DR.SPEAKS

Our personality and mental health – The secret to wellbeing

The science of wellbeing is intertwined with our personality which determine how we
interact with the environment. One of the strong factor about wellbeing stems from
one’s personality style. When we look at personality, it is strongly biological (which
means we have certain style of personality by birth) and there is a constant
interaction with the people around us and the situations which shapes our
personality.
Personality is the consistent pattern of thinking, feeling and behavior over a period of
time, while our ‘Mind’ is the face of our personality! Each individual has a unique
personality just as how our face is unique to each individual. Its shapes during our
childhood and adolescent period and becomes constant when we become adults.
We are not born with all the skills to navigate the ups and downs of life and our
personality factors determine how well we adapt and learn while we live through our
lives. It is very important to understand one’s own strength and limitations and to
learn to adapt to situations within the limits of our personality. As the famous saying
goes “One man’s meat is another man’s poison!”. Hence do not try to ape other
people. Be comfortable with who you are as a person and you will find that once you
accept this fact you will be able to modulate your thoughts and feelings better to your
advantage. This a key secret to achieving emotional well being.

– Dr. Girish Babu N.
– Associate Professor of Psychiatry, SDM Medical College, Dharwad