Women reveal 8 signs they believe are really the traits of a mentally healthy person

Importance of empathy

In today's day and age, mental well-being is as important as physical well-being. While looking for a partner, making friends, or even hiring someone in the company, we often look at external traits, or at least the ones that are more surface-level. However, when u/XxAcaciaxX asked the women of Reddit, "What screams 'mentally healthy' in a person or relationship?" the answers poured in and were, in fact, quite helpful. We have here eight of the best answers women gave to this question and we hope this helps people understand the signs of good mental health.

1. Communication is the key

Their willingness to communicate things. I used to be very silent because my family never entertained communication well and gave me silent treatment. That and similar treatment from one of my friends made me feel like the silent treatment was a natural and obvious route, but it isn't. I have come far and addressed it in my interactions with other people. Communication is healthy and sexy and sets the record pretty straight. Even if one doesn't feel like speaking to another, communicating that they don't want to at the moment relieves a lot of confusion, aggression and anxiety. u/Icy-Profit4508

2. Solution-oriented

One of those things that I've noticed a lot is being able to stay more or less calm and solution-oriented when in stressful situations. That and being empathetic towards people during conflicts. There are times when people get worked up with stress or anxiety and end up taking it out on people, but the most 'mentally stable' people in my life (that I look up to), regardless of the situation, recognize when they're 'unstable' and communicate that they're feeling that way and take some space to avoid unintentionally hurting others. I'm also saving this post to learn and hopefully incorporate in myself, other similar healthy behaviors. u/felix_cwltd

3. You dress how you feel

Maybe a different one, but when I see someone nicely dressed, I feel there is a good “chance” that they are in a healthy mindset. I often find myself dressing badly or not taking care of myself when I’m not mentally good. But when I was mentally good, I dressed way better and took much better care of my body. I can go through my album and can tell my mental state just by seeing how I dressed and how my skin was looking. u/JessSuperSub

4. Saying exactly what you feel

My fiance will say how he feels, like he has autism or something, instead of acting how he feels. It's the strangest thing I've ever experienced, but it expedites our arguments. He will say the most oddly specific things, like, 'I feel like I'm not as mad as I should be about what happened, but that I want to act like I'm a lot mad so you schmooze up to me for a while and also don't do that again.' So instead of acting mad and making me feel like shit for a while, he'll just say it and I appreciate it. u/That_Girl_Cecia

5. The ability to know when to walk away

Someone who knows when to walk away. I have a hard time being able to assert boundaries at the moment, and although I consider myself a low-drama person, this has led to me feeling very spun up when people I'm involved with, be they friends or romantic partners or family members, start up with toxic behavior. I'm trying to get better at learning how to disengage without feeling guilty or obligated to stay. I really admire people who can just look at a situation and say, 'I did my best, so I'm not going to let you make me feel guilty or bad because you didn't get the outcome that you wanted.' u/AliceInWeirdoland

6. Accountability is important

Communication and accountability are a start! Knowing how to speak to someone respectfully is a big one for me too! There is no need to yell at anyone ever. Also, through therapy, I've learned that there are better ways to describe your feelings than just 'mad, sad, happy' so if I hear someone using deeper and better explanatory words, that is a green flag. Words like 'disappointed, anxious, rejected, inspired' tell me that you can communicate deeper than surface-level emotions. u/lazyandfree

7. Not ashamed to get help 

Not the lack of any mental or emotional struggles, but the existence of an interest and action in managing them or getting help when needed. I'd much rather date a chronically depressed person who is working on taking care of themselves and finding ways to not believe the bad things their brain tells them than someone who only has minor mental/emotional struggles but does nothing about them. Someone with good anger management skills who can still express emotions without verbal, physical or inanimate-object violence. Someone who doesn't try to prevent feeling touched by something sweet or even heart-rending (unafraid to cry at the movie theater, unabashed to admit when they're having a sh*t day without taking it out on people, things and animals around, etc). Someone who acknowledges everyone has their path but isn't afraid to call someone out on their bullsh*t (but in a humane way). u/Larkfor

8. Being self-aware

Self-awareness. I'm going to use a very sexy example. Years ago, shortly after season 8 of MTV's "Are You The One?" wrapped up, there was a podcast featuring available cast members for a reunion. The main one, everyone was curious about was what happened between Danny Prikazsky and his perfect match (at least at the last matchup), Kai. They'd been broken up since, but what was wildly attractive was how Danny handled it. He lovingly yet firmly confronted Kai on the issues that contributed to the breakup. Kai said, "Yeah, those are my issues and I know about them." Danny stood firm in his confrontation and asked them, "I know you know about your issues. What are you going to do about them since I brought them up to you?" Kai kept dancing around questions and didn't say much. Danny, acknowledging and listening to what Kai was saying, didn't take it personally and wished them well. He was able to recognize each of the parts to play and he gave the other person the chance to be responsible for their issues. He didn't take it personally, internalize it or assign blame to anyone/anything else to absolve the other person.Having that sense of self-awareness is very rare, but that's one of the characteristics that I look out for. u/GalaxiGazer