LOVE2-SIZED

What’s love got to do with it?

Ishbel Straker is a Consultant Psychiatric Nurse and one of her passions is the mental well-being within ministry. She has been working with Elim developing this provision for nearly three years and it continues to grow

ishbel-straker-2021

Ishbel is the Founder and CEO of I Straker
Consultants, a mental health service

In the immortal words of the late Tina Turner – what’s love got to do with it? More than you realise, is my answer. Love has a huge impact on your mental health. How you love, who you love, why you love, the impact of love, your investment in love and being loved.

Love matters when it comes to your mental health. So many church leaders assume they have this covered, feeling that their role makes them experts in this area, but so many aren’t.

According to the respected American healthcare organisation High Country Behavioural Health (HCBH), being in a stable, intimate relationship has even more significant benefits of increased self-esteem, trust and empathy, along with lowered rates of anxiety and depression.

How we live and feel loved is innate and also learned. Who we have watched love people and how we have experienced this impacts our own needs for love and how we give it. This is significant because if we come from a place of unhealthy love, then our perceptions and desires can be distorted.

This is equally impactful when we consider those around us with whom we are in close relationships. Am I making sense? It’s an important point of reflection because it gives us a little more personal control over our mental health. It allows us to consider what’s good for us and what may be causing us harm.

It can be good to spend some time analysing our love languages and thinking about the expectations we place on ourselves and those around us and how this might do us harm. We can choose to find ways of altering our perceptions of love, and if we can recognise that some of these traits are deep-rooted, we can think about seeking professional support.

Mental health benefits of healthy relationships include:

Happiness
We are simply happier when we feel safe and loved.

Self-worth
When you are loved by someone else, it helps to solidify the fact that you matter, that you are important, and that should anything ever happen to you, it would break your loved one’s heart.

Resilience
An increase in emotional resilience and healthier habits.


This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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