Mental wellbeing

Mental wellbeing

Mental wellbeing relates to our ability to positively experience life, effectively manage life challenges, realise our potential and make a meaningful contribution within our community.

Positive mental wellbeing helps us to deal with challenges, solve problems and achieve our goals. Maintaining good mental wellbeing also reduces our vulnerability to mental health difficulties.

Local research has shown that there are five aspects that contribute to a person's mental wellbeing:

  • Self-esteem
  • Social intelligence
  • Resilience
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Cognitive efficacy

Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is about how we think and feel about ourselves. It is about having confidence and believing in our abilities, and how motivated we are about improving on our weaknesses.

By nurturing a positive view of ourselves, we can develop strong self-esteem that gives us confidence to embrace life's challenges, pursue our goals, and take steps to lead a meaningful life.

Tip for building self esteem:
Keep a positive journal to record positive events or qualities about yourself. For example, you can start by listing 10 things you like about yourself and using it to remind yourself how special you are!

Social Intelligence

Social Intelligence relates to how well we interact with people around us – at play or work, at home or with the community.

Having social intelligence means we are able to connect with others to build trusting and meaningful relationships. Taking time and effort to listen to and understand others' perspectives will help build a strong social network to rely on for support in good and bad times.

Tip for building Social Intelligence:
Listening attentively to someone is one good way of building rapport. In your next conversation, try focusing on what the other person is saying, repeat to check your understanding before responding. This allows him to feel valued and at the same time gives you a better understanding of their perspective.

Resilience

Resilience relates to our ability to cope with stress and "bounce back" when we are confronted with difficult situations. It is about viewing challenges as opportunities rather than threats. It is strength that helps you manage situations and turn them into useful life experiences.

With resilience, we will be able to manage stressful situations positively, recover quickly and emerge as a stronger and smarter person.

Tip for building Resilience:
Stay positive! Remind yourself that tough times don't last forever and that there are options abound to overcome even the most challenging situations. Keeping positive will open your mind to more possibilities!

 

 

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is our ability to identify, understand and manage our emotions effectively. It is about being able to identify situations that make us feel positive so we can continue to seek them. At the same time, it is also about being mindful of our reactions to various situations that would typically arouse strong emotions in us.

With good emotional intelligence, we will know ourselves better, respond more effectively to people and situations, and make better decisions in the long run.

Tips for building Emotional Intelligence:
Take note of instances which makes you happy and relaxed, and continue to do these regularly. These could be simple activities like reading a book, talking a walk in the park or chatting with a loved one.

Keep tested strategies at hand for managing negative emotions, including anger. These strategies could include distracting yourself from your emotions, using a relaxation technique, changing unhelpful thinking patterns, exercising or talking to friends and family.

Cognitive Efficacy

Cognitive efficacy is our ability to think clearly and effectively in our daily life. This means being able to understand, analyse, plan, remember, and respond successfully to different situations. It also includes adopting a step-by-step approach to challenges and weighing the pros and cons of various courses of actions before making a decision.

With good cognitive efficacy, we will be able to make rational decisions and deal with life's challenges effectively. We will also be able to achieve our goals.

Tips for building Cognitive Efficacy:
Next time you are confronted by a problem, take a step back and try to look at the situation objectively. Break a problem into smaller pieces and solve them one at a time. If you need help, ask a friend, family member or colleague for ideas.

This article was sourced from the Health Promotion Board (HPB). For more information on depression, visit HPB's website on mental health issues here.

 

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