I’ve never bought into the idea that mental health is an “either/or” proposition. That is, someone isn’t either mentally healthy or not. I also don’t think that it’s realistic to suggest that mental health is a goal; to do so would assume that someone isn’t “mentally healthy” to begin with. Really, I see mental health as a process. We all fade in and out of a healthy mental state as our lives unfold and we could be floating along, seemingly healthy, when out of the blue life triggers us and then, WHAM, we are shaken and demons rise in our souls and wreck our mental health
Life can dip us all into the well of despair. When it does, life challenges our mental health status. We might scratch and claw our way back to a place in which we’re comfortable. But here’s the thing: Most of the time, the place to which we’re trying to get no longer exists. We’re left trying to figure out new ways of living in what has become a different world.
For example, I tend to drive myself nuts attempting to frame a worldview that is just and fair. For the most part, I see a world in which focused effort, study, and patience yield positive outcomes. However, when people achieve positions of responsibility and authority that they never earned, I become consumed in a whirlpool of an unresolvable contradiction to my worldview. Most of the time, I can approach life from a rational perspective, but, when life sucks me into that whirlpool, I become incapable of rationality and become consumed by anger and frustration.
Emotional thinking is devoid of logic; trying to frame a logical condition from an illogical perspective only digs the anger hole deeper. Yet, that’s exactly what I, like so many others, tend to do when confronted with situations in life that don’t mesh with my view of the world. It’s not healthy for me (or for anyone really) to stew in those places of anger and frustration. But, does that mean that I have mental health issues simply because I become angry sometimes?
Some would say, “Yes, you need to work on your anger issues.” But, really, I’m human and my anger actually serves a purpose: While there are those who climbed to positions through lying and connections to people, there are far more who have earned their lives and have worked on their craft (whatever that is) to the point of expertise. My anger reminds me that I will never be one of those who get to places through connections; once I calm down from my anger, I look at my pen and notebook and remember that I value expertise; though I may never attain expertise at anything, I will never stop working on my craft in a constant effort of improvement. Anger can fuel and energize my search for excellence.
So, yes, I can become spun out when life slaps the reality that not all who “succeed” have done so through focused effort in my face. But, I think acknowledging my anger at those situations is the healthiest thing I can do. Even if it takes a few days to recover from an episode, I return to mental equilibrium through my focused pursuit of becoming a strong writer and while there will always be those who talk a good game and never produce a damn thing but empty words, I will never allow myself to be one of them.And that knowledge makes me quite mentally healthy.
