What are the traits of psychologically healthy people?

A summary of the characteristics that are generally present in psychologically healthy people.

Mental health affects each and every area of our lives.

It allows us to establish healthy and functional emotional bonds with others, allows us to interact properly with other people, enables us to have a good work performance, and even allows us to enjoy the day to day and be able to achieve the coveted concept of "happiness". However... what are the characteristics of psychologically healthy people? This is the subject that we will deal with next.

The traits of psychologically healthy people

The psychologist of the Malaga office of Psychologists Malaga PsicoAbreu PsicoAbreu proposes a series of traits that people who are considered psychologically healthy should have. They are the following.

1. Good self-esteem

A person with an adequate self-esteem and a good self-concept knows himself and sees himself in a realistic way. Does not belittle herself, does not adore herself excessively, does not underestimate or overestimate her abilities or skills, does not see herself as inferior to others, does not compare herself to others, is self-confident in most of the decisions she makes, is satisfied with herself (even though she knows she still has room for improvement), is sure of her own abilities, feels good being alone (no fear or anxiety about being alone), knows her strengths and weaknesses, respects herself, knows what she is good at and what she is not good at, is able to accept criticism from others, knows how to ask for forgiveness, knows how to criticize herself in a healthy way in order to improve....

We can also closely associate to the concept of self-esteem the concept of emotional independenceThis allows us to consider another person and any relationship as another part of our daily life, which allows the consolidation of healthy relationships with others.

Emotional intelligence

A person with adequate emotional intelligence is capable of feeling, experiencing and expressing positive and negative emotions. An emotionally intelligent person is able to self-regulate and exercise control over his or her own emotions and feelings.

The identification, analysis, communication and management of one's own emotions is crucial to be able to achieve a final behavior. is crucial to be able to achieve a more adaptive final behavior in the future. People with emotional intelligence are not overwhelmed by their own emotions (fear, anger, anger, guilt, anxiety, jealousy...), as they are able to feel them and process them in an adaptive way, so as not to remain anchored to them for a long time.

3. Resilience

Resilience is a positive ability that allows us to go through an adverse, traumatic or extreme situation. with our own coping capacities, and even allows us to emerge stronger from it. Resilience allows us to go through an adverse event in an adaptive way, although this does not imply that we do not feel or express negative emotions during the process of illness, death, bereavement...

4. Internal locus of control

People with an internal locus of control are characterized by the following characteristics they believe that there is a close relationship between their behaviors and the consequences of these behaviors..

A person with an internal locus of control has the perception that he himself is able to control his life, and that it is not controlled by luck, fate, karma, or the decisions of others. The internal locus of control facilitates traits such as responsibility, effort, constancy, positive self-criticism... For example, a person with an internal locus of control attributes his successes and failures to his own actions, and not to external forces.

On the contrary, people with external locus of control attribute their merits, failures and responsibilities to external events or to other people, which leads to low self-esteem, a passive attitude towards adversities and does not facilitate personal growth.

5. Assertiveness

Assertive communication with others consists of the expression of one's own opinions, emotions, feelings, needs and desires in a timely and direct manner..

Assertiveness involves, therefore, respecting one's own rights and those of others, without falling into passive or aggressive communication. It also allows for healthier, deeper and more adaptive relationships with others and facilitates interaction with the environment.

On the other hand, assertiveness is closely related to a good self-esteem, because if I consider that my needs, opinions and feelings are as important as those of others I will have more ease to express them and be able to defend them.

6. Tolerance to frustration

Frustration is an unpleasant secondary emotion that has components of anger, sadness and helplessness.It is experienced for not being able to have what we thought or expected (plan, illusion, project, material object...).

Every day we live through many events and situations that cause us frustration: missing the bus, being scolded at work, not having the shoes you liked in your size, a friend canceling your weekend plan, being robbed, being fired from your job... Frustration is a very common emotion in our daily lives, so it is essential to know how to control and manage it.

7. Patience and self-control

Patience is a skill that allows us to endure and deal with difficulties and setbacks to achieve some goal or good. We all know that what is valuable or worth achieving requires patience and effort (having a professional career, or specialization in something, having a sentimental relationship with someone...), so the development of patience is essential in our day to day life in order not to give up what we have set out to achieve.

Self-control is a skill that is related to patience and the ability to postpone immediate gratification in order to achieve a goal that is immediate gratification for the achievement of a goal that is considered much more important. For example, if I am not able to have self-control and say no to a trip with a friend the weekend before exams (postponement of immediate gratification), I will not be able to study and I will not get those subjects, which allow me to reach my proposed goal "to get my degree".

8. Adaptability and coping skills

Changes are frequent in our lives and in our daily lives, so the ability to adapt to them is essential. People with a good ability to adapt are able to adapt to new situations: to a new life in another city, to a new environment, to a death of a family member, to a bereavement, to a disappointment in a love relationship...

The coping skills that each of us develops throughout our lives help us to accept and cope with these new situations as well as possible. help to accept and cope with these new situations as well as possibleThe coping skills that one develops throughout life help to accept and deal with these new situations as well as possible, in order to regain the emotional and psychological well-being that one had prior to the event. These coping skills can be the positive restructuring of negative or dysfunctional thoughts, the search for social support, the positive reappraisal of the event... among many others.

9. Empathy

Empathy is a skill that allows us to know how other people feel or what they are thinking, in order to understand their emotions, feelings and intentions. This capacity to put ourselves in the other person's shoes enables us to have an adaptive and effective interaction with their closest social environment.

10. Social skills

Social skills are the tools that allow us to socialize with others. People who are mentally healthy, as a rule, have satisfactory social relationships, and are able to maintain solid bonds with others, communicate well with strangers and acquaintances, are often pleasant to others in their daily lives, and maintain relationships.They communicate adequately with strangers and acquaintances, tend to maintain a pleasant relationship with others in their daily lives, and maintain bonds. Psychologically healthy people enjoy social relationships and usually feel good in the company of others, so social relationships are satisfying for them.

How can these characteristics be strengthened?

It is possible to work on all these characteristics with the help of psychological therapy, in order to become a psychologically healthier person and achieve greater psychological well-being in everyday life.. As patients, this will allow us to have more adaptive and healthy bonds with the people around us, to feel better about ourselves and to enjoy ourselves more on a daily basis.

If you do not have any of these skills well developed, it would be a good idea to see a psychologist to have a good psychological health and achieve greater personal and mental well-being.