Psychological health is another term for emotional health that encompasses your daily thoughts, feelings, connections with others, and overall well-being. Psychological health is shaped by your experiences and the skills you’ve acquired to handle life’s challenges. This includes your mental processes, emotional responses, social interactions, and even your spiritual wellbeing.
Defining Psychological Health
This is the psychological health definition according to American Psychological Association:
- Regularly finding things in life that make you happy.
- Being good at solving problems when they come up.
- Seeing the world around you clearly without your needs twisting your view.
What Are Psychological Health Services?
Mental health is all about feeling good in your mind and being able to handle everyday stresses. It means that you can realize what you’re capable of, work effectively, and contribute to your community.
Psychological health covers how you feel, think, behave, and interact with others. It’s as important as physical health for your overall well-being. Being mentally healthy isn’t just about not having mental health problems, though – it’s about having balanced emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. When our mental state is off-kilter, we might struggle with making decisions, managing our feelings, controlling our actions, relating to others, and dealing with stress.
Need Help Getting Mental Health Treatment?
Here are some common traits of mentally healthy people:
- They feel good about themselves and aren’t overwhelmed by emotions like fear, anger, or jealousy.
- They get along with others, show respect, and care. They have strong relationships and don’t let others take advantage of them.
- They are kind to themselves about their flaws, accepting their limits and trying their best.
- They manage stress well, avoiding irrational thoughts and unnecessary blame.
- They handle life’s challenges effectively, solve problems, make plans, and welcome new experiences.
- They keep negative emotions like anger and guilt in check, helping others instead of being selfish.
- They stay positive, looking forward to the future and enjoying life.
- They respect different people and don’t push their beliefs onto others.
- They appreciate the world, enjoy their environment, and act responsibly.
Overall, mentally healthy people can bounce back from hard times. They usually handle challenges well and forgive themselves if they make mistakes, then work to fix things.
Which Factors Are Most Relevant to Overall Psychological Health?
Psychological health is really important for how you function and feel. There are several key elements that can affect your mental health:
- Family history and childhood experiences: The environment you grow up in and how you are raised play a big part in your mental health later in life. For instance, if you were in an abusive environment as a kid, you might have trouble with self-esteem or relationships as an adult. Remember, as a child, you usually can’t control your living situation, so problems from things like family abuse or trauma are not your fault. Knowing about these issues can help you understand your mental health better.
- Biological and genetic factors: Your mental health can be influenced by your genes and how your brain works. You can’t choose your genes but knowing about your family’s mental health history can be beneficial, especially if you’re seeking professional help.
- Interpersonal exchanges: The people you meet outside of your family, like friends, romantic partners, classmates, and coworkers, also affect your mental health.
- Social determinants: Bigger social issues like racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism, and xenophobia can also impact mental health. These issues often decide how people are treated in society. Discriminatory policies can put certain groups, like people of color, LGBTQ+ people, those with disabilities, and women, especially women of color, at a disadvantage. This can lead to more violence, discrimination, and poverty for these groups. The stress of dealing with these societal issues can further harm mental health.
How Can I Get Treatment for Psychological Health?
Getting treatment for psychological health is a positive step toward better well-being. Here’s how you can start:
- Consult a healthcare professional: The first step is often to speak with a healthcare provider, like your family doctor. They can give you an initial evaluation and refer you to a mental health specialist if needed.
- Seek a mental health specialist: This could be a psychologist, psychiatrist, counselor, or therapist. They can assess your needs and suggest a treatment plan, which might include therapy, medication, or both.
- Therapy: Various types of therapy, such as CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy), are effective for treating many psychological issues. Therapy provides a safe space to explore your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.
- Medication: For some mental health conditions, medications may be recommended. A psychiatrist or doctor can prescribe and manage these medications.
- Support groups: Joining a support group can be a useful supplement to formal treatment. Sharing experiences with others facing similar challenges can provide comfort and practical advice.
- Lifestyle changes: Oftentimes, improving your psychological health involves changes in your daily life, like regular exercise, a healthy diet, better sleep habits, and stress management techniques.
- Emergency help: If you’re in a crisis, seek immediate help from a mental health crisis service or emergency room.
- Insurance and financial assistance: Check with your insurance provider to understand what treatments are covered by your policy. If you don’t have insurance or have limited resources, look for community health centers or mental health clinics that offer services on a sliding scale basis.
- Consistency and patience: Remember that treatment is a process. It takes time, and sometimes trying different approaches, to find what works best for you.
By taking these steps, you can begin your journey towards improved psychological health and a better quality of life. Here’s how you can get immediate help for you or someone that you love.
Get Psychological Health Treatment at Connections
At Connections, we specialize in providing evidence-based mental health treatment in Southern California catering to all aspects of mental health.
Our beachside treatment facility was designed to provide those battling mental health issues with a homely and welcoming environment in which to engage with effective and personalized therapies. With intake limited to six individuals at any one time, you will receive individualized care, and you will also benefit from the support of peers undergoing similar experiences.
When you are ready to take advantage of highly effective psychological healthcare in California, call 844-759-0999 for immediate assistance.
