The Importance of Prioritizing your Mental Health

What is Mental Health?

Mental Health has to do with your psychological, emotional and social well-being. This affects how we think, feel and behave. Our mental health shows how we handle our emotions and make decisions. Mental health is important throughout our entire life, from our childhood to our adulthood. For further details and information, it can be found on MentalHealth.gov.

Why is Mental Health Important?

Mental health is just as important as physical health. Having a healthy mind will help people have a balanced life. Having healthy relationships and communication with friends and family is also impacted by mental health. Mental illness can cause health problems that have long-lasting conditions such as a stroke and heart disease.

How is Mental Health Relevant to Today?

There is a significant amount of people in the world do not prioritize their mental health. Due to recent global events such as the wildfires and COVID-19, mental health should be discussed and prioritized. Even though these recent events have taken effect ono millions of people in the world, our youngest generations in the U.S. have been experiencing stress and additional mental health issues daily even before the pandemic even began. A Harvard Business Review Article stated that the National Center for Health Statistics and the Census Bureau discovered that “18-39-year-olds have had the highest rate of anxiety and depression in the U.S.”. This issue is important for every generation to acknowledge because we should all take the time and effort to practice self-care, self-forgiveness and relaxation. Mental health should be prioritized just as much as physical health, as it can help reduce stress, become more active and more.

How can I maintain my Mental Health?

The activity of journaling can be very stress relieving as you can write or type whatever you are feeling. This can be about writing about what you did that day, what you’re grateful for, or just writing about whatever comes to mind. It can be very helpful and beneficial to write down your thoughts and feelings.

Journaling can be very helpful for your mental health because it allows you too freely write down your emotions towards any situations, arguments or events you’ve experienced. From these journal writings it helps reduce stress, and you’re able to track any patterns, and any growth you’ve had over your time of consistently writing journals. For more information about the health benefits of journaling, it can be found at communityofmindfulparenting.com. There are several other activities to do as well besides journaling. To maintain your mental health, you could stay connected with family and friends, do some deep breathing exercises and exercise! Even a simple walk could around your neighborhood can help clear your mind.

Americans Becoming More Open about Mental Health

To find further information about the studies of Americans becoming more open minded about mental health, it can be found at apa.org.

Having a Mental Health Disorder is Nothing to be Ashamed of

Age Group	Agree – Percentage
Adults 18 – 34	78%
Adults 35 – 64	89%
Adults 65+	92%

Some examples of different types of journal prompts can be found below:

• Quarantine Prompts

Describe any self-discovery you’ve experienced during quarantine.

How will you describe this event to future generations?

- What is one thing you wish the world would learn from this?

• Inner Peace Prompts

What do I need to forgive myself for?

I feel most peaceful when…

What do I love most about myself (3 things)

• Days of Gratitude Prompts

My favorite memory.

A book that I loved reading.

A freedom I am grateful for.

About the Author

Tamara Muomua is a current Business student at Sacramento State. She has her AS-T in Business Administration and is currently studying to get her BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resources and Organizational Behavior (HROB). After going through a rough transition from an in-person learning experience into a virtual setting, she has been set back and struggling to maintain her mental health. She realizes she is not alone in this virtual setting, and hopes this webpage helps others in the same way as it has helped her through this difficult time.

Tamara Muomua takes full responsibility for the information posted. The information on this page represents that of Tamara Muomua and not of California State University, Sacramento.