Mental Health and Wellbeing: Do you make it your priority?
What is Mental Health?
According to the World Health Organisation “Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community”(WHO, 2014).
Similar to physical health, mental health is also part of wellbeing.
It is important to check in with ourselves. In October 2019 I did a presentation at work titled, “Ready Steady Stop” about mental health and well being. The meaning is that we should be ready to stop and reflect on ourselves to check whether we are doing ok. “Am I Ok? Am I really Ok? “If our mental health is at stake, this can impact on our physical health. Our body is interconnected, we are neither the physical nor are we merely the mental. We are combined as one as each has an impact on the other.
It is mental health awareness week therefore I thought to write a blog about a few facts and how we can try and improve our total wellbeing.
Pic taken by Kannan
What is self-care?
Self-care can be:
Taking a step back
Asking for help
Forgiving yourself
Spending time alone
Putting yourself first
Asking for what you need
Setting boundaries
Staying at home
Saying “no”
Looking after your health first
Some statistics you might be interested in:
1 in 4 people are affected by mental health.
In England 1 in 5 people experience a common mental health problem such as anxiety or depression in any given week.
Coping with mental health problems is becoming increasingly difficult as there is a growing number of people feeling suicidal or self-harming.
Women were more likely than men to report ever having been diagnosed with a mental health problem (33 per cent compared with 19 per cent of males)
(Mind, 2014; The Health foundation, 2019)
According to the Samaritans report, in 2018, 4,903 men took their own lives and 1,604 women took their lives that year. This indicates how the problem of suicide is a lot worse among men.
Pic taken by Kannan
The following is a myth:
“I can’t do anything to support someone with a mental health problem”.
FACT: There are lots that can be done to help
Check in, listen, don’t judge, treat them the same way, and ASK TWICE
My passion for mental health awareness
My passion for mental health derived from being bereaved by suicide when I lost my brother Kannan, July 22nd/23rd, 2010. I have a message to Kannan or those who may feel suicidal. You do not realise how much you are loved and even though you may be going through some pain, you do not realize the pain that you may cause to all your loved ones which is a life long journey once that life is taken.
I feel that suicide may not be the best solution and the truth is every happy moment especially milestones in life I think of Kannan and wish he was here and what life would have been like but that’s all fantasy now. I know he is there in spirit.
I guess pain cannot be quantified too and it is subjective to each individual. It is important to understand what it feels like from the other side too. This is just the way I feel. I guess what happened made me question life and its purpose too.
I often question everything and ultimately the one thing that comes to me is the importance of being kind and trying to understand someone from their point of view as we are all different and the reason why someone may choose to do things in their lives are individual to that person. It is all about understanding I guess. Being empathetic is important; this is not always easy but I guess one can try and understand.
Have you ever felt low, depressed or suicidal?
I think most of us may have felt low at some point in our lives. Well, I have and I have no shame in saying that I have felt that way. It is very important to acknowledge the feeling and to make sense of it to help and heal. Furthermore, it is important making time to heal for the mind and body. It’s important to make the following habits a ritual. By practising the following regularly it helps rewire the brain.
What strategies do I use to help myself?
Regularly journal my thoughts and goals
Counselling and hypnotherapy
Cranial osteopathy sessions
Exercising regularly
Daily meditation
Walks in nature
Deep breathing
Yoga
Painting positive affirmations and then using them to help others and myself to spread positivity
Talk to friends and family regularly
Sing karaoke
Dance crazy
Create my own workouts to self-motivate myself
Push myself towards new challenges constantly (physical and mental)
Never give up
I feel good keeping up with a combination of the few of the above on a daily basis.
Pic taken by Anu/Esh of me
Connections
We started Kannans.Rhythm on Instagram to increase mental health awareness in memory of Kannan. It a mini project I am working on at present. It has done me wonders as I have made deep and meaningful connections with people I least expected. It has been amazing.
Initially about a year and half ago I was at a yoga retreat in Scotland and during a meditation I got a vision of Kannan and the name rhythm of life came to me with an image of Kannan playing the tabla. I knew there was a message but didn’t know what to do with it at the time. Since having time during lockdown; it has helped me incredibly. Furthermore, I got another message through a new connection about how I should continue on the path to spread positivity. I will try my best to do my part.
Some of the connections I made have been through my blogs too and have been approached to talk to about suicide or just the general chit chat, you know who you are.
Selfie with Anu and Esh
Self-help advice and resources
There are several resources available for those who want further information for well-being services.
Below are some links you may find useful.
https://bedfordshirewellbeingservice.nhs.uk/urgent-help/
Local wellbeing service (not local to Luton, look up the service you require), Luton has a self-referral form that can be filled in. It is better to refer yourself before you have a problem sometimes and there’s no shame in getting help.
https://bedfordshirewellbeingservice.nhs.uk/get-started/
Ella McCrystal is a great therapist who also does online sessions.
https://ellamccrystal.com/
In crisis, often when someone is stuck or if they feel extremely suicidal then patients can go to A and E as there is crisis team.
Call 111 for further support or to see their GP urgently
Samaritans UK can be contacted 116 123. Free one to one, 24 hours service for someone to listen.
SHOUT – 85258 – Crisis text line.
Below are some useful websites:
https://www.cruse.org.uk/
https://papyrus-uk.org/get-in-touch/
https://www.prevent-suicide.org.uk/find_help.html
https://www.thriveldn.co.uk/
https://www.zerosuicidealliance.com/
Pic taken by Anu/Esh
Life beyond lockdown
Suddenly there’s a pause and the world and nature has space to breathe again. In some ways we have had time to reflect on life too in some ways. Prior to this I felt I had locked my life completely and my health and wellbeing was going downhill but now I feel everything is much better. I realised the importance of the pause. We often fill that space with things to do. Its ok but it is important to balance the daily routine with mindfulness, be it when we weed or paint. To be present and completely be there in the moment is underrated. I find it easier when out in nature to connect each step I take and sense my surroundings and forget about everything else. I love my new walking buddies Anu and Esh. We also connected initially through Kannan’s rhythm.
The universe is a magical space of wondrous things. It’s special. When you take one step to do something to serve the planet in some way or form, it is strange how new opportunities come our way. I love new challenges.
Special thanks to my friends and family who have inspired me to become stronger in the mind. You know who you are.
The importance of putting yourself first
It is so important to put your health and wellbeing first. It is so easy to forget or think I am going to do that tomorrow for myself. There is no better time than to start today. It doesn’t have to be much, just take one step. It is so important to build healthy habits with our mind and body to bring out the best. We take our health for granted.
Happiness
What does it mean to you to be happy? It is so important to make sure you follow through with your priorities and do what is right for you. Keep being you and be happy with who you are. You are special.
References
https://www.who.int/features/factfiles/mental_health/en/
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/statistics-and-facts-about-mental-health/key-facts-and-trends/#.XZnKqlVKiUk
https://www.rethink.org/advice-and-information/living-with-mental-illness/treatment-and-support/crisis-teams/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIysiZkMiH5QIVmK3tCh1iCQO5EAAYASAAEgLrzvD_BwE
https://www.relias.co.uk/hubfs/ZSACourse3/story_html5.html?utm_source=Relias&utm_campaign=Training-Landing-Page&lms=1
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/mind/international-mens-day-2018-shocking-statistics-need-know/