Lesson 1
Mental, Emotional, and Social Health
In this lesson, you will explain how healthy relationships can positively impact health.
You will also answer this question: How do you develop and maintain your mental, emotional, and social health?
In this lesson, you will be able to do the following:
Describe a mentally, emotionally, and socially healthy person. (H5PH-la-b-10)
Suggest ways to develop and maintain one's mental and emotional health. (H5PH-Ic-11)
Explain how healthy relationships can positively impact health. (H5PH-le-13) Discuss ways to manage unhealthy relationships. (H5PH-If-14)
Let's Go
Are you healthy?
When people ask this question, the first thing that usually comes to mind is being physically fit. While that may be true, being healthy does not only mean having good physical health or how well your body functions. You must also work hard to improve on the other aspects of health: mental health, emotional health, and social health. If you want to know more, let us go and discover these!
Characteristics of a Healthy Person
Mental health, also called the intellectual domain of health, is the capacity to interpret, analyze, and act on information. It includes your emotional and social well-being. To give you an idea of a person's mental health, listen to a person's reasoning, or notice how a person recognizes the sources of influence over his or her beliefs or actions. Having an alert mind, learning from mistakes, and recognizing achievements are some of the distinct qualities of someone who is mentally healthy.
Emotional health is how one reacts to events in his or her life. Are you aware of your feelings and how you express them? An emotionally healthy person communicates self control and self-acceptance, expressing a full range of feelings in socially acceptable ways. Experiencing positive emotions is great but you should also learn how to manage negative emotions without being self-destructive or becoming a threat to others.
Social health, on the other hand, is how well one gets along with others. It is reflected by his or her social skills. Since you interact with different people every day, you should be able to maintain comfortable relationships at home, in school, and in your community. A socially healthy person also gives and accepts help, and respects other people's uniqueness. If you do not accept others because you are too focused on yourself, it limits your social health and undermines the quality of life of others.
Mental health, emotional health, social health, and physical health are equally important. Balancing these are the characteristics of a healthy person.
Ways to Develop and Nurture One's Mental Health
Mental health is to be comfortable with one's self, with others, and with the surroundings. Since it affects how you think, feel, and act, you can develop and nurture your mental health by:
Liking yourself. You should be proud of who you are because you are unique. You have qualities and skills that are truly likable.
Being good to yourself. Reward yourself once in a while for a job well done. Examining your behavior. Reflect on your own conduct. Some do this before going to bed when they think of what they did the whole day.
Accepting your limitations. Think of your competency or skill in terms of your success rather than your failures. If things do not work out the way you planned, learn from your mistakes..
Dealing with a problem as it arises. Stop worrying about "what if." Establishing realistic goals. Having a goal gives you direction in life. Make a list of short term and long term goals and how you plan to accomplish them.
Expressing your emotion by how it makes you feel, not how others make you feel. Communicate your feelings using the "I" messages. "I feel angry for having practices after class" is healthier than "Coach, you make me angry. You should not give practices after class."
Being part of different activities and interests. Even if you have certain favorites. be open to learn other things. Who knows? You might discover a new talent! Developing a sense of humor. Learn to laugh even at your mistakes but be sure to learn from them.
Being optimistic.
Ways to Stay Emotionally Healthy
To make sure the feelings you experience are appropriate responses to events, you can stay emotionally healthy by:
Expressing your feelings in healthy ways.
Being part of activities that are mentally and emotionally healthy.
Preventing or managing conflicts and other stress in healthy ways. Communicate by explaining and not shouting.
Asking for help for troublesome feelings. You can talk to your guidance counselors and teachers when you are in school or to your parents or any trusted adult in your family when you are at home.
Being empathetic toward others. Think of what it would be like to be in their shoes.
Carrying out personal responsibilities. As you grow older, you have tasks to fulfill
so you need to be responsible every day.
Establishing and maintaining healthy relationships. At home, in school, and in your community, you need to have a harmonious relationship with other people.
Do you consider yourself mentally, emotionally, and socially healthy? Why?
One thing that is common among these examples is your relationship with others. That is because mental, emotional, and social health are fostered by healthy relationships.
Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships
Signs of Healthy Relationships
A healthy relationship starts at home. Having a loving family makes all the members work together to show their care and commitment, respect and appreciation, empathy, communication, and cooperation. Outside the home are genuine friendships with other people.
Importance of Healthy Relationships in Maintaining Health These relationships do not just happen. You need to work at it by being involved
in school and in your community, especially with the members of your family. All the aspects of health are equally important because a development or a problem in one area affects the other areas. Having a problem can result in a headache, the same way that having negative emotions can lead to a heart attack. Having healthy relationships will help you have a positive outlook in life which affects your overall wellness.
Signs of Unhealthy Relationships
Other relationships are not built on mutual respect and equality. While there is no perfect relationship, it should not make one feel constantly afraid, depressed, or angry.
Threats, intimidation, and isolation should never be tolerated because they affect a person's self-worth. No matter how bad things are, no one should be abused mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Managing Unhealthy Relationships
If too much time and energy is consumed despite trying to communicate your thoughts and feelings, you need to let go of that unhealthy relationship. If you cannot stop it completely, limit the time you invest or spend in that destructive relationship. Instead, use your time and energy to develop positive ones.
You can ask help from community helpers, your guidance counselor, or trusted adults in your family so that they can guide you.
Your personal health is affected by these relationships. At the end of each day, it is not the quantity but the quality of relationship you have with others. Your personal health is your right as well as your responsibility, so choose what will make you healthy inside and out.
How do you develop and maintain your mental and emotional health?
Let's Practice
A. Describing a mentally, emotionally, and socially healthy person (H5PH-a-b-10)
1. Name a person whom you consider to be mentally, emotionally, and socially healthy. Identify his or her characteristics.
2. Do you consider yourself a mentally, emotionally, and socially healthy person? Why?
Discussing ways of managing unhealthy relationships (H5PH-IF-14)
Brainstorm with your group mates about the different ways of managing unhealthy relationships. Share your answers in class.
