Why is mental health hygiene important, and how can you improve it?

Everyone recognizes the importance of maintaining physical hygiene, but what about mental health hygiene?

Our mental health is the sum of everything we do in a day. A lot of clients come to therapy as a last resort when they feel like they have tried everything. While there can be many reasons, one of the most common is that they are not able to maintain their hygiene regularly.

Have you thought about why mental hygiene is important? If you are potentially diagnosed with a health condition, your doctor checks your everyday behaviors and habits that contribute to it. The same goes for your mental well-being.

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Why mental health hygiene is important?

Why is prioritising our mental health important? (Image via Vecteezy/Alina Humeniuk)

If you remain physically fit, go to the doctor for regular check-ups and have balanced meals, you can often fight off many health issues.

We do so because we are conditioned to take care of our physical health but not necessarily our mental health. Our parents or primary caregivers often rush to help when they see an injury to our body, but it may not feel so urgent in the case of a mental health issue.

However, if you start paying attention to your mental health, you learn to protect it in the same way as your physical health. That also helps you avoid potential emotional breakdowns and other issues that stem from unaddressed emotional issues.

Maintaining everyday mental health hygiene is incremental in nature. That also stops you from neglecting your emotional issues. One prime example of unaddressed emotional concerns is psychosomatic disorder.

By maintaining your mental health hygiene, you take preventive measures for your well-being.

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How to maintain mental hygiene

How can maintaining our hygiene impact you in the long run? (Image via Freepik/gstudioimagen1)

How to improve mental hygiene? Everyday actions lead to big things in life, and the same goes for your mental health.

Here are some ways to maintain your mental health hygiene:

#1 Physical hygiene

A big part of maintaining mental hygiene is taking care of your physical hygiene. For a lot of individuals with mental health issues, not being able to maintain their personal hygiene can be frustrating.

Perhaps they want to take a shower but don't feel motivated to take care of themselves. In these cases, it can be helpful to start with small things.

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#2 Time for reflection

How much time do you take out for your mental health hygiene? (Image via Pexels/Miriam Alonso)

Try to spend at least five minutes a day reflecting on what happened and how it impacted your mental health.

That can be recording three good things while journaling or ithinking about how you want to plan the next day. It can also include things that disturbed or hurt you.

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#3 Co-regulation

Humans are social beings, but we often take it for granted and don't notice its value.

Being in connection with others allows you to enhance emotional regulation. At the same time, it keeps you away from isolation. You don't necessarily need a large group, but just a circle that you can fall back on.

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There's no perfect way to maintain mental health hygiene, but the more you incorporate in your everyday life, the more automatic it becomes.

Sometimes taking care of your mental health can feel like a chore, but remember that taking care of your mental hygiene is going to be beneficial for you in the long run.

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Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.

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