Aasai

IMPACTS OF PSYCHOEDUCATION ON INDIVIDUALS MENTAL HEALTH.

Mental health has become a very crucial dimension of health in the current years.Over the past years,cries have been heard,tears have been seen but no action has been taken.I am overwhelmed with gratitude since there are steps that have been currently put in place to ensure mental wellbeing of the general public.One of these important steps taken is psychoeducation.Then what is this psychoeducation?

Psychoeducation refers to a psychological technique adopted by proffesional counsellors and psychologists to educate individuals and raise awareness on mental health.Psychoeducation involves education and awareness raising through teaching of mental health related topics such as stress management,stress coping mechanisms,drugs and substance abuse, substance use disorders, treatment and interventions for drugs and substance use disorders as well as the self care techniques and practices.Self care techniques include the various methods that an individual can adopt to cope with day to day challenges and they include deep breathing techniques, relaxation techniques, taking a walk ,meditation and mindfulness.

One of the greatest topics covered in psychoeducation include stress coping strategies.Stress coping mechanisms are the various ways we respond to stressors and can include both effective coping mechanisms and ineffective coping mechanisms.Effective coping mechanisms involves social support and seeking for proffesional counselling.Proffesional counseling can be got from proffesional counsellors and psychologists.Social support can be accessed through non governmental organisations,hospitals and rehabilitation centres.Social support serve a vital role in promoting recovery and example of a social group is Alcoholic anonymous groups.

Psychoeducation serves very many functions in the enhancement of peoples mental health.First, information is power and therefore psychoeducation informs individuals on the various methods and ways of staying mentally healthy.This is achieved through awareness raising and education conducted in various social institutions including workplaces, schools,colleges,universities,hospitals,hospices and rehabilitation centres.By providing mental health information to the public, people get to put into practice the information given hence converting theory into practical.

Stress management is never left behind when we speak of psychoeducation.It is one of the crucial topics touched.Our bodies are like guest houses, every morning we welcome both calm and rude customers but at the end we as the guest house owners expect to make a profit.What I am trying to speak about, its all about emotions we receive each day both the positive emotions like joy and happiness and the negative emotions such as fear and anger.These emotions can be the pathways leading to a stressful life and relationships.Through psychoeducation,we manage these stressors successfully by incorporating self care practices like relaxation techniques and deep breathing techniques.

Emotional regulation is also a fundamental role played by psychoeducation.By having the information on mental health helps a person to have emotional intelligence and hence can be capable of experiencing, recognising, understanding and responding to emotions such as joy, happiness,fear and anger.

By understanding the impacts of psychoeducation in ones life,one will gain much benefits when it comes to improved mental, physical, social, emotional and social health.Why so?This is because there will be enhanced self awareness.Mental health matters a lot!!!