No one said life was going to be easy. Every person has their own cross to carry, but this is becoming an epidemic in the United States. Student debt, income inequality, medical costs, and many other issues continue to plague Americans.
It is estimated that one out of every six Americans are taking psychiatric drugs to combat the emotional toll they are dealing with. The following are three ways emotions can affect your overall well being. You can also take a heath assessment to give you a better idea of where you are emotionally.
Affect Your Drive for Health
People have a natural drive to survive and feel good. This innate self-propelling feeling to do the best you can for yourself is driven by your emotions more than some might imagine. The problem is that some people are not feeling emotionally healthy enough to focus on their physical well being.
A person needs to feel good about him or herself to even want to focus on the physical aspect of their health. This is one reason physical trainers try to build self-confidence before focusing on the physical health of a person. Personal trainers know that the strongest motivator is your emotions.
Granted, it is hard to focus on your emotional health when there is so much negativity bombarding you. Try using all tools available to you to calm down and not let negativity derail you. Physical health is not just about looking good, but it also helps improve circulation, joint health, and digestion, just to name a few things.
Shorter Life
Several emotions linked to poor emotional health can be detrimental to your overall lifespan. This may seem far-fetched, but there are a number of emotions like stress that could really do some damage.
Everyday stress-inducing issues, such as financial problems can create an excess amount of cortisol. This hormone is related to stress that is helpful during a fight or flight situation but can become harmful if the stress is long-lasting. Over-exposing the body to this hormone leads to inflammation and even blood clots.
You do not want your body to be subjected to this hormone for too long. It should be noted that this represents one of many ways that emotions can hurt your overall well being. It is easy to see how your lifespan can be diminished if you are suffering from poor emotional health.
Emotions Can Be Used for Good or Bad
It is safe to say that some people are starting to understand just how powerful emotions can be. These same people may be seeing that negative emotions could have detrimental effects on their bodies, which was mentioned earlier. It may seem like your body has been hijacked by your emotions, but this is something that can be used in your favor.
The body is equipped to handle diverse emotions, but most people are exposed to negative emotions. Yes, there are several negative forces out there that you cannot shield yourself from, but you can still take control of your emotional health using external sources. In essence, you can expose yourself to positive emotional triggers to combat some of the bad.
For example, those who are feeling stressed might want to emotionally inject some goodness by triggering the production of serotonin. This is the feel-good hormone that you can trigger using things that you enjoy like movies, positive reinforcement, and even sex. Serotonin has been shown to combat the negative effects of cortisol, and it also seems to improve things like memory along with other cognitive functions.
It might seem strange that your emotions burden your physical health, but at least you have some input, and you can make conscious decisions about your health goals.
Hopefully, some of these points make it easier for you to understand the importance of your emotional health. Remember that Americans need to pay attention to their emotions because of the many ills that are affecting many today.