Sometimes the underlying causes of mental health disorders are practical, like food, housing, and sleep. If your most basic needs aren’t being met, even the best mental health treatment alone may not be enough to heal and move forward.
Let’s discuss how instability in your basic needs affects your mental health and why those needs must be addressed for treatment to be successful.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Stuck in Survival Mode
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a pyramid that organizes the progression of human needs. At the bottom of the pyramid are basic, physiological needs – food, water, shelter, clothing, sleep, and even breathing. These needs are about basic survival.
The goal is to move to the top of the pyramid. At the top is self-actualization, the need to find fulfillment and purpose. This is about personal fulfillment.
If you struggle with food insecurity or can’t find stability in housing, you get stuck in survival mode. This affects your mental health in several ways.
1. Chronic Stress
If you can’t put food on the table or don’t have a place to live and sleep, the body is in a perpetual fight-or-flight state. Cortisol, the stress hormone, floods the body, which can make it hard to control emotions, think clearly, and make good decisions. When this happens, anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions only get worse.
2. Mental Exhaustion
Cognitive overload happens when the demands on your brain become too much for you to handle. Mental energy is drained, which makes it difficult to fully engage in therapy and process emotions. In other words, therapy isn’t as productive when you’re constantly worried about having enough food to eat or a place to live.
3. Low Self Worth
Food insecurity and lack of housing can lead to shame and possibly isolation. When basic needs are unmet, you may feel like you don’t deserve help and recovery isn’t even possible.
Stability Is the Foundation for Successful Mental Health Treatment
When food, housing, sleep, and safety are a constant source of stress, mental health treatment can feel like you’re spinning your wheels. Stability and certainty in your basic needs make counseling more productive – and give you comfort and hope that healing and recovery are within reach.
If you’re struggling with your most basic needs, make sure to visit the Oaks Food Pantries in Mt. Holly or Berlin or contact us for housing resources and assistance at 1-800-963-3377.
