11 BAD HABITS THAT DESTROY YOUR HEALTH - PSYCHOLOGY - 2025

There are bad habits such as having a sedentary life, being always connected to social networks, drinking alcohol or sleeping badly that contribute to a poor quality of life. Habits are actions that we perform automatically and contribute greatly to the results we obtain in our lives.

These negative habits negatively influence your physical health, but also your mental health. Although it takes up little space compared to the rest of your body, your brain is undoubtedly the most important organ in it. This small, jelly-like mass controls both your physical functions and your mental state, your thoughts and your emotions. Therefore, taking care of it is essential to lead a long and full life.

Unfortunately, most people in the modern world have adopted a series of habits that in the medium and long term can have very negative consequences for the body in general and for the brain in particular.

List of negative habits that make your life worse

1- have too much stress

We start with a habit with which you surely feel identified. Due to the large number of obligations and responsibilities that we have to deal with in our day to day lives, most of us find ourselves stressed and in a constant state of alert. This, in addition to causing us a negative mood, can also harm our brain in the long term.

Research on stress shows that when we feel this emotion very often, our body releases a series of hormones that can directly damage our neural connections, shorten our lives and generally worsen our physical and mental state. Therefore, experts recommend trying to reduce stress levels as much as possible.

At first, this may seem easier said than done; but the reality is that there is much you can try to relax and reduce your stress. Activities like meditation and sports, or psychological techniques like mindfulness and positive thinking can help you break this bad habit once and for all.

2- not getting enough sleep

When we think about physical health, we often focus on food and sports. But, did you know that adequate sleep is essential to maintain the well-being of the body and mind? According to some studies, little sleep can be as bad for our brain as smoking or eating junk food.

If you want to start sleeping the right way, you basically have to do three things. First, most people need 8 to 9 hours of rest to really reap the full benefits of sleep. This is, in fact, one of the most important actions that you can take if you want to take care of the health of your brain.

On the other hand, you also have to make sure that when you sleep you do it in a quiet environment, totally dark and with nothing to disturb you at night. Also, if you want to get the maximum benefits from this habit, try to avoid looking at screens during the hour before you go to bed. In a very short time following these tips you will notice a big difference.

3- Lead a sedentary life

You've heard it over and over again: exercising is essential to leading a healthy and balanced life. However, did you know that training is also one of the best habits to maintain the health of your brain? In fact, not doing enough sports can be one of the most damaging habits for this organ.

Our body and mind are adapted to move often. Unfortunately, if you are like most people, you probably spend much more time sitting in front of a screen than doing activities that involve physical effort. This will eventually atrophy not only your muscles but your brain as well.

In fact, it has been found that there is a very clear relationship between the hours spent each week in sports and the maintenance of some important brain functions, such as memory, intelligence or attention. So now you know: if you want to be smarter, don't forget to train your body.

4- Spending too much time on social networks

Social networks are wonderful tools that allow you to keep in touch with your loved ones, find out what is happening in the world and spend time in a fun and enjoyable way. However, did you know that they can also be one of the worst enemies for your brain health?

Although the effects of social networks on the mind are not yet known exactly, a series of studies carried out in recent years seem to indicate that the excess of information and stimuli that they provide could be very harmful to the health of our brain.

In fact, today we know that people who spend a lot of time a day hooked on social networks often have serious problems with attention, memory and concentration. Sometimes even using them is linked to serious disorders such as depression or anxiety.

5- Do not talk to other people

Another consequence of the advancement of technology is that we spend more and more time interacting through screens and less doing it in real life. However, it seems that our online interactions are not a good substitute for the relationships we have face to face.

Within psychology, it has been known for many years that the lack of contact with other people can cause great damage to both our mood and our brain and even our body. So if you sometimes feel lonely or think you should spend more time with others, finding new friends or reconnecting with your loved ones can be a great idea.

If you don't know where to start, the easiest thing is to try to find people who have hobbies similar to yours. For example, if you like to dance, play an instrument, paint or go to the mountains, it is very easy to use the Internet to get in touch with other people who will be willing to share their hobbies with you.

6- Do several things at the same time

We have all heard of how beneficial multitasking can be to our lives. In principle, it sounds great: if we were able to do many things at the same time, we could finish our tasks faster and we would have much more free time to do what we really want to do.

