Mental health is the person’s emotional well-being or mental balance to realize the person’s abilities, capability to cope and productivity in making contributions to the community. It describes the capacity to express emotions and ability to adapt to the environment’s demands and changes.

It refers to the overall psychological well-being of a person. This includes the way a person feels about themselves, the value of their relationships, and their ability to handle feelings and manage difficulties. Just because a person do not have mental health problems does not mean that the person already has good mental health. Having a good mental health means having positive characteristics present in a person’s life.

People, who have good mental health usually have a feeling of contentment, can bounce back from drawbacks and adversity, flexible and willing to learn new things and to adapt to different kinds of changes, have a good balance in activity and rest, have self-confidence and have high self-esteem. To maintain or strengthen the mental health, it is important to evaluate a person’s needs and feelings. Keep a balance between everyday responsibilities and leisure. A mentally sound person means being able to deal with life’s challenges when it arises.

Try to stay calm by pleasing the senses. Listen to relaxing music or get a good massage to relax the body and the mind. Massages can reduce overall stress. People who are under a lot of stress are less healthy that people who are relaxed. Massage therapy has been a proven way to reduce stress.

Never forget to have some leisure time. When a person does something that feels good it balances the emotional and mental health of a person. Use this time to meditate and take a break from all the stress around. Appreciate beauty and positive blessings all around.

Learn how manage stress and keep it under control. Stress is a part of life and cannot be avoided but knowing an effective stress management strategy will help in bringing and keeping a good life balance. Build good relationship and connect with other. Having a good long-term relationship with others can help in keeping life balance. This also helps in improving a person’s emotional intelligence which is good in resolving conflicts.

There have been many therapeutic methods and books that offer to improve a person’s mental health. But it is important to remember that every person is different. What may work for others may become too stressful to another. So it is better to know oneself before following everything that other people may say.

Cigarette smoking is harmful especially for teenagers as their body is in developmental stage. Teen smokers can develop smaller lungs, weaker hearts, and other health complications. Although active smoking is associated with various harmful health effects, studies have shown that passive smoking can also cause coronary heart diseases, chronic respiratory problems, lung cancer etc. One cigarette smoked reduces the lifespan of individual by 11 minutes.

Composition of Cigarette
A cigarette smoke contains around 4000 chemical compounds and around 69 of them can cause cancer. A cigarette smoke also contains 43 chemical compounds that are identified are carcinogens. Apart from Nicotine which is the basic chemical in a cigarette that causes addiction, some of the harmful chemicals found in cigarette smoke are carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanides, ammonia etc. Cigarette smoke is also found to have mutagens which are chemical compounds that cause mutations in genes. A single puff releases these harmful chemicals in the body and is responsible for various health effects and lung cancer.

Harmful Effects on Body
Cigarette smoking is responsible for significant number of cancer related deaths. The person who smokes cigarettes is at the risk of contracting cancer of lungs, larynx, oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus etc. Short term effects of smoking include respiratory problems, nicotine addiction, and addiction to other drugs. The carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke reduces the oxygen level in blood. Lack of oxygen in blood then affects the functioning of vital organs like brain, heart, lungs etc. Smoking also increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Long term exposure to smoking can result in lung cancer, low levels of lung functioning, reduced rate of lung growth etc. Physical effects of smoking include reduced stamina, performance, and endurance. Smoking also makes a person looks older as it depletes the vitamin A levels in the body. Teenage smokers experience shortness of breath three times more than non-smoker teenagers.

Smoking may result into chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) like bronchitis and emphysema. Smoking cigarettes or tobacco use during pregnancy has harmful effects on both the mother and unborn baby. It increases the risk of pregnancy related complications. Even passive smoking is damaging for the health of infants and children and they can suffer from respiratory problems like asthma, nose and throat infection etc.

Difficulty to Quit Smoking
Smokers find it difficult to quit smoking due to physical, mental, or emotional side effects that arise when they try to quit smoking. When smokers try to quit smoking they may feel craving, anxiety, irritability, intestinal disorder etc. People may also feel changes in emotions, temper changes, inability to focus etc. Difficulty to quit smoking arises as the body is accustomed to nicotine addiction and sudden withdrawal causes these side effects. People who want to get rid of smoking should quit the company of friends who are smokers. They should join groups who have quit smoking or trying to quit. Support from family and friends prove beneficial at this state. Strong will power and motivation will help the people to withstand these side effects.

There are more chances that teenagers who start smoking at early age are likely to continue smoking in older age and abuse drugs or alcohol. Teenagers should be made aware of harmful effects of smoking on their health. Awareness drives and anti-smoking campaigns at schools and colleges can help prevent teenagers from taking up smoking.