Mental Health and Wellbeing
“Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” World Health Organisation
Sadly, since the beginning of the NHS in 1948 physical and mental health care have been perceived as separate issues. When we have a physical health problem, we do not hesitate to seek medical advice but, in most cases, a mental health professional is only consulted when there is a crisis, or someone is desperate for help.
Mental and Physical Wellbeing
Mental or emotional health is key to our psychological wellbeing and plays a major role in maintaining physical health. If we have a headache, it does not mean we have a brain tumour and if we have a “bad day” it does not mean that we have a mental illness or a mental health condition. Good mental health is not about feeling happy and confident 24/7 and ignoring challenges, it is about coping effectively and realistically with life.
A mental illness or mental health condition is diagnosable but can be scary – for the person experiencing it as well as for friends, families, colleagues, and employers, who may not know how to help. The definition of mental illness is “a condition which causes serious disorder in a person’s behaviour or thinking”.
The continuum starting from a happy and healthy mind and leading to an unhappy and unhealthy mind is usually a long one, with numerous circumstances along the way.
Mental Health and Stress
Not every mental health condition can be attributed to stress but, like physical health, all mental health issues can be worsened or intensified by stress and tension.
“1 in 6 ADULTS REPORT HAVING A MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEM IN ANY GIVEN WEEK!” (MIND)
This year has been exceptional as Covid-19 and its affect on mental health is unprecedented. The ONS (Office for National Statistics) carried out surveys throughout lockdown which showed that large percentages of people were feeling anxious, stressed, and lonely, as well as having no-one to talk to about their anxieties.
The Power of the Mind
Sadly, we are not taught how the mind works in school yet knowing that you can change your mind and therefore your life, can make all the difference to our emotional wellbeing.
Our minds are like powerful computers. They store everything that happens to us – good, bad, and indifferent. The mind is in two parts – the conscious (thinking part) and the subconscious which houses our memories, which are non-judgemental but not always accurate; our imaginations together with established behaviour patterns and automatic body functions. It controls our heartbeat and blood flow, the digestive system, and pumps our lungs. Just imagine having to think about breathing, swallowing, walking, or blinking – we wouldn’t last long at all!
Filing
Everything that happens to us on our life journey is recorded in our subconscious minds and taken to the next stage. It does not actually matter when a problem starts, be it in early childhood or later. Everything is stored in the same way and, just like a computer or filing cabinet, soon becomes filled to overflowing.
Everything is retained for automatic recall when triggered by circumstances. Remember learning your tables, spellings, riding a bike or learning to drive? It took repetition and practice before the learning moved from your conscious mind to the subconscious, where it was filed away until needed.
Our lives are rarely as organised or labelled like computer files and often things get mixed up and stored in the wrong place or hidden from view! Our minds also get cluttered up with rubbish and viruses which cause us distress, tension, anxiety and depression – as well as creating bad habits, painful memories, fears and phobias – all that negativity that we want to be rid of!
Sadly, the subconscious is unaware of the difference between right and wrong, fact or fiction, and gives us back what we gave it. If you learned that 6×6 was 35 instead of 36 then that is what you will receive as an answer when you are asked.
Training the Subconscious Mind
Once we have trained our subconscious mind to do certain tasks, we trust it to get on with them automatically. The subconscious mind never sleeps and is always busy keeping us going, like well-oiled machinery, and is often in conflict with the conscious mind – which is an exceedingly small percentage (approximately 5%) of our brain power. (The here and now and rational thought.) The conscious mind is subject to overload and needs to be recharged with sleep. When we have had a stressful day or have troubles then it is often hard to switch off, and sleep becomes difficult and sometimes impossible because the conscious mind will not shut down. Loss of sleep, as we all know, makes it harder to function and stress levels increase. No matter what we do, think, or know, if we don’t feel right, then anxiety, discomfort and stress can develop. An excess of stress hormones causes illnesses, high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes and eventually death.
However much you tell yourself that you are in control, your subconscious will determine otherwise unless you retrain it and release the negativity which is causing you stress.
Most people who are stressed don’t believe they can change. Not true! You can change your mind and therefore change your life.
How? There are numerous ways in which you can relieve stress and feel emotionally healthy again, many of which are self-help strategies. Find the one that works best for you: NLP, CBT, Havening, jogging, the gym, exercise, yoga …. After eighteen years as a stress consultant, the techniques that I find the most effective are hypnosis, Emotional Freedom Technique and EMDR. (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) All three are painless and powerful ways to release stress and maintain good mental health.
Why suffer if you don’t need to?
About Ruth Fogg
Speaker, Educator, Therapist, Author
Ruth specialises in providing practical skills and solutions to understand and manage stress. She has an MSc in Counselling Psychology plus other relevant qualifications.
She is an Honorary Fellow of Brunel University, a Fellow of ISMA and a member of The Professional Speakers Association.
For more information go to www.stressworx.co.uk.