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Self-awareness is the intentional attention given to one's own feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Simply put, it is intentionally focussing on looking at one's own self in an objective manner through introspection. Self-awareness enables people to look at their strengths, weaknesses, values, and how they influence the people around them.
Those capable of awareness are able to look objectively at their own thoughts and behaviors to check whether they conform to the standards set by themselves. This process is called comparison against our own standards of correctness and we do this on a daily basis.
Self-awareness allows us to analyze our behavior against the standards of correctness to check whether we pass or fail in different scenarios. If a disrepancy is found between the two, we choose to either work on it or ignore it.
How a person responds to the discrepancy is heavily dependent on what they predict the outcome of their efforts will be. It also depends on how long it will take to work on the disrepancy and the level of effort that needs to be put in to work on the disrepancy.
There are generally two main types of self-awareness: private or internal self-awareness and public or external self-awareness.
Inner self-awareness shows a person how they see themselves in terms of values, interests, goals, reactions, and how they fit into their environment. This type of awareness is linked to higher satisfaction in personal, social, and work life attributes. People with this type of awareness also display lower levels of depression, stress, and anxiety.
External awareness allows people to understand how others view them. Those who are good at understanding how others view them accurately display higher levels of empathy and understanding with regards to how others feel. Those who understand how others view them tend to be highly valued by their employers and have stronger relationships with their employers.
Self-awareness and mental health recovery
Research shows that people with high levels of self-awareness are more creative, confident, make better decisions, have stronger interpersonal relationships, are better at communicating with others, and are likelier to get ahead at work.
Awareness naturally also has several immense benefits for those seeking mental health recovery. It allows people to manage their mental health problems or work on reducing the negative effects of the symptoms of their mental health illness. It allows individuals with mental illness to live meaningful lives and achieve their full potential.
One of the primary benefits of self-awareness for those with mental illnesses is the fact that it allows them to recognize the effects or symptoms of the illness. Awareness provides them with information to assess their current behavior, thoughts, and emotions against their normal functioning. It provides clarity as to whether or not they are dealing with a mental illness.
Individuals who suffer from mental illness and receive treatment often struggle to see the effectiveness of it. This lack of discernable progress causes individuals to get discouraged, which may lead to discontinuation of the treatment. Individuals with Awareness are capable of recognizing the effectiveness of their treatment options and how it has positively impacted their lives, leading to the continuation of treatment.
Mental illness often saps energy from individuals, energy that might have been used to socialize and interact with friends and family. Awareness allows individuals to understand themselves better, putting them in a better position to understand those around them. Awareness facilitates the development of empathy, which allows individuals to have better relationships. Relationships and social support are vital in mental health recovery.
Those suffering from mental illnesses often make poor decisions as a side effect of their illness, which causes negative outcomes. Awareness ensures that individuals continue to make decisions that align with their goals of recovery.
Those who suffer from mental illnesses like anxiety or depression are often excessively concerned with things that happened in the past or will happen in the future. Self-awareness training facilitates individuals being present in the moment and being mindful of what is happening in the present. These individuals are vigilant about their current thoughts, emotions, and behavioral patterns.
Takeaway
Therapy is a great treatment option for mental illnesses, however, those suffering from such misfortunes may struggle to understand their own feelings, emotions, and thoughts. This causes problems as therapy involves back and forth between patients and therapists. Self-awareness facilatates good communication between the therapist and patient, as the patients are aware of themselves and can communicate what is on their mind.
Self-acceptance is one of the foundations of good mental health and is vital for the process of recovering from mental illness. Awareness provides an objective view of a person's own capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, and acceptance of those facts.
Awareness is an inherent trait that can be developed through a variety of ways like journaling, practicing mindfulness, improving emotional intelligence, meditation, and accepting feedback. Besides the numerous benefits it provides, self-awareness is essential for recovery from mental illness.
Poll : Do you think you have self-awareness?
Yes
No
25 votes
