Do you consider yourself to be mentally healthy? You can, if you can tick 4 out of the following 6 boxes.
(1) Sleeping and waking on the same time every day
New studies (Dr. Matthew Walker) has shown that sleep is the number one pillar of health. To sleep 8.5 hours each day on the same routine should be your number one priority, if you have not managed to do it. In addition, it is hard to treat anxiety and depression if someone has unpredictable daily routines.
(2) Can you keep a job?
The great psychologist Victor Frankl has said that sometimes it is not a “mental’ problem, it is a “living” problem. And with life comes work as a means to sustain yourself and your family. Therefore, the ability to get and keep a job is an important marker. Psychology is not so shallow as to treat the means to survive as a non-factor. It is your responsibility to develop some competence in life, so that it makes it worthwhile for someone else to pay you a deserving salary.
(3) Do you have a job or hobby that fulfills you?
One of the best ways people find meaning is to bring forth the creativity hidden within and bring it into the real world. Do you see your job in that way? If not, do you have a hobby that brings you meaning? For a lot of people, that can come from art, writing, design, music, architecture, and other artistic expressions. What is yours?
(4) Are you close to your family?
The best home is where one might find peace and respect in, and that comes from good and proper relations with immediate family members. Family should bring warmth and support. Or at the very least, it should not be a hostile place where members are staring daggers and talking rudely, or engaging in cold war. A supportive family is a launching pad towards greatness.
(5) Do you have good friendships lasting over 5 years?
Friends keep us in check from bad behavior, and support us in bad times. Having test-tested friendships means someone having your back when life is not okay. They also give you a good smack in the head when you deserve it. If you can keep friends for that long, it also means you are probably a honest, decent person, and somewhat useful. Who wants to hang out with a useless, scheming bum for long?
(6) Do you have an intimate partner?
The best human experience is to love. It is no wonder that people are most stable when they have someone to spend the rest of their lives with. It is 24/7 support. It is unconditional love. It is shouldering the weight of the world together equally and unyieldingly. Intimate love is the peak of our experiences, and a vital cornerstone to our mental well-being.
Didn’t score 6? Perfectly alright
Rare is the person who can score a perfect 6 consistently throughout life. Some people don’t have a good set of parents, so a supportive family is out of the question until they form their new family. It happens. Life is unfair, we get over it. Some jobs are a dead end. But you keep soldiering on. You chart out a progression on your life, however vaguely, ready to go to battle each day for that vision.
If you score less than 4, hey, it’s not game over. There should be things you can improve on. No job? Find one, pick any at first. The goal is first to feed yourself, and develop a daily routine. And once you have done that, immediately aim higher.
No friends? You need to question if you are a good, decent and competent person, and if not, start becoming one. Friendships will come naturally to you if you are kind, decent and somewhat useful. Of course, change does not come easy, or else everyone would have done it. But the alternative is worse, and that is to live in misery and know that you have directly caused the bulk of that misery.
Have good health, live well, behave well, and aim ever upwards.
