The importance of mental health

The cases of Dementia and Alzheimer, migraine and brain storks are increasing at rapid rate throughout the world which is a clear indication that we are not caring much about mental health that otherwise is as much necessary as physical fitness.  Dementia is a chronic disease or you can call it a persistent disorder of the mental processes which is generally caused by brain disease or in some cases injuries and marked by memory disorders, personality changes and also causes impaired reasoning. We must understand that the best way to keep ourselves mentally fit we need to follow the old trusted suggestion- prevention is better than cure. 

I love non-sense

I am not sure how many of you have heard about Theodor Seuss Geisel who was an American writer and illustrator best known for his books for children. He used to write his books under the pen name of Dr. Seuss and he once made a very interesting comment on his amazing writing style for children books that he likes to write non-sense because it activates his brains cells. I would like to present one of his famous quotes at this point which will give you an idea how one can keep his mind in best of its health- “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the one who'll decide where to go”. We should not forget the ability of our brain that can reorganize throughout our life provided we keep it active.

The best way of increasing your mental capacity is by keeping your mind busy and increasing its capacity constantly that is perhaps the best way you can remain healthy and happy at mental level.  The medical science has proved what was said a long back that the root of health is situated in our brains, the emotions are trunk and rest of our body is leaves and flowers of that tree. To remain healthy and fit all these parts should work together in perfect combination. However, the reality of the day is that despite the human is becoming more cautious towards physical health the attention on mental health is taking a back seat. The man is afraid of Dementia, migraine and Alzheimer but not doing enough to keep them in control. 

The changing views

The modern medical theories have proved that the brain keeps and developing itself constantly and with every new entry in the brain changes brain’s construction to some extent and this keeps happening even in elderly age which was until recently considered limited to a certain age only. The brain of every human is considered to be adjusting which can be developed at any stage of age known as plasticity or nuroplasticity.  Neuroplasticity, if explained in medical terms that encompasses both synaptic plasticity and non-synaptic plasticity. Such changes are referred as changes in neural pathways and synapses which cause changes in behavior, environment, neural processes, thinking, and emotions. These changes may cause bodily as well mentally both. (Some of the references are medical terms from nuroplasticity).

 However, this fact has brought the hope of keeping the people fit and healthy in older age and saves them from dreaded diseases like Dementia, Alzheimer, migraine and brain storks. Human brain is also made of cells and tissues like rest of the body with a difference that the reaction and construction of brain is far more complicated than rest of the body parts. Brain is much more sensitive and can suffer damage on slightest of changes in routine of sleeplessness, malnutrition and tension. The maintenance of human brain depends on how well you maintain it to keep fresh and working with the increasing age and if you find/feel no visible changes or defects with passing time goes to show that you have done justice to your most important organ having more than 100 billion cells. You will be surprised to note that all these 100 billion cells communicate with each other whenever our brain gets busy or work and if the communication has no disturbance goes to show your brain is in perfect condition. 

We should keep in our mind that a healthy brain has lesser possibilities of suffering from dementia, Alzheimer, migraine or brain stork. We should keep a watch that if our way of speaking, especially pronunciation differs than in normal course, forgetfulness occurs occasionally or you feel sudden headaches and you feel numbness in your organs are sure signs of damage to brain cells and time to wake up for being extra cautious. 

The changing lifestyle

There could be one hundred and one reasons for faster damage to brain cells but the modern lifestyle has its clear impact on it and the fact cannot be denied. We have always been hearing, ‘Early to bad and early to rise’ but that is no more practiced by most of us. We have heard that it’s good to have two healthy meals a day, exercise, walk and keep good healthy lifestyle which helps our body and mind fit and which was practically part and parcel of human culture in our country is matter of past now. Now people are eating any number of times, junk and oily food is not a problem which causes high cholesterol and as a result a person suffers from diabetes, heart attack and brain stroke easily.  

