How the Right Career Can Contribute to Mental Health

I also asked David Borchard, licensed career counselor and consultant (and my father-in-law), this question: How can finding your passion, either as a new career or a pastime, contribute to better mental health?

Here's what he said:

The human mind is capable of focusing on only one emotion at any one time. When you're preoccupied with fears about all the bad things happening, or that could happen, in your life and the world you're actively creating an anxious mental state. When fully engaged in activities that you enjoy your attention focus on positive emotions. A growing body of psychological and neurological research clearly shows that engaging in what you enjoy and have a talent for is a prescription for happiness. People engaged in their passion, whether in work or leisure, tend to be healthier, live longer, and have more vitality than those who view life as an arduous ordeal. There is no pill that can have the positive and life vitalizing benefits of doing what you love and knowing that you are growing as an individual.

It's difficult to feel that your life matters and to feel good about yourself if what you're doing with your life and in work and/or leisure fails to connect with your uniquely personal interests. In contrast, it's hard to be depressed or anxious when preoccupied in activities that engage your interests and talents in ways that are personally meaningful. The message in this is rather clear. If what you're now doing is unfulfilling and you want to experience the blessings of life vitalizing energy, find ways to rejuvenate yourself. The best way to do that is to find activities that put your passion to meaningful work and enjoyable play.

The world would be a much pleasanter place if a lot more of us engaged in what makes us happy and fulfills us with a sense of meaning and purpose. We can't directly change others, but we can exercise control over making our own world happier and in the process healthier. And, the benefits of your creating a more joy-filled state of mind can be contagious and spread to others whom your life touches.