The World Mental Health Day was commemorated on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, to create awareness of the importance of mental health and more importantly to break the disparities to good mental health and get more people talking about mental health and seeking help too. This year’s theme, ‘Mental Health is universal human right’, is set to create awareness, improve knowledge and prompt initiatives to protect mental health as a human right; however, there are still certain individuals and groups that are more affected than others.
Marriage as a partnership can impact positively or negatively on your mental health, even though many people believe that marriage has the capacity to promote good mental health; nevertheless, emotions experienced after a separation or divorce can be grievous enough to trigger mental health. It is, therefore, important to identify situations that can cause mental illness in your marriage and together create strategies to help you maintain a safe and healthy marital relationship.
Practice kindness
Kindness is an important attribute of love in marriage and when it is absent or inconsistent, it can be detrimental to the spouse’s health and wellbeing. Statistics state that an act of kindness can have a significant impact on a person’s mental health and when couples are kind to each other, they can reduce stress, anxiety, mood swings and mitigate the chances of depression. One of the best ways you can show love and affection to your spouse is by being kind as kindness is contagious and can strengthen love and boost your happiness, which is essential for a positive mindset.
Identify a good approach for emotional support
Even though marriage has the possibility to fill the vacuum in your lives, this may be impossible because you may never totally know your spouse if he is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is a mental health condition caused by a distressing event from his past that is now affecting his mental health.
It is important to identify the best way to support your spouse emotionally and good communication is the tool for asking uncomfortable questions about traumatic experiences, which may be affecting her life and her ability to look forward to a bright marital future. It is only when your spouse can let go of the past, no matter how painful it seems, that you can both fully embrace the future together.
Set healthy boundaries
Marriage can become draining and depressing if one spouse is selfish and inconsiderate of the other, making the other person feel insecure in the relationship. Insecurity can trigger mental health in a person and setting healthy and clear boundaries allows you to express your needs and values so that you can both learn to respect each other.
Make room for forgiveness
The real heart of a good marriage is understanding, which allows you to evaluate disagreements and conflicts beyond your own feelings and emotions, and make room for forgiveness even in difficult situations. The inability to forgive is like a wound that can only increase the feeling of fear, depression and uncertainty, which are all factors that can have a significant impact on your physical and mental health. The truth is that you cannot sustain your marriage without practising forgiveness, which is fundamental to good mental health.
