Importance of Mental Health According to the medical experts, the balanced and healthy mind, physically fit body and rich emotions should be the defined as the fitness of health. Healthy and active mind is the key to healthy personality. Mental health is equally important as physical health. Good Mental Health includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being and is usually described as a state where a person can cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and is able to make a meaningful contribution to their community. How to Improve Mental Health Irrespective of your age, there are ways to improve your mental health at any point of time. Hence just start at the earliest possible and develop good mental health for the rest of your life. Mind it, it’s never too late to start! Consider the below given 10 helpful tips to make good strong mental health and well-being for the rest of the life: 10 Tips for Good Mental Health: Eat balanced diet and drink

Mental Illness The term mental illness applies to a wide variety of mental health conditions. These can be conditions that affect a person’s thinking and behavior. Most people by now are familiar with some specific examples of mental illness, such as schizophrenia or obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, these are very visible manifestations of mental illness and it is not always the case with people who suffer from symptoms of the various illnesses in this class. With many physical illnesses, medical intervention is warranted because failure to treat often leads to death or great physical suffering at the very least. In many ways, the same applies to mental illness.  Though the immediate and direct effects of mental illness are not physical, they can create physical symptoms in the long term and they can result in death through various avenues. Stress has been shown to contribute, for instance, to heart disease. Also, severe depression can lead to suicide. You do not have to b

Mental Stress and Anxiety All of us experience stress and anxiety at different stages in our lives. And living with anxiety is stressful enough. One might feel worried and anxious about sitting an exam, or having a medical test or an interview. Sometimes we worry about a future event. Mental stress or anxiety is not always bad. For example, if someone has no fear of being put to the test (exam), he or she will not study properly. Not all people have the same level of anxiety or tension. Sometimes anxiety can become unhealthy and harmful when it exceeds any level that a person can handle. Stress and anxiety share many of the same emotional and physical symptoms – uneasiness, nervousness or worry, tension, depression, headaches, high blood pressure, insomnia (loss of sleep), loss of sexual desire and/or ability, etc. Both anxiety and stress are very treatable indeed and don't need to lead to long lasting illnesses. What is Mental Stress and Anxiety What is  St

Depression Depression is often mistaken for the very normal feeling of sadness, which may pass in a couple of days. When a person is suffering from depression it interferes with the everyday activities that many of us take for granted. This affects the entire body and not just the mind, in ways that would make it near impossible to function normally. In our life time 1 in 5 people with suffer from some form of depression which is many a time the leading cause of alcoholism , drug abuse and other addictions . What is Depression Depression is a condition characterized by the following elements: Depressed Mood Loss of interest or pleasure A depressed mood often includes feeling sad, helpless and hopeless. People usually feel depressed at some point in their life but in clinical depression , this feeling of sadness persists for long periods of time . [ DSM-IV-TR (p. 356) manual: See here ]     Depressed mood could also include the feeling of anger, fear, anxiety, desp

Depression: Your Questions Answered Q1. Is depression an illness of the brain or a psychological problem? A. In psychiatric illnesses there are indisputably both biological and psychological causes. However, when evaluating a depression it is not helpful to search for biological or psychological causes exclusively but to consider both. This gives a broader understanding of patients, their psychological life, the onset and development of their disorder. Q2. What is the relationship between life events and depression? A. Any "unpleasant" life event can cause worry, sadness, anxiety or physical malaise in any person. In these cases, within certain limits, depression can be considered a normal and comprehensible reaction. However when the depression lasts much longer than it would be logical to expect, when the capacity to work, study, carry on family and social relations is hindered, we are looking at a depressive disorder that must be treated. Q3.  Can a disorderly lifestyle c