MENTAL HYGIENICS - ITS OKAY TO BE A GERMAPHOBE

When most people hear the word hygienics or hygiene they usually think about body cleanliness. That’s because they assume that cleanliness and hygiene are interchangeable, but they’re not the same thing.

Cleaning involves the removal of infectious microbes as well as dirt and soil. Whereas Hygiene speaks of a practice that prevents the spread of disease-causing organisms. Cleaning removes - Hygiene prevents.

Our focus today is on prevention from germs, Hygiene for your Brain.

There are various types of hygiene; like personal hygiene, medical hygiene, food hygiene, sleep hygiene, dental hygiene, occupational hygiene, respiratory hygiene, and today’s topic is Mental Hygiene.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Hygiene is a set of practices to be performed to preserve health and wholeness in a person.

Our physical surface encounters a minimum of 60,000 types of germs a day, and in some cases up to a maximum of several hundred thousand, depending on the circumstance that we find ourselves in on that day.

Our mental sub-surface has 70,000 thoughts a day going through its cerebral corridor. That’s a lot of thoughts about a lot of things!

Hygienically speaking, we all know that some days can be “funkier” than other days, both physically and mentally, depending on the day.

I believe there is a correlation between the 60,000 germs we touch, and the 70,000 thoughts we think… thoughts can also contain germs.

I call them Thought Germs. A germ is not visible to the human eye, nor is a thought, it causes disease or dis- ease, as do our thoughts sometimes.

We’ve all had thoughts that made us ache in our heart, hurt in our head, sick to our stomach, and manic in our emotions. A broken heart is from a thought germ. Our thoughts need preventive care just like other areas.

Thought Germs come in the form of insecurity, ineptness, pettiness, pity, piety, judgement, vindictiveness, negativity, evilness, self-loathing, defeat, bitterness, unforgiveness, arrogance, elitism, and more.

They make us sick with fear, unbelief, mistrust, anxiety, ill will, anger, depression, illness, suicidal thoughts, homicidal thoughts, and bitterness.

When it comes to our physical bodies, it is highly recommended that we cleanse ourselves regularly. We are exposed to thousands of dirty particles and contaminants daily, cleaning our physical body only once a week would be negligent.  Even once a day, sometimes is not enough!

Why should we care less for our brain? We’ve already established that we have our own brigade of germy thoughts coming at us each day, not to mention the countless infected thoughts that we get from others.

When you Elevate your Health, you Elevate your Life.

Armpits are not more important than Attitude. Both should be cleansed and deodorized. Hallucination can do more damage than Halitosis.

We must Nourish to Flourish! Healthy Habits produce Healthy Minds.

This is where we could afford to have a little bit of COCD, Contaminate Over Compulsive Disorder. This is a behavior that occurs when you obsess over unwanted thoughts, so you create compulsive repetitive behaviors that are intended to reduce the anxiety that is caused by those unwanted thoughts. It’s okay to be a Mental Germaphobe.

We need to learn to disinfect our thoughts. Health is all about Hygiene.

Good physical hygiene conjures up images like brushing your teeth, rinsing out your mouth, washing your body, and applying deodorant.

Many Mental Health providers suggest that our brain could also benefit from a similar daily routine like the one that our body goes through.

What if we began each morning working on our Mental Hygiene to cleanse our mind and purge those germy thoughts hiding in the crevices?

-         Rinse the negativity, out your mouth before speaking with anyone.

-         Wash the hate out of the corner of your eyes, from the day before

-         Brush judgment out of our teeth, so you don’t have to fake a smile

-         Gargle so your breath doesn’t have the aroma of arrogance

Remember hygiene is about putting practices in place that will improve the quality of your life by preventing negative behavior patterns from forming, which will help improve or maintain your emotional stability.

This is for you, not anyone else. Good Health is about Good Hygiene!

Spending even 15 minutes on mental health hygiene each day can bring a host of benefits like improved mood, better coping mechanisms, better relating skills, better relationships, and increased focus, according to the Stanford Medical Psychiatry and Behavioral Science.

“Funky” was kool in the 70’s, but Health is what’s Hip now! PEACE!

This is a Thompson Truth