Protect Your Mental Health: Avoid These 5 Habits That Could Damage Emotional Wellbeing

Table of Contents

1 Not Taking Medication
2 Skipping Meals
3 Not Getting Enough Sleep
4 Spending Too Much Time On Social Media
5 Drinking Too Much Alcohol
6 Final Thoughts
- - 6.0.1 References

Everyone wants to live a happy and healthy life. But, many factors can come into play that may affect one’s growth and wellness, especially in mental health. Some factors may include genetics, past traumas, socioeconomic status, and especially a person’s daily habits. Anxiety

What a person does every day has either a positive or negative impact on their mental health. So, people who aren’t self-aware of their actions might find it hard to live a life built towards attaining good emotional wellness.

So, one must take time to improve their habits to help mental health issues be managed and promote better living. Thus, stated here are a few toxic habits that may negatively affect your mental health you need to know:

Not Taking Medication

Some people diagnosed with mental illness may have been prescribed medication to help manage their symptoms and relieve their everyday mental struggles. Usually, psychiatric drugs are best matched with psychotherapy to provide a higher chance of wellness for the patient and success with their treatment plan.

Thus, if patients stop drinking their prescribed medication, they may suddenly experience withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms could vary from person to person, but in many cases, they may manifest in mood swings, headache, loss of coordination, nausea, balance problems, and more. The worst is that it could even be deadly without professional supervision.

So, whether you’re taking medicines for anxiety, depression, or ADD and ADHD, don’t skip them, as the consequences may be worse. Although medications may be expensive, look for generic alternatives to save on your prescription medicines.

Skipping Meals

Your eating patterns could contribute to how your mood would be in the day and the energy levels you have. So, skipping meals may not only cause harm to your body but also affect your productivity towards work, your concentration, and overall health.

Also, people who don’t prioritize eating their meals on time may be prone to various mental illnesses. A study conducted revealed that individuals who skipped meals were most likely to experience mental illnesses like anxiety, depression, and insomnia.

So, remember that it’s okay to pause in your busy daily activities and eat nutritious meals. Your body will need food to function properly. But suppose you think you’re experiencing symptoms of possible eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and more. In that case, it’s highly recommended that you get an appointment with a psychiatrist to help you.

Not Getting Enough Sleep

Nowadays, staying up late seems to be common among adults and even among children. Especially with gadgets and various social media apps, people have become more interested in spending time on their phones rather than getting complete sleep at night.

Lack of sleep may lead one to develop hypertension, experience depression, weaken the immune system, and be at risk of heart attacks. Also, it may even affect one’s fertility. If you try to observe, people who lack sleep experience mood swings and are easily irritable and stressed out. To avoid such conditions from developing, try your best to get at least eight hours of sleep every night.

Spending Too Much Time On Social Media

The online world is a great platform for learning about new information and meeting people. But, it could also be a toxic place to be in if you start living every day with your phones or screens in front of you.

Sometimes people waste a lot of time scrolling through their social media accounts without thinking it’s taking a lot of their time. Instead of doing more productive activities, people become more focused on watching videos, reading captions, and browsing through photos, which sometimes also affects how they see themselves when they compare their lives with people online.

If you think you’re one of those individuals experiencing this, try considering having a social media detox to help lessen your social media use. If you’re a parent with underage children, try your best not to expose them yet to social media as it may be addicting and could also affect their self-esteem.

Drinking Too Much Alcohol

Sometimes drinking alcohol may be tempting to self-medicate and numb feelings to make the problems disappear. But, the reality is alcohol will not fix any of your problems; it will only add more or prolong them. Also, alcoholic drinks are not recommended for people with depression as they may worsen their condition.

Not only that, excessive drinking could lead you to develop Korsakoff syndrome. It’s a memory disorder wherein a person may experience memory loss and confusion. Thus if you suspect that you’re currently at risk of alcoholism, get help right away before everything gets worse.

Final Thoughts

Seeking ways to improve your mental health is an excellent start if you want to live a better life. But remember that improving your mental health and changing your bad habits is not something that you can do overnight.

Expect that sometimes you might experience some relapses but don’t be disheartened and continue to strive for your emotional wellness. Remember that you have the power to change your life, so try your best to give yourself the best life you could ever have!