Mental Health
Here’s Why Too Much or Too Little of Anything Can Be Harmful.
Balance is the secret to a healthy and happy life.
What is the secret to satisfaction?
While Mark Twain claimed that “too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough,” humans are not designed for extremes, even though we have the urge due to biochemical imbalances in the body and the brain.
Too many or too few essential factors in our lives cause serious problems. This is not just a philosophical argument, as the effects of extremes are observable in our lives.
Moderation is a controversial topic. Some people keep saying moderation for everything. The title of my article does not refer to the belief that moderation is for everything. I disagree with the notion of moderation for everything, as it is a deceitful statement.
For example, the moderation of harmful drugs, toxic food, dirty water, or polluted air does not make sense to humans.
Our body and the brain regulate conditions using stringent control mechanisms against environmental changes. For example, the body has thermostats keeping us at the right temperature.
Interestingly, the core body temperature has a very narrow range. Anything below or above that range causes severe issues and complications. I explained this mechanism in an article titled Health Is All About Homeostasis.
The process of homeostasis maintains our health using strict biological and physiological rules. Our hormones and neurotransmitters are regulated by being downgraded if they are too much.
The dopamine pathway, as a reward system, is an example of it countering with punishment, as I mentioned in this article titled: Awareness of Punishment Pathways in the Brain for Mental Health.
Our basic needs, like nutrition, exercise, and sleep, are essential for our survival. However, we know that excessive nutrition, training, and sleep can destroy our health. In addition, too few of them also can be problematic.
Some people attribute a famous quote to Buddha, some to Rumi, and some to prophets in various religions. It does not matter who says it, but it is a meaningful quote:
“Everything in your life which you have in excess than you actually require is poison. It may be material possessions, strength, wealth, greed, pride, desires, expectations, hatred, anger, and even love”.
Love? How can love be toxic? Some of us think that it does not make sense. We understand that too little love is undoubtedly a problem, but how can too much love become a problem?
This one is tricky, in my opinion. I thought a lot about love. Even though love is essential and the most important capability for humans, too much love can also produce bad outcomes.
We need to be careful about the definition of “too much” within the love context. Consistently having lovely thoughts and feelings does not necessarily mean too much love. My definition of “too much” is the obsession with any living being or object. Obsessive behavior is proven to create mental health problems.
For example, falling in love with someone who has toxic behavior and fully dedicating one’s life to such a person despite pain and suffering can create serious mental health problems. It is not healthy for a person who falls in love with someone who does not support their life.
The same principle applies to objects, pets, careers, and hobbies. For example, if we love a dog, but he bites us constantly, too much of our love does not solve the problem.
If a friend or a lover constantly puts us down, what is the purpose of obsessing with the relationship? Paraphilic disorders, especially masochism disorders, are well documented in the body of knowledge.
Nothing is permanent in life. When the brain is obsessed with an object and we lose it, it can have significant adverse effects on our mental health.
However, if we see people and things as temporary and neutral, we can deal with the loss better. Of course, this is a very complicated psychological situation, but I simplify it to make my point.
If moderation is not the right concept so, what can be a better frame of reference? In my opinion, “balance” is a better mental and physical framework than moderation. The universe is based on balance so is life on earth.
A better word for balance is equilibrium, which is a balanced state of opposing forces. Our body has opposing forces, such as hormones.
For example, while ghrelin makes us feel hungry, leptin makes us feel satisfied. Some emotions make us laugh, and some cry. So do some friends and family members.
By refraining from anything excessive in life and meeting minimum requirements for our fundamental needs, we can create a better balance. Aiming for a neutral position can empower us.
One of my mentors, who coached me for several years in professional development, pointed out that love was hidden in the neutral zone. He encouraged me to neutralize my emotions by acknowledging and sorting them as they arise.
This mental regulation worked well in maturing my emotional state. We all feel excessive emotions. Some of them are negative such as extreme anger, hatred, or sadness. And some are positive such as euphoria or ecstasy.
Even though I love the euphoric state, I learned not to get obsessed with that state.
Instead, I taste the euphoria for a while and turn it to a flow state, experiencing neutral serenity and bliss afterward. When sadness happens, I acknowledge it, feel it, observe for a while, and notice that it slowly diminishes with acceptance.
I used emotional regulation as an example because we have the power to switch from one extreme emotion to another to balance our emotional state. Neither too much nor too little help us thrive, but balancing can.
As a tactical approach, I use several techniques to regulate and balance my emotions. Two practical techniques I use for emotional regulation are changing my physiology and self-talk.
For example, after observing the feeling of sadness, I deliberately start smiling or laughing and keep talking with myself with compassion. With these two approaches, my sadness turns into serenity. I maintain the balance of my mental state.
As a strategic approach for the long term, I use preventative mechanisms for my mental and emotional balance. They are mindfulness and fasting.
While mindfulness practices such as meditation help me balance my mental and emotional state, fasting can help me balance my physiological and mental state. As I mentioned in an article, fasting can change brain chemistry.
Even though meditation and fasting provide me with significant health benefits, I perform them in certain amounts. For example, I perform fasting for a specific number of days, meeting my physiological needs.
Likewise, I meditate for specific hours or minutes for my mental requirements to keep balance. I believe that too much fasting and meditation can be a problem too.
As advised by another mentor, just looking at one aspect of my life did not bring me happiness. For example, when I was too focused on my career, this mentor reminded me to also focus on my relationships, finance, hobbies, health, and fitness. He taught me happiness was hidden in a balanced life. I agreed, as it was the secret to my life satisfaction.
Thank you for reading my perspectives, experiences, and observations. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
Please note that this story is not health advice. I shared my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives for information purposes only. If you have any disease symptoms, please consult your healthcare professionals.
Besides increasing the hormonal intelligence of my readers and writing about neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA, and acetylcholine, one of my goals as a writer is to raise awareness about the causes and risk factors of prevalent diseases that can lead to suffering and death for a large portion of the population.
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Disclaimer: Please note that my posts do not include professional or health advice. I document my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives only to provide information and create awareness.
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