Importance of Mental Health

Keywords: Emotions, Mental health, Well-Being, Performance

Caring for the mind is as important as caring for the body. In fact, any individual cannot live happily without the mind and the body working simultaneously. Creating a healthy mindset is an investment in an individual’s overall well-being. Emotions are thoughts which go on in your mind and is an excited mental state. It is a strong mental or instinctive feeling as pleasure, grief, hope and fear. People who are emotionally healthy have controlled thoughts, calm attitude, decision making abilities, and can cope up with difficult situations and setbacks. In this chapter, I argue that people often don’t give mental health much importance and that is why knowledge on this subject should be shared. Understanding the positive and negative sides of mental health is important. I write about the urge to make that change.

Being emotionally happy does not mean you are happy all the time. It means you are within yourself and understand the positive and negative outcomes. This health helps you to cope with daily stress that comes from financial, business, family, personal and other matters. Thinking before you act, striking for balance between work and yourself, and connecting with others are some characteristics of wellbeing. Finding purpose and meaning in anything you do is a sign of positive energy and shows that you love your work and are happy. So, if people see that emotional well-being has healthy characteristics, why don’t they talk about it more? Why are people still struggling with mental health? Taking mental health for granted and not finding a solution to your own well-being can lead to depression, anxiety, and fear. It is important to consult these issues before the symptoms turn bad and permanent. Hence, the role of psychologists, psychiatrists, and mental trainers is important for someone struggling to keep up with good mental health.

As an athlete, I am often exposed to pressure and anxiety in various situations. I really think the understanding of mental health is important before your emotional well-being can start affecting your performances. Athletes in particular go through emotions all the time and the expectations of them to perform are so high that they often lead to stress, anxiety, nerves, and pressure. To deal with and overcome these situations is not easy and hence to be able to fight them every time, athletes need to practice methods of yoga, meditation, and relaxation. Because athletes face challenging situations before every match they play, they are the best examples of how an individual should try and overcome mental stress. Mental stress can be of different kinds, but athletes demonstrate over the counter techniques of fighting or facing such challenges. Relaxation methods are important to learn and understand since they provide accurate focus and concentration. Anyone can focus on their breath and body, which helps to prevent external feelings, developed from the outside. The mind is focused on one goal and hence people are able to concentrate.

When talking about acting against mental health problems and paying attention to such issues, there are prime examples of famous athletes who have stood up and addressed the importance of mental health. These athletes have expressed their feelings towards mental health and why it is important in every person’s career. Simone Biles, who is the world’s best gymnast, pulled out of certain Olympic events because of stress and mental health. By withdrawing from the Olympics, Biles made a big statement about mental health because no athlete would ever want to bypass a tournament like the Olympics. The complexity of the issue is so high that often the best crack under pressure. According to the New York Times, pressure, anxiety, and stress were the vital factors for Biles. “While she had come to the Tokyo Olympics feeling “pretty good,” the weight of expectations on her as Team U.S.A.’s biggest star at the Tokyo Games became tougher by the day, and in the hours before the team final she said she was shaking and couldn’t nap. In the end, the pressure was just too heavy for her to bear, she said after withdrawing from the team final on Tuesday.” This evidence suggests that humans no matter how experienced and famous they are, they still need time to themselves and need a burden to drop the burden from their shoulders.

Another example is Naomi Osaka, who withdrew mid-tournament from the U.S Open. Osaka is one of the best women’s tennis player and the withdrawal from the event was also a huge and controversial statement. Osaka withdrew mid-tournament and refused to speak to the media on the issue. There are pros and cons to the event that occurred but as audiences and fans of the sport, we must analyze the human mental state at that given point. Speaking to the media is important since they bring the sporting community together and are responsible for growing attention to the sport, but we must also consider Osaka’s individual perspective. In a statement she provided after her withdrawal, she stated that at that given point her brain couldn’t function and turned entirely numb and was not able to make decisions. When a person says that we must understand and feel for her since there was no solution to her brain freeze event and hence talking to anybody was not an option. Osaka has been a prominent face in the women’s sports community and has been a big motivation to female athletes and girls worldwide. She is also an ambassador to a mental health organization and has given the cushion for other athletes to step up if facing any health issues. Both these women have spoken up about their own mental health, as an issue which had not been discussed, but have now also led a foundation for people to speak in public. Because of them, there are several resources available on mental health and people have slowly started to open up about their own issues.

In conclusion, people do not have to struggle in silence and are entitled to view or voice their opinions about mental health and emotions. These are key terms to an individual’s well-being. Athletes in particular need to surround themselves with positive energy all the time and spending time with your close ones can help take off pressure. Attitude is everything, and mindset of an athlete is directly proportional to their performance.

Works Cited

De, Elizabeth. “Simone Biles Praised Naomi Osaka For Speaking Up About Mental Health.” Teen Vogue, 22 August, 2021, https://www.teenvogue.com/story/simone-biles-naomi-osaka-mental-health.

“Emotion, n.” OED Online, Oxford University Press. Oxford English Dictionary,
https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/61249. Accessed 16 Oct. 2021.

Espinosa, Adriana, and Sasha Rudenstine. “The Contribution of Financial Well‐being, Social
Support, and Trait Emotional Intelligence on Psychological Distress.” British Journal of Clinical
Psychology, vol. 59, no. 2, June 2020, pp. 224–40.

Macur, Juliet. “Simone Biles Withdraws From All-Around Final at Olympics” The New York Times, July 28, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/sports/olympics/simone-biles-out.html