Mental balance
4 characteristics of mentally healthy people
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You make your own luck? Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple. Psychologists have summarized the most important characteristics of mentally healthy people.
What makes a mentally healthy person? Of course, that cannot be broken down into a few factors. However, a group of researchers has now identified some personality traits that most mentally strong people have in common. In addition, the psychologists from different universities all in one Article for the “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” the characteristics of the so-called Big Five (open-mindedness, conscientiousness, extraversion, social compatibility and neuroticism) are analyzed to determine in which combination and in which sub-levels they can promote mental health. Those are the exciting results.
These 4 character traits make mentally healthy people
1. You are open to feelings
According to the researchers’ study, mentally healthy people can recognize, reflect on and classify their own feelings. At the same time, they are empathetic and can also empathize and understand the emotions of their counterpart. This open-mindedness to feelings is an important factor for mental strength and resilience.
2. You are enthusiastic
The second important point relates to extraversion, i.e. sociability and also enthusiasm. According to the research results, mentally healthy people can be really happy – both for themselves and for others.
3. You are honest
Another important quality of mentally strong people is honesty. This is about the point of social compatibility. Those who are mentally stable, of course, make an effort not to hurt others – but they are honest and do not lie, even when things get uncomfortable.
4. You are not prone to neuroticism
Neuroticism describes the relationship between emotional instability and stability, i.e. how strongly people are prone to fears, depression, etc. Unsurprisingly, anyone who is mentally healthy has only a low risk of such illnesses and is better able to deal with crisis situations. People with low levels of neuroticism are also calmer and more relaxed.
Anyone who has a combination of these character traits, is happier, more satisfied and more optimistic, according to the researchers. At the same time, such personalities can better control their impulses and are less prone to aggression and anger.
Don’t you have all of these qualities? What you can do for your mental health
What do we do with this knowledge now? Because of course we cannot influence our basic personality traits. Has anyone who does not find these qualities in himself just had bad luck? No of course not. Because it is often enough to deal intensively with your own personality, strengths and weaknesses.
Such an analysis of the Big Five initially only expresses the increased motivation for certain patterns of action that we do not have to blindly follow for the rest of our lives. So if you have a higher tendency to neuroticism, for example, you probably brood a lot and are more anxious and stressed more quickly than others. There are many tools here that can help. Psychotherapy, for example, or yoga and meditation.
Even if we can’t turn our personality 180 degrees, we can certainly work and grow at certain points. And not because we are not good enough the way we are and have to optimize ourselves – but because we are better off in the long term when we are mentally healthy.
Source used: Psychology Today