I am sure you will not be surprised to note that walking is perhaps one of the best physical activities for mental fitness. The neurological studies say that three walks a week even for a limited distance and duration keeps Hippocampus (a part of your brain), considered to be the centre of emotion, memory, and the autonomic nervous system fit and healthy and normal in size. Incidentally, Hippocampus the center of memory in our brain if damaged causes Alzheimer disease. 

Another way of keeping mental fitness is to regularly learn something new which helps activate brain cells. For instance people who solve puzzles, try new languages, read regularly etc feel rejuvenated that even helps make someone or something feel better, younger, or even more vital. In fact all these activities create new memory fields inside the brain depending upon the capacity of a particular person which may vary from person to person. Solving puzzles could be a common mental exercise for an educated person but learning to count up to 10 may prove a difficult mental exercise for an uneducated person.

Avoid certain common mistakes

1-There is not a single person who does not have something to worry in his daily routine and that’s not limited to educated and job holders but everyone has something to worry about and if we trust the modern day routine the problems are increasing by the day. Most of us do not care to bring ourselves out of these problems and that starts the process of damaging brain cells at a faster rate. According to experts a physical exercise of 30 minutes duration is must depending upon age and physical condition. These physical activities not only help physical fitness but your mental fitness as well. 

2- Most of us feel hesitation going to doctor regarding the changes in our speech, dizziness, headache, blurred vision etc as we consider all these symptoms related to age and try domestic treatments which in turn could prove fatal. Most of us feel that sleeping time reduces as the age increases, true to some extent but a healthy sleep of 6-8 hours is necessary in any age, same is true for eating habits. A balance diet is must to keep your mental and physical health even in an elderly age.

3- While on the subject all these problems are not limited to only elderly people but younger persons may also suffer from all such symptoms if their lifestyle is not balanced. Some of the routines they follow are their professional but most of the activities can be controlled with little bit of self-control. We can understand people who work in shifts may face sleeplessness and headaches due to occasional change of shifts but what they eat or how they counter them with enough exercises etc is entirely in their own hands. In addition to lack of exercises people with smoking or/and drinking habits add problems to their mental as well physical health. 

4- Modernization has brought many problems and one of these problems is the people have cut-off from the social life or their social life has been limited to online activities. People see their relatives and friends only on limited occasions which deprive them of many common suggestions that could solve most of the problems they face or bring closer to solutions that ease the tensions and help living a normal life. 

5- As mentioned earlier what you eat is very important in maintaining a good physical and mental health. People do not understand but what you eat makes a big difference on your mental well being. Even the dieting which most of us consider good for our health may harm your brain if not done properly. It could harm your brain so one must be very careful about his dietary habits. It’s advisable to eat raw vegetables, fruits, whole grains in enough quantity. Omega-3 which is considered to be building block of the brain and vitamin E is essential along with a limited quantity of dry fruits including nuts, almonds, eggs, fish and green vegetables.  Add anti-Occident in diet which is one essential ingredient of your diet.

6- The most important part of your dietary habits is to avoid oil and fat especially when you cannot digest them with enough physical activities. Oil and fat are the main reasons of strokes and Alzheimer so the worst you can do with your health is intake of junk, hard to digest and untimely food.   

Conclusion

The regular exercise and good food habits which include carbohydrates, proteins, grains, not only reduce brain related problems but help keep heart also healthy. Both heart and brain suffer adversely if we eat oily and fatty foods which cause deposit clots in brain which causes a blood clot and disturbance in blood flow to the brain as well. Blood clots are the biggest risks for brains strokes leading to permanent brain damage in some cases. People who have already suffered from strokes must take special care and should walk, jog, run (if doctor prescribes) swim, practice water aerobics. All these activities help increase oxygen intake in the body which is good for the health of heart and brain both. People suffering from heart or brain related problems should consult physiotherapists with the consent of their physicians as physiotherapy can help heart and brain related problems with three staged stroke rehab program. However the prevention and regular exercise is the best method of keeping brain and heart related problems away.