As we grapple with a pandemic and come to terms with the changes that it brought in our daily lives, one issue came into the foray, and that was the importance of mental health. Millions of people complained about declining mental health as the world around them stopped. Suddenly, people were crowding at the therapists’ and social media saw the rise of people who came out with mental health issues.
What is Mental Health?
Mental health refers to the emotional and psychological well-being of a person. It affects our day-to-day lives and shapes how we handle stress or react to social situations. The tricky part is, since mental health is related to the health of the mind, there are no rulebook symptoms of distress. One of the most common mental health issues is anxiety, which can manifest differently for different people. This makes it difficult to self-diagnose mental health issues at home. People often keep overlooking it until they hit rock bottom, making recovery a time-consuming process.
The trick is to take care of your mental health daily. If you take small steps to ensure your mental wellness, you could save yourself a lot of trouble. There are a lot of things you can do to stay mentally healthy. In this article, we take one of the easiest ways to do that: travelling. The main focus of this article is on students.
Importance of Taking Care of Mental Health
Be it school students, adults who attend college or adults who work jobs: anyone could face mental health issues. But here’s the deal: while independent adults can immediately seek help, students can’t because they are financially dependent on their parents. Moreover, the stigma around mental health prevents many people from speaking up. But travelling is something that everyone is fond of (at least, mostly everyone is). Even if your parents are not mental health enthusiasts, they will not deny you if you tell them you wish to travel for education purpose.
As a student, you might be thinking about your pending assignments, preventing you from travelling. But don’t worry; help is readily available. For example, if you need research paper written or if you need help with essay or dissertation, it is always wise to seek help instead of suffering alone. Many students face difficulty in academic writing, which dramatically affects their mental health.
While there is no denying that it is essential to do your course-related assignments, it is also equally important to keep yourself mentally healthy. Keep in mind that good mental health would help you academically because you would have better concentration and a quicker understanding of topics. As stated earlier, mental health directly affects how we deal with the challenges of day-to-day lives. That is why students should take time from their busy schedules for travelling. Travelling not only enriches the mind, but it also helps you destress, which is why it is an excellent way to ensure your mental well-being.
Benefits of Traveling
Travelling is one of the richest experiences you might have, irrespective of your age. Here are some of the benefits from indulging in the activity:
- You Learn New Things: Going to a new place opens your horizons. You experience a way of living that might be completely different from yours. You should try out the local cuisine and, if possible, indulge in conversations with the locals. You will realise how differently the world functions in different places and how that is reflected in the people belonging to that place.
- It Helps You Break Away from the Monotonicity: You are the hero of your own life, but it would not be as adventurous as the life of a hero that you might have been reading about. Your daily lives involve repeating the same action repeatedly: going to the university/library/job, meeting the same-old people, trying to meet deadlines/completing the academic course, and so on. But travelling helps you break away from the daily grind and enables you to refresh your mind.
- Relieve Stress and Anxiety: A lot of research has been conducted in this arena, and there is no denying it: travelling helps alleviate symptoms related to stress and anxiety. The reason behind this is simple: as you escape your mundane life, you also succeed in escaping the factors that are causing you stress. So you get to enjoy your vacation and start afresh when you come back.
- It helps build Resilience: Traveling means you would be in an unknown place, among unknown people. If you face any issue, it is up to you to tackle it because no one else would do it for you. When you manage your problems in a new place, it gives you a sense of confidence, and you learn an essential lesson– nothing is impossible. In our minds, we make the worst possible scenarios, but it is never that bad.
- You get time for self-reflection: Any self-help book would tell you that self-reflection is essential. But it is usually challenging to do that when you lead a hectic lifestyle. But travelling helps you make time for yourself. Moreover, if you decide to travel into the lap of nature: visit the mountains, plan a camping trip in the woods or go to a sea beach, it is a different story altogether. No one would deny that nature has a meditative quality. There is something about sitting in silence at a place that is far away from the humdrum of city life that makes you want to think about your life.
Conclusion
After reading the article, there should be no doubt in your mind about the fact that travelling can help you stay mentally healthy. It adds to your reservoir of knowledge and experience and ensures your mental well-being. When life gets tough, it is best to press pause and take a few steps back. Feeling overwhelmed is never good for your mental health, so make sure you are in tune with your emotions. You don’t need to plan grand vacations to stay mentally healthy; even a 3-day getaway trip to the countryside would work wonders for you. Although, make sure that your way of travelling doesn’t add to your stress. If you are aware of your triggers, avoid them on your trip. When you have made enough lemonade from all the lemons that life throws at you, you can pack your bags and go on an escapade!
