It seems that in todays society, everyone know someone who is suffering with mental health problems. It’s important that we don’t confuse mental health with mental illness as the two are related but equally different. So what is mental heath?
We live in a world where we want to be fit and healthy. People spend hours in the gym everyday chiselling and sculpting their bodies so they look their absolute best. We spend fortunes on vitamins and health products but how many of us spend any time looking after or minds? After all your brain is the most important part of your body. It controls everything we do and without it we wouldn’t be able to tell our muscles to lift the weights that tone our bodies.
It is important therefore to train our minds in the same way that we train our bodies. It is imperative that we all acknowledge that our mental health and well being are just as important as our physical health, and look after both acordingly.
So what is mental health?
I like to think of mental health as a quantitative measurement or a sliding scale. At one end of the spectrum