Productivity in Mental Health
Recent studies suggest individuals impacted by periodic and long-term poverty suffer from a host of psychological, social and emotional traumas impacting their well-being.
Erik Erikson’s theory on ego maturation describes the psychological patterns responsible for quality experiences.
According to his theory, a person matures as she acquires virtues using her character strengths.
On the other hand, someone experiencing issues achieving those strengths may encounter a growing crises. Resolving these life crisis can led to improved mental health.
So how does a person improve their character strength?
Studies show that our brain develops as it resolves the inner crises harming our quality of life.
Starting in infancy, a person encounters experiences that impact their ability to regulate emotion. Erratic, uncontrolled, inconsistent, volatile and/or aggressive behaviors tend to be borrowed from poor experiences with family, friends, coworkers and neighbors. These experiences pattern our thoughts, creating virtues and vice.
According to studies, people who are forced to deal with prolonged sources of stress; like violence, family turmoil, or over crowded and poor housing, are regularly challenged to overcome obstacles to healthy living.
Diseases linked to depression, ptsd and more severe mental health disorders are often rooted in distressing experiences. Early distress can impact a person’s ability to gain a strong sense of self-worth. In effect, these stressors impress harmful emotions onto a person’s psyche.
Meeting The Challenge
Emotional hardships often block more desirable experiences. Overcoming harmful emotions pressed into a person’s psyche causes can led to facing the experience at the root of the emotion.
Reliving trauma from past experiences can be distressing. But facing these emotions allows us to break cycles of trauma impacting our everyday lives, and our mental health. Releasing ourselves from remorseful feelings means remembering the experience with the intent of finding the patterns that led to the trauma. Rediscovering early thought patterns helps us to disconnect from beliefs inherited from early environments, and connect to beliefs in alignment with a healthy sense of self worth.
For more information on how to build a productive mental health regimen, visit @assembledcities on Pinterest, Instagram or Twitter.
McLeod, S. 2008. Erik Erikson. Simply Psychology
Sheffield, Rachel. Rector, Robert. 2014. Poverty And Inequality: The War on Poverty After 50 Years. The Heritage Foundation.