However, what if I told you that multitasking actually causes more problems than benefits? It seems that if you get your brain used to focusing on several things at once, you are really training it not to be able to pay attention to anything correctly.

So if you feel like you have attention or concentration problems, try staying focused on a single task for a set amount of time. If it costs you a lot, at first you can give yourself a simple challenge, such as ten or fifteen minutes. Later, as you repair the damaging effects of multitasking, this time may gradually increase.

7- Take too much sugar

This brain-damaging habit may well surprise you, as we've always heard the opposite. However, according to the latest science, one of the worst things you can do if you want to keep your brain healthy is eat a diet with too much sugar.

Although fat was once blamed for most health problems, today we know that it is actually sugar that increases the risk of diseases such as cancer or heart attacks. However, this food does not only attack the body, but also causes a very harmful effect on our mind.

It has been found that the large spikes in insulin caused by sugar consumption can end up damaging our neurons and weakening the connections between them. This causes disorders such as depression or even Alzheimer's, which in some medical circles is already known as "type III diabetes."

8- not eating enough fat

This habit is closely related to the previous one, since it is practically its opposite. For the past several decades, the official message from the food industry has been that fats were extremely dangerous to our health. However, this is far from true.

Your brain is largely made up of fat, so this macronutrient is critical to its function. Today we know that not eating an adequate amount of this substance can cause all kinds of problems, both at the level of hormones and neurotransmitters as well as other purely mental ones.

Thus, for example, scientists have discovered that fat is essential to form testosterone, the hormone that most protects both men and women from diseases such as depression and anxiety.

At the same time, if you notice that you have low energy or that you are always in a bad mood, one of the keys may be that you lack fat in your diet.

9- spending too much time indoors

If you lead a life like most people in modern society, chances are that a large part of your day will be spent enclosed within four walls, whether at home, in the office or on the go. Unfortunately, our body is not adapted to this routine, so maintaining it for a long time can bring us all kinds of negative consequences.

One of the most important substances for the proper functioning of your brain is Vitamin D, considered today a hormone due to its vital importance. The problem with this vitamin is that your body is not able to obtain it from food, but has to create it on its own from the rays of the Sun.

What are the effects of a lack of Vitamin D? Among other things, it makes it harder for you to focus on what you are doing, lowers your happiness levels, and makes you more sleepy and tired. At the same time, it can promote the appearance of all kinds of mental disorders and prevent you from sleeping properly at night.

Although you can take supplements of this hormone if your levels are very low, the truth is that nothing can replace spending an hour or two a day in the sun to improve the well-being of your brain. So now you know: if you want to be 100%, try to spend more time outdoors and you will notice the difference right away.

10- drinking too much alcohol

Many people cannot understand life without alcohol. Having a beer with friends or co-workers from time to time can be one of the most anticipated moments of the week for some. However, did you know that this habit can be seriously harming your brain?

The effects of alcohol on your mood are actually due to the fact that this substance has a toxic effect on the brain. For this reason, in addition to the health problems that its consumption can cause you in the long term, the truth is that it will also cause unpleasant consequences at the level of mood and mental capacities.

For example, several studies show that people who consume alcohol on a regular basis have greater mood swings and tend to be sadder than those who avoid this substance. Additionally, taking it for years can impair skills such as attention, memory, and even intelligence.

11- not drinking enough water

But then, if you can't drink alcohol, what are you going to have at meals or when you're spending time with your friends and loved ones? The answer to this question could help you solve many other of the worst habits that destroy your brain: the lack of water.

Surely you already know that humans cannot go more than two or three days without drinking water; But what not many people are so clear about is that even a small lack of water in the body can have very negative consequences. For example, it can increase your feeling of fatigue, prevent you from concentrating properly, or even worsen your mood significantly.

For this reason, experts recommend that you drink water throughout the day even if at a certain moment you are not thirsty, since it is much easier for you to fall short on this liquid than to spend your consumption.

conclusion

As you can see, there are many bad habits that destroy your health that most people carry out every day. Changing as many of them as possible will make your day to day more pleasant, in addition to helping you be in a better mood and avoid all kinds of long-term problems.