Mental Health Maintenance

by Dave Klecha

Did you know that, in French, the English word “maintenance” has a close cousin: maintenant? Both have the same Latin roots meaning, roughly, to hold in hand. So, it could be said that maintenance not only means something we do to support and further our mental health, but something that is immediate, always at hand.

Maintenance, now.

Languages are one of my favorite ways to stimulate mental health, as I’ve demonstrated just a little above. But, really, just about any intellectually engaging hobby may go a long way to improving mental health in the long term, as well as the short. Go to the museum, read the news, any of these things are not only going to keep your mind active and agile, but also keep you engaged in the world around you. One of the many risks of poor mental health is the tendency to withdraw into oneself and get stuck in unhealthy situations.

And like exercise, it’s not something that takes an enormous investment. In other words, you don’t have to become fluent in a language in order to reap the benefits of the learning. Take fifteen minutes a day, or a few minutes here and there, and puzzle out some new vocabulary words in a new language. Or, if languages confound you (and, statistically, they get harder and harder to learn the older you are), go for jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, or the nearly limitless supply of engaging on-line games.

Your mind will thank you for it later.