“Taking care of your mind is not selfish, it’s essential!!“

There has always been a taboo about mental health. Accepting that I am having some problem in my life which is affecting my mental health takes a lot of courage. There is a general tendency of brushing it off as minor or insignificant. But sometimes, this issue takes center stage in our life and disrupts our daily functioning and even affects our physiological health. We usually pay attention when our body gives signals in terms of sleep issues, acidity, headache and so on. But, even then, our primary focus is on getting rid of physical symptoms rather that treating the root cause.

There is a common misconception about psychology that it is only concerned with mental disorders and therefore no “normal” person needs to know anything about it!! But the truth is that psychology is a science of behaviors and cognitive processes like thinking, remembering, reasoning, problem solving, decision making and so on, hence it is relevant to everyday life. In fact, psychology is a tremendously diverse field dealing with many different aspects of human behavior.

Some of the important aspects of psychology include developmental psychology (study of physical, cognitive and social development of people), cognitive psychology (study of cognitive processes like thinking, remembering, reasoning, language), clinical psychology (study of causes, symptoms, diagnoses and treatment of mental disorders), counselling psychology (helping people in dealing with day-to-day personal issues like stress, anxiety, etc.), industrial psychology (study of all behavioral aspects in work settings). We are exposed to many difficulties in our personal, professional and social lives and therefore, knowing the basic concepts of psychology are definitely going to help us deal with these difficulties. Of course, experts can always be reached out in case of critical issues which need professional intervention.

We may ask what role psychology can play in our lives? If I know certain basic concepts, I can understand what is happening around me. I can try to understand the behaviors displayed by me as well as people around me, the factors responsible for such behaviors, reactions to certain situations, etc. Secondly, I can try to comprehend the causes behind the behaviors and reactions shown either by me or others. Thirdly, I can try and anticipate the about the possible outcomes of behaviors. And lastly, I can try to change or modify certain things in order to control unhealthy outcomes of behaviors or reactions.

Let’s understand this with the help of a simple example. Suppose I am very restless and irritated and this irritation is visible in my behavior and causing trouble to me as well as others. Then being aware of this situation can help me to deal with it in a better way. If I think about the reason behind my feelings and emotions, how is it affecting me and people around me, I could think of a way to address my emotions or modify my behavior to reduce the trouble it is causing me or the others. Psychology teaches us this awareness to look at the emotions and behavior of self as well as others with a different perspective!!

So, try to learn about the different aspects of psychology from authentic sources. This will definitely improve your mental health, your relationships and your life as a whole!!

“Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength!!”