Tag: Mental Health

A Route Through Trauma

Achieving Goals, Happiness, Health, Success

After working in a very challenging job in SEN education in the past I developed bad anxiety and have some trauma. Self-limiting beliefs acted as mental barriers to me improving my health and improving my Fibromyalgia symptoms.

I think my brain was subconsciously telling me that being healthy would put me back in harms way as physical restraints of young people with SEN to keep them and other safe was an essential part of the job, nut it brought its dangers. Having Fibromyalgia meant that I could not do it anymore and was somehow safer. The brain makes up all sorts of beliefs and stories to keep you safe, even if they are not really true.

Fast forward to today and my recent past and I’ve tried positive thinking, focusing on thriving so I can help others and other such things to try and come up with reasons to improve my Fibromyalgia but I kept hitting a mental wall that increased my anxiety and I stopped doing what was obviously good for me. The anxiety of self preservation always prevailed.

I have, for a while, had a fascination with martial arts. I cannot practice them but I love the philosophy behind them. I recently thought about bringing this philosophy into my life and decided to make discipline a key value that i would strive for and I seemed to bypass the mental barriers created by my past trauma and got on with doing my exercises, Chi Kung (Qigong) and eating better. It was as if I had tricked my brain.

Thinking about this I realised that this was possibly because I was focused on the present  and not the future, like I was when I was trying to ‘thrive’ in order to help people in the future. It became obvious, as is often pointed out in films and programmes that touch on eastern philosophy, that being in the moment reduces stress and gives us a clearer mind.

I realise that I am not necessarily finding a route through my trauma but it seems less of a barrier and more of something to be curious about and understand when i focus on the present. I think that when we understand trauma it loses its power. So, maybe a sidestep is better than taking it head on when we are not ready to handle such psychological challenges.

A wall is hard to get through but not when you use the door.

Don’t Call It Mental Health

Achieving Goals, Happiness, Health, Relationships, Success

It seems that the idea of mental health permeates Western culture as a requirement of wellbeing and a keen focus for employers and self-help gurus alike. The problem with the term and idea of mental health is that it is innately something that you have or you don’t. To feel that we don’t have it makes us feel that our life and mental state is below par and, therefore, less worthy than those who have it. It can make us feel that we are not enough.

I agree with Simon Sinek that a better term is ‘mental fitness’. It better describes the gradient upon which mental wellness sits. It becomes a scale and a skill to improve. It opens up the idea of working towards mental wellbeing one step at a time, much like building up strength or stamina. It implies a journey and not a binary situation where you have it or not. It allows for bad days and good days and avoids the self degradation that befalls those who do not feel mentally well. This includes those who have experienced war, as a soldier and a civilian.

Asking For Help Is Refusing To Give Up

Happiness, Health, Relationships

At this time of year, with an economic crisis, the aftermath of a pandemic and lots of other factors, many of us feel stressed and isolated. Some of us can fall into depression and despair feeling like there is no way out. We may not feel like we want to ask for help or even talk about what we are going through. This is true mostly of men who want to handle everything themselves. But talking about it with a trusted person will help.

It is not true that asking for help is a weakness. It is in fact a strength. To ask for help is refusing to give up. Many feel that ending it all is the only option, but you will have people around you who will help if they know you need it. So, if you are feeling low, if you feel depressed or if you feel there is no way out of your situation, ask for help and it will come. To tackle the hard shit that life throws at us can be extremely difficult at times, but together we can get through it. Together is better.

2022 Goals: Mental and Emotional Health

Happiness, The Pathway To Fulfilment

Step 3 in the Pathway To Fulfilment is Good Health, which includes Mental and Emotional Health and two other elements which I will discuss in the coming days.

This is a topic that is often ignored or not discussed for fear of being judged or characterised negatively. However, to take on the task of ensuring your own wellbeing in this area is empowering and essential to live a fulfilling.

It creates opportunities that were otherwise obscured by the challenges that mental health difficulties create. A lot of this work is to figure out what makes us feel happy or joyful and what makes us feel sad or angry. It is understanding how we respond to the world and the people in our lives and whether our thoughts are helpful or a hindrance.

So, how will you boost your mental and emotional health this year?

You could start a journal, see a therapist, start a hobby, clear the air with someone in your life, or start meditating. There are lots of small things you can do that will make a big difference.