Preventing Overheating: Achieving Good Mental and Emotional Health
Mental/Emotional Health
People with good mental and emotional health demonstrate the following characteristics:
- Autonomy - having the confidence to make responsible decisions
- Positive Outlook - seeing the bright side of things and having hope about life
- Sense of Purpose - setting and achieving goals
- Positive Self-Esteem - positive feelings of confidence about oneself
- Sense of Belonging - having emotional attachment to family, friends and other supportive people
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow was a prominent American psychologist. During his career, he developed a theory known as Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This theory examines the importance of achieving the basic needs of a human to get a solid start on achieving good mental and emotional health. In this interactivity, you will learn more about Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Click the player button to begin.
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Stress
Stress is your body’s and mind’s reaction to challenges and demands of everyday life. Everyone experiences stress, and how you react to stress is related to your mental and emotional health. There are two types of stress: distress and eustress. Distress is negative stress, and eustress is positive stress. Anything that causes stress is called a stressor. Different categories of stressors include:
- Biological stressors - illnesses, disabilities, or injuries
- Environmental stressors - poverty, pollution, and natural disasters
- Cognitive stressors - taking a test
- Behavioral stressors - smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, or taking drugs
- Life stressors - death, divorce, or relationships
Stress is unavoidable, and may make your life challenging. Specifically, it can have negative effects on your health, and can cause the following issues:
- Headaches - headaches caused by stress are most common and are related to tension
- Asthma - stress can trigger asthma attacks
- High Blood Pressure - prolonged stress can cause an increase in a person’s level of cholesterol and contribute to heart disease
- Weakened Immune System - stress can reduce the body’s ability to fight disease by weakening the immune system
Not only does stress have an effect on your physical health, it also can have social effects such as:
- Difficulty Concentrating - it can be hard to focus during stressful situations
- Mood Swings - stress can cause hormonal changes, which causes emotional shifts and puts strain on relationships
- Substance Abuse - many people list stress as the reason they start drinking or using drugs
It is important that you know how to deal with stress. To relieve stress, you can participate in physical activity, perform breathing exercises, or seek support.
Managing Stress
How do you manage stress? Do you talk with a friend or relative? Do you exercise? Maybe you write down your experiences in a journal. Learning to manage and deal with stress is extremely important. There are many management techniques that exist for coping with stress. In this interactivity, you will learn about a few researched-based strategies to help manage stress. Click the player button to begin.
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Achieving Good Mental and Emotional Health Review
Now that you have learned about achieving good mental and emotional health, review your knowledge in this non-graded activity. Click the player button to get started.