Good mental hygiene, part I
Everyone who reads this probably is familiar with good dental hygiene. For instance, you shouldn’t eat a lot of sugary treats. You should brush your teeth after meals. You ought to floss between your teeth regularly. You may want to use an antiseptic mouth rinse. Lastly, you should get regular dental checkups to make sure there are no problems developing, and if they do crop up, you get them taken care of by a dentist.
All of that is really important to your health.
One thing that most people don’t think about, though, is good Mental Hygiene. And that’s sad, because good mental hygiene is even more important than good dental hygiene.
Why do I say that? Well, think about this: how often do you hear about someone dying because of bad dental hygiene? I admit, it was a regular occurrence as recently as Victorian times, due to the increased availability of sugar and other sweets in diets, and dental health practices that were very ill-conceived.
But in the 1940s, soldiers returning from war brought with them the habit of regular toothbrushing (mandated by the service) and I have yet to read or hear a recent news story about someone dying from a dental illness, whether it is a decayed tooth, gum disease, or badly fitting braces.
But poor mental hygiene can be deadly. Over 36,000 people EACH YEAR die by
suicide. And, in a study of mass killers during the years from 2000 thru 2015,
over 30% of those mass murderers were found to be mentally ill.
Now, this doesn’t mean that people who are mentally ill or emotionally disturbed will all turn out to be killers, or will kill themselves. But it does point to the fact that mental hygiene is something that is much more critical to staying alive, than dental hygiene.
I hope I don’t anger any dentists with that observation!
As stated before, we are bombarded with info about dental hygiene, and how to keep our teeth and mouths healthy. We are encouraged from kindergarten on up, to keep a bright and healthy smile. But mental hygiene is something that is largely ignored, even though poor care in that area is potentially more deadly— both to ourselves and to others.
It’s easy to see the results of bad dental hygiene. Teeth turn yellow or rot. Sometimes they fall out. Gums become diseased. The breath becomes rank. But mental hygiene is largely invisible, until it is ignored for too long. You may be asking yourself what mental hygiene is. Mental hygiene is the practice of maintaining mental health through proactive behavior and treatment.
But what does that mean, exactly? To see if you are practicing good mental hygiene, ask yourself some questions, such as:
♦ Do I let criticism from others take root in my mind, fester there, and destroy my self-confidence?
♦ Do I resent the success of others? ♦ Do I hold grudges over past hurts?
♦ Do I set unrealistic goals for myself, and then beat myself up when I cannot accomplish those goals?
♦ Do I allow the “beautiful people” on social media to become the standard I compare myself to?
♦ Do I judge my self-worth by how many “Likes” I get on my social media posts?
♦ Do I allow technology to build a wall between myself and others, leading to social isolation?
♦ Do I let frustrations about things going wrong, mess up my personal peace?
These are all things that, if not dealt with, can wreak havoc on good mental hygiene. They are like never brushing your teeth, never flossing, and never paying attention to how your teeth look or feel.
Good dental hygiene requires both selfcare and seeing a dental health professional on a regular basis, to give you a checkup and help you through any rough patches.
Good mental hygiene also requires selfcare, and it’s not a bad idea to consider regular checkups with someone who can help you with mental hygiene, too. Pay attention to their recommendations about how to maintain good mental hygiene. In the long run, you’ll be glad you did.
In the next column, we’ll talk about some specific ways you can work on maintaining good mental hygiene — in other ways, self-care.