Mental Note: The Company You Keep & the Place Where You Sleep

Now more than ever I realize how the company you keep plays a significant role in your mental health.  First of all, if you have a mental health issue I would encourage you to seek help from a "trusted" therapist or spiritual counselor. 

Secondly, I would take inventory of the people that's in your life.  Are they negative?  This may take some time and observation to find out.  How does this person respond to life on a daily basis? 

Everybody has moments of frustration, anger, sadness, disappointment, but this shouldn't be a every day or every week occurrence.  Being in the presence of or listening to or talking to negative people is very toxic.  And if you're "ill" you cannot be in a toxic environment and expect healing. 

We understand this in the physical world, which is why hospitals are so clean and often cold.  They've created an environment for healing and getting well.  You cannot get well physically in a toxic, and unclean environment.  In a hospital there are a lot of restricted areas.  Every body can't just step into any room or location. 


There are certain areas where there are restrictions and only people that are authorized are aloud in these areas.  Do you know why?  Because they know how to behave around a sick person.  They know the right clothes to wear to protect themselves and the sick person.  They know how to stay clean.  They understand the messiness of the sick. 

I often compare our mental state to our physical state because there are so many similarities.  When you are sick, you can't have other sick people around you because how are you going to get better.  You can't get well in an unstable environment. 

A hospital is a controlled environment.  You have to be in a controlled environment when you're trying to heal mentally.  You cannot be in a place where someone'e moods will change at the drop of the hat.  It's too much of a toxic situation for healing to take place. 

Some of us have gone through various things in our life that have caused us to become vulnerable to certain diseases--(dis-ease)-- cancers (toxins that spread) and dysfunctional behaviors.  In order to get better or to get healing you must change your environment. 

Nothing will get better in a messed up environment.  I sometimes think about trying to get clean in a swamp.  It really doesn't matter how much soap I use in the swamp, I will never get clean.