The Importance of "Emotional Hygiene"

In his enlightening TED talk, psychologist Guy Winch, discusses how many of us place substantial importance on our physical health, and even from a young age, learn how to take care of our bodies and physical wounds. But what about our emotional and mental well-being? Winch argues that too often we fail to prioritize our psychological health, and forget to practice "emotional hygiene". It is Winch's powerful thought that if we took more diligent care of our minds and feelings, then perhaps we could develop psychological resiliency that may help us both overcome or cope with our emotional wounds, such as those related to loneliness and failure, as well as help prevent ‪mental health‬ conditions such as ‪‎depression‬.

"But what do we know about maintaining our psychological health? Well, nothing. What do we teach our children about emotional hygiene? Nothing. How is it that we spend more time taking care of our teeth than we do our minds. Why is it that our physical health is so much more important to us than our psychological health?

We sustain psychological injuries even more often than we do physical ones, injuries like failure or rejection or loneliness. And they can also get worse if we ignore them, and they can impact our lives in dramatic ways. And yet, even though there are scientifically proven techniques we could use to treat these kinds of psychological injuries, we don't. It doesn't even occur to us that we should ..."