or when you take a hit, your ability to get back and do what you have to do,” he stated.
Mr. Asafo, who is also a lecturer at the University of Ghana Medical School, advised reduction of screen time and increasing physical engagements.
He also suggested building more social interactions and being exposed to life problems that will get their brains more functional in finding solutions to them.
Additionally, he suggested that parents not be overly protective of their kids and to consider long term. He also noted that instead of solving a child’s problems for them, parents should allow them to face them and provide guidance.
SOURCE: MYJOYONLINE
