Our positive mental health has a significant impact on the quality of our relationships. Just like every single other piece of your life, our mental health heavily affects our interactions with others and can lead to many relationship problems if not correctly cared for. However, suffering from poor mental health can occur due to no fault of our own. It can be caused by high stress levels, a chemical or hormone imbalance, or a traumatic life experience.
“I found that with depression, one of the most important things you can realize is that you’re not alone. You’re not the first to go through it, you’re not gonna be the last to go through it.” – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Like many others in the world, I have dealt with my own mental health struggles, and I think it is important to talk about it. When my mental health has suffered in the past, I have found myself feeling lethargic, on edge, and unable to properly empathize with my loved ones. I found myself feeling isolated, numb, and unable to connect with others like I had been able to in the past.
This article is from a recent episode of the Passion Struck podcast.
How Your Positive Mental Health Impacts Your Romantic Life
Open communication plays a crucial role in one’s ability to have a healthy and happy romantic relationship. However, I have found that the moments I struggle with my mental health are when I genuinely grapple with communication with anyone, especially romantic partners, open. A big part of this is because we as men tend to close down rather than be vulnerable with our partners.
There has been a considerable stigma placed around the idea of mental health, especially around the concept of men’s mental health. Because of this stigma, opening up to your loved ones can be terrifying. Many people, regardless of gender, struggle with ideations about mental health, feeling ashamed or guilty about the thoughts and feelings they are experiencing.
Poor mental health can rear its head in many different ways, from codependency to isolation.
The person who is struggling with their mental health may feel alone and misunderstood, as they find themselves feeling frustrated with how their life is going. Meanwhile, their partner may be feeling confused and helpless, as they find themselves wondering why the person they love appears to be struggling and what they can do to help. Conflicts become more and more frequent as tensions rise and communication decreases.
How Your Positive Mental Health Can Impact Your Relationship with Friends and Family
Throughout your life, you will form relationships with friends and family members that are very important to you. What happens to these relationships when you are feeling alone, misunderstood, and frustrated?
When we are dealing with poor mental health, our relationships with family and friends also suffer. Our minds trick us into believing that nobody cares, causing us to build resentment and tension in our friendships and familial relationships.
When a loved one is suffering from poor mental health, family and friends will likely feel the effects of the struggles. Your friendships and familial relationships may become tense, or they may build resentment. You may feel as though your friends and family members are not showing up for you in the way that you need, while they begin to feel as though their efforts to help you are not being appreciated. It is a cycle that can be extremely destructive if not dealt with properly.
How Your Mental Health Can Impact Your Work Relationships
Those experiencing poor mental health may act in unpredictable ways, whether they be irritable, withdrawn, or lethargic. This can cause stress and tension in the workplace as coworkers and colleagues feel as though they are walking on eggshells around you, attempting to avoid upsetting you in some way or another. And, you also may experience outbursts of anger or a showing quick temper.
One employee struggling with their mental health can significantly impact the entire workplace environment, causing higher levels of stress and negatively impacting coworkers’ ability to communicate with each other openly and the overall performance of the organization.
Think about this in terms of the military. Would you prefer to fight with someone who is injured physically (which is where historically we have placed the emphasis) or someone who is not mentally in the right place?
Tips for Caring of Your Mental Health, Ultimately Improving Your Relationships
Fortunately, you do not have to struggle with your mental health on your own. The greatest thing you can do to improve your mental health is to seek the help of a mental health professional when you begin to feel as though your mental health is struggling beyond your control.
“The experience I have had is that once you start talking about [experiencing a mental health struggle], you realize that actually, you’re part of quite a big club.” – Prince Harry
Along with seeking a mental health professional, there are a few other steps you can take to improve your mental health, which will ultimately help you improve the many different relationships in your life. These steps include:
Taking care of your physical health to help your mental health
Our mental health and physical health are highly reliant on each other to thrive. When our physical health is struggling, our mental health will begin to suffer right alongside it. Taking small steps to improve your physical health, like exercising, eating healthy, and getting enough sleep, will significantly impact your overall mental health. As your mental health improves alongside your physical health, you will find that your relationships will begin to improve, as well.
Giving yourself a break
Our minds are not wired to be working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We all need a break. Take time out of your day to allow your mind to rest. You will find that doing so will decrease your stress levels, increase your resilience, and improve your overall cognitive functioning. Allowing yourself a break will also give you the energy to work on your relationships with the people in your life.
Allowing yourself to feel your emotions
Whether you are feeling sad, angry, or any other emotion, seek a healthy and productive way to release that emotion. Bottling up emotions can be detrimental to our mental health and will ultimately cause many issues in the future
The Key Takeaway
We all struggle with our mental health from time to time. However, we can work to improve it through self-care and seeking professional help when needed. Our mental health has a significant impact on the quality of our relationships.
Poor mental health can be the culprit behind many relationship issues like breakups, tension, communication problems, and conflict. We have all struggled with our mental health from time to time, and it is our responsibility to make sure we are taking care of it.
A healthy mind is a crucial element to a happy family, happy friendships, happy work relationships, and, ultimately, a happy life.
The Passion Struck podcast is helping men and women unlock their true potential and become passion struck every day. Listen to the Passion Struck Podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts online. For more information, if you are in a toxic relationship, click here.p
