How is Mental Health Comparable to Physical Health?
We tend to take physical health much more seriously than mental health. It’s more openly talked about, and physical healthcare (although also very flawed) tends to be more accessible. The truth is though, they are so connected. They are also much more similar than they are different. I’m hoping that by seeing their similarities, we can begin to start seeing them as two sides of the same coin.
People aren’t born on an “equal playing field”. Put simply, we are born with different bodies and different brains. We have different metabolic rates, different heart beats, different stress tolerance levels, different reaction times, different heights, and different levels of serotonin. Some people have physical and/or mental health disabilities. Our bodies and brains start differently and continue to change with age, experiences, and trauma. So, we can’t compare our progress to anyone’s but our own.
They can change suddenly. Experiencing a trauma can change brain pathways, making us experience anxiety over things that didn’t previously cause it… just like a sudden accident can injure us physically. Maybe we lose someone close to us, and experience paralyzing grief. Maybe we have a baby and experience post-partum depression. Even an Olympic athlete can break a bone or tear a muscle.
They take time. Just like working out or physical therapy takes time to get us in shape physically, mental health takes time.
They require maintenance. You can reach a point where you are satisfied with your life, your mental health, or with your body. However, it is important to keep making changes as needed, continue to keep up with it, and continue to make it a priority.
It isn’t a direct path. They can both go up and down through your life. There will be set backs. There will be days when you just don’t feel like it. That is okay. Be kind to yourself. You don’t have to go to the gym every day (or at all) to be physically healthy. You don’t have to journal every day (or at all) to be mentally healthy. Some days, it is a success just to get out of bed. It is an on-going journey of twists and turns. Just keep moving forward.
Different things work for different people. We don’t all have access to the same resources to help us with our health. Gym memberships are expensive, and so is therapy. We also don’t all like the same things. Some people love to run, others prefer riding their bike. Some people play sports for hours a day and others enjoy focusing on cooking nutritious meals. Some people benefit from medication, some hate it. Some people love journaling or painting. Some practice meditation. Some scream into their pillow or sing at the top of their lungs in the car. We are all just trying our best to find what works for us.
It isn’t one size fits all. Physical health can be any size. Two people who are satisfied with their mental health are still going to react to things in different ways, cope in different ways, and have completely different personalities. Mental health doesn’t look the same for everyone. There is no way to accurately measure and quantify all parts of physical or mental health.
Our expectations are too high. We often compare ourselves to the unachievable photoshopped bodies we see in magazines and on TV. We compare our own lives to each other’s highlight reel. When life is difficult and we aren’t feeling happy, we think we are doing something wrong. Life was never going to be easy. Happiness is an emotion not a state of being. When we strive to have the “perfect body” or “perfect life”, it’s a set up for failure and disappointment. We have to let go of the idea that “good mental health” means no bad days. People who are physically healthy still get the flu, still get injured, still get sore and exhausted, and still need breaks.