6 BAD HABITS THAT CAN BE HURTING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

Some bad habits can affect your body, such as eating unhealthy food or being inactive. However, some other habits can also be harmful for your brain and especially for your mental health. It is important that you be aware of these habits because, most probably, you are adopting some of them. In this article we will explore 6 bad habits that can be hurting your mental health.

1- PERFECTIONISM

You might have been taught to never call a task finished until it is perfect. While aiming for excellence is good, and doing something in a more perfect manner higher your chance of success, it can also have negative effects on your mental health. Psychologists talk about two type of perfectionism; positive and negative. Positive perfectionism means that you do everything possible to hand in near-perfect results, and you see an opportunity of growth in every step of the way. The negative perfectionism is when you start putting very high standards that are beyond your reach, and you are not satisfied with anything that is less than perfect. This kind of perfectionism can affect your mental health and make you feel distressed and anxious.

2- A POOR POSTURE

Sitting straight is a simple thing that can reduce symptoms of depression. Many studies proved that good posture do improve self-esteem and moods as well as reduces fatigue, and self-focus, and increases positive attitude for people who experience mild to moderate depression.

3- GUILT

Guilt can be a good feeling in many situations, as it may push us not to repeat some wrongdoings. However, guilt may come from our childhood, where we were taught to do some things in order to keep our parents satisfied. However, when we grow up, we start feeling guilty for irrational things such as going to work instead of spending time with our parents. Sometimes guilt include taking responsibility for problems and seeing yourself as a bad person only for doing something very minor and refusing to forgive yourself.

4- BEING INACTIVE

Being inactive is not only harmful for your body, but for your mental health as well. Exercising regularly can ease depression because it releases endorphins in the body as well as other good chemicals. This create a calming mood and helps you get rid of stress easier and better.

5- A FAILURE MINDSET

If you’ve had some negative thoughts and feelings of failure occasionally, your mental health might still be safe. However, if these negative thoughts are very recurrent and touches every aspect of your life, reminding you daily that your life is miserable and a failure, you might be hurting yourself. Your mental health might be suffering with a failure mindset, leading to depression and anxiety.

6- OVERUSING SOCIAL MEDIA

The overuse of social media has been found to promote anxiety and lower your self-esteem especially if you are a teenager. However, this also affects adults. If you feel lonely and anxious even when you are surrounded by everything you like, then you might be using social media more than you should.