**Protect it now, it costs more to fix it!!!**

![istockphoto-1271142212-612x612.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/sam9999/23zbgiUaX4xacjzycrbL2F9GnteaYorB8kxbPVyS4JLmaHRyHvGYUCCkecMxzPxop65xe.jpg)
[Image source](https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/vertigo-illness-concept-man-hands-on-his-head-felling-headache-dizzy-sense-of-gm1271142212-373832825)

When the doctor told me (I was 15 at the time) that Daniel (a close friend of mine) might be suffering from a mental health issue known as **mixed anxiety depressive disorder MADD**. I opened my mouth in disbelief as the only word that rang in my head was the last word **MADD** for some reason the pronunciation **MADD** which sounded like **MAD** made me forget the aforementioned information, my brain has decided to process just one word and it was nothing but **MADD**. Knowing the doctor as at then to be quite jovial, Just to make sure we were on the same page, I asked him in disbelief **"you joking right? "** because if he was, it certainly wasn't funny there are lines that shouldn't be crossed. He said **“I never joke with something like that"** he replied as he looked at me frankly.

Daniel has definitely been showing signs of **depression and anxiety** which could be called **antisocial behaviours** but as at then my brain focused on just the world **MADD**, I said **"just to be clear you saying my friend is MAD, like insanely MAD**(I was so naive)**" No"** he replied **“Im just saying he has a mental health issue that makes him feel like giving up on everything and anything, he feels nothing is worth it. Basically he is always sad even if he should have a reason to be happy and on regular basis, he will also get nervous and anxious when faced with a task as simple as interacting with other. It is a mental health issue not an insanity problem”**. Even after the layman’s breakdown by the doctor, I still googled the whole MADD phenomenon ***(seriously thank God for google, it really is everyone's friend)***  for better understanding.

Now according to the world health organization, WHO 2004

> Mental health is a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to contribute to his or her own community

[Source](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response)

Obviously, Daniel was having a problem with everything stated to be a sound mental health.

A lot of people are living but as a matter of fact, they are hardly living. Your mental health literally determines who you are, what you are and how you would behave. In most cases, you are a reflection of your mental health. 

We are now in an era where people know the importance of a sound mental health and they go the extra mile to protect it. But the truth is as much as people are aware of the need to protect their mental health, a lot of people are still unaware of the need to protect this aspect of their life

The mind controls the body, and like they say if you can think it, it can be done, you are what you think on a daily basis

From the above breakdown of what mental health is, it can be deduced that your mental health determines your personality type, a proper self-image which is a function of your mental health goes a long way in reinforcing your mental health. After all your mind is the source of your emotion, it determines the way you interact with others, your personality both psychologically and socially.

**Mental illness**

According to NIH (US) 2007

> Mental illness is a health condition involving the changes in emotion, thinking or behaviour (or a combination of all three) of an individual that causes distress and difficulty in functioning (i.e social work or family activity)

[Source](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20369/)

**Let's look at some common types of mental illness**

- psychoses
- Dementia
- Personality disorders
- Eating disorder like anorexia, bulimia nervosa  
- Mood disorders like depression, bipolar disorder and manic disorder
- Anxiety disorders like PTSD=post traumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, general anxiety disorder known as GAD

**Now, what are some likely causes of compromised mental health?**

**Expectation VS Reality** *(What I ordered and wanted vs what I got* ☹️)

Let’s be frank here, we live in a cruel *(strongly avoiding the urge to use accursed*) world, a world where only the fittest survive, expectation and reality can be like two parallel lines that never meet and some people aren’t resilient enough to deal with it, they break like an elastic band that has finally reached its breakpoint. I guess being resilient is also an important skill to be mastered.

Quoting MJ (~Zindaya~ Spiderman from No way home ) 
*Expect disappointment and you would never be disappointed* (of course this is an unhealthy way to live your life and it is good to be optimistic and all, but sometimes expecting disappointment and learning to deal with  it can prepare you for the worst and the worst can be a severe mental break down)

Yeah Yeah, it's good to dream big, oh my! it's so easy to dream big, but frankly and sometimes, reality sets in, and that reality can be brutal and sour causing lots of people significant stress and one of the devils of a compromised mental health is unhealthy stress(emphasis on unhealthy) my friend, avoid it at all cost. 
Sometimes after being optimistic and all, you have to wake up to reality and understand that most times things never go as planned, don’t be caught unaware, prepare for that uncertainty and you would never break down, even if you do, you would easily bounce back up.

**Social Media**
I use social media a lot, in fact, I can hardly go a day without it, its a necessary evil and you know what it has come to stay, as much as I use it, I have learnt to protect my mental health by adhering to and living my life on one principle, as a matter of fact, this principle has been engraved into my mind **“Don’t believe everything you see on social"**, for me 90% of the things on social media is a well-packaged lie sent out for delivery and someone peoples order those lies, pay for it, digest it, and finally recommend it to other and thus the vicious cycle continues

(I don’t care if it is far less than 90% as long as my mental health is not crying while social media is laughing, its my self-defence, my antivirus, just imagine a social media platform like Instagram). Instagram can make you think everyone is having a great day and you are the only one having the worst of the worst days in the whole wide world, that my friend is a perfect recipe for a mental breakdown, you need an antivirus. 

Research has made it known that social media are responsible for aggravated mental health problems. So there you have it, presented to you naked and vulnerable, social media is an Angelic-devil, a full bouquet of good and evil, it is up to you to find an equilibrium and protect your mental health.

Sometimes to protect your mental health you have to just drop that angelic devil and focus on what you can see physically and not through an hypnotizing screen. Some people keep watching social even after falling into depression because of social media, sounds like using poison as an antidote for poison,a movie with a predictable bad ending.

**Negative Peer influence**

They say *It's better to walk alone in the right direction than to walk with a crowd in the wrong direction*
The pressure to conform, The pressure to live once hmm!!! depression is like a roaring lion seeking a peer that has allowed him or herself to be pressured only to devour, allow yourself to be pressured by peer pressure and depression walks like in like the lord of the house, pitch its stool at the centre of your thoughts and what comes next, a trailer to a mental breakdown.
In short, learn to say NO sometimes, don’t trade your integrity, dignity, principles and belief because of people that might really not matter in the next 10 years. A 1 second NO might just save you 10 years of mental health issues.  

In conclusion, **protect your mind at all cost for it will definitely cost more to get it fixed**, **that’s if it can be fixed** 

*Thank for taking a step further to protect your mental health by reading this post, *Sayonara*✌️*

**References/Resources**
[Reference 1](https://www.google.com/search?q=Mental+illness+is+a+health+condition+involving+the+changes+in+emotion,+thinking+or+behaviour+(or+a+combination+of+all+three)+of+an+individual+that+causes+distress+and+difficulty+in+functioning+(i.n+social+work+or+family+activity)&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiP0qPbufb2AhWHxoUKHYVlDZQQBSgAegQIARAw&biw=1227&bih=618&dpr=1.1)
[Reference 2](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20369/)
[Reference 3](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders)
[Reference 4](https://www.paho.org/en/topics/mental-health#:~:text=The%20World%20Health%20Organization%20WHO,to%20his%20or%20her%20community%E2%80%9D.)