Joseph Mastrando’s deep passion for all things mental health began when his life was personally affected by it many years ago. He witnessed firsthand as someone he loved grappled with drug and alcohol-related issues. He researched as much about the topic as he could, eventually using that insight to encourage others to help through counseling and more.
Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he is also one of the driving forces behind the Better Health Wellness Center. It’s an organization that currently serves patients from all regions of the state, as well as in neighboring New Jersey.
All of this is to say that Joseph Mastrando is a professional who is uniquely positioned to give his take on a topic that matters to all of us, whether we realize it or not: mental health. Our mental health is a crucial stabilizing factor in our lives, and, indeed, it is just as important (if not more so) than our physical health in a lot of ways.
Yes, it’s a struggle. Achieving proper mental health isn’t something that will happen overnight. But with the right, proactive approach, it can absolutely be done – and the process begins by recognizing the importance of this pivotal element of our lives moving forward.
Why Mental Health Matters
When a lot of people hear the term “mental health,” they think about something with inward-facing implications. They consider their own health and well-being first and foremost. While this is certainly important, Joseph Mastrando wants to make it clear that a focus on mental health also helps people address outward-facing situations, too. Namely, it can help us better cope with and handle stressful situations, and it can give us the insight we need to better relate to others and more.
While physical health is certainly important, it’s critical to acknowledge that it is just one small part of a much larger story. Yet, at the same time, people tend to focus a significant amount of their own energy on the physical aspect of their lives at the expense of mental health-related issues.
All of this is especially key given everything going on in the world over the last few years. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic changed our lives in more ways than one – and mental health was absolutely at the forefront of that. Suddenly, everything we knew to be “true” was shattered, and even though we’re in the process of returning to a “new normal,” for a lot of people, it probably has little resemblance to those aspects of life that were left behind in 2020.
People are battling an increased among of anxiety. Day-to-day stressors are affecting their mood like never before. It’s difficult – if not downright impossible – to achieve anything close to inner peace. Our relationships and our self-esteem are suffering.
All of these are things that a focus on mental health can help improve. Not only will these lessons be valuable during the current period, but they will also continue to be helpful long after COVID-19 has left us behind.
In the end, Joseph Mastrando believes that more people need to understand that mental health is about more than just whether we are happy or sad. It directly touches the way we sleep, the way we eat, and absolutely everything in between. Therefore, if you still need to begin to prioritize your own mental health and make the types of choices that can improve your well-being in that regard over the long haul, now would be an excellent time to start.
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