5 pieces of advice that can harm your mental health

'Happiness should be your goal'

Therapist Aparna Sagaram explained that happiness is a common goal for many people.

However, happiness should not be the goal, because it is like any other emotion - you feel it, and then it disappears.

One should strive to be content, calm, or emotionally balanced to experience moments of excitement, as well as moments of disappointment and anger.

Happiness as a goal that society imposes on us, suggesting that certain things, whether it's a new relationship, children, or a high-paying job, will make us happy, is generally not the case.

'Divorce is wrong'

There are things in a marriage that can be improved and fixed - like having more dates or better distributing cleaning duties.

If you are with a person who has different beliefs about having children or what a family structure should look like, wanting to get married can be a mistake.

Both people should be honest about this.

Therefore, for some people, divorce is safer than staying in a marriage.

'Family is everything'

If you are from a close-knit family where open communication, trust, and support are priorities, it may be easy to believe this.

However, if you come from a family with many serious untreated mental illnesses, it is hard to believe such a statement.

'It's important to put others first'

This belief is especially harmful for those who consider themselves people-pleasers or perfectionists, as they already feel a strong urge and need to prioritize others.

For example, when you lend money to a family member when you cannot afford it, you are simply neglecting your own needs and peace of mind.

'You should have children by a certain age'

Depending on your culture and upbringing, you likely create expectations about when you should start thinking about children.

If you don't want children, you may feel trapped by societal expectations. Instead of adhering to societal beliefs that may not suit you, think about what is important to you.

You don't need to follow belief systems that don't make sense to you.

This material is for informational purposes only and should not be used for medical diagnosis or self-treatment. Our goal is to provide readers with accurate information about symptoms, causes, and methods of detecting diseases. RBС-Ukraine is not responsible for any diagnoses that readers may make based on materials from the resource. We do not recommend self-treatment and advise consulting a doctor in case of any health concerns.