Mental Health or Physical Health – Which One Is More Essential

Everyone wants to stay healthy both mentally and physically; but, what would you pick if you had to choose only one of the two? Many believe that physical fitness is crucial because it enables you to work hard and earn money, which leads to a comfortable life. On the other hand, many prefer mental health because if you are not happy from within, you will not have the enthusiasm to work. And, when you don’t have the enthusiasm to work, you will not be successful. The reality is, both mental and physical health is interlinked, and prioritizing one over the other may not be the right thing to do.

The healthier alternative

It is hard to choose between physical and mental health. The latter gives you the motivation to perform daily tasks while the former can complete the job if you are mentally satisfied. For example, if you are upset or angry about something at the office, do you think your productivity will be the same as some other day or will it be comparatively less? Usually, mental health affects physical health. Also, suppose you are suffering from a disease for weeks, it will make you want to recover quickly because you are fed up having to rest for so long.

However, according to psychologists, since mental health affects the overall psychological well-being of a person like how you feel about yourself, controlling your emotions, and handling relationships, it should be slightly ahead of physical health. Psychologists also believe that you can improve physical health in comparatively quicker time by taking healthier food supplements and regular exercise. But, it takes months to recover for a patient suffering from anxiety or depression. This has a direct effect on their physical health too as they tend to be unmindful at work resulting in less productivity.

Mental or physical health – is there really a choice?

One of the significant differences between mental and physical health treatment is the participation of the patient to recover. For example, if you are mentally healthy, but suffering from fever, you will want to recover quickly to go back to work. But, consider that you are physically fit, but encountered a terrible problem in your relationship that keeps you depressed throughout the day. Soon, you will move into a phase where depression is the only constant in your life unless you go to a psychologist. Treating this mental problem is not a three or four-day course where the doctor guarantees that you will feel better once you finish taking the medicines. No one knows when you will fully recover.

This uncertainty in the treatment of mental health is the reason why psychologists think that mental health is more crucial than physical health. When it comes to physical health, you at least have an average time span within which you can expect to recover, but that’s not true for mental health. So, although it is essential to be mentally and physically fit, you should keep in mind that the former is what controls your productivity more than anything else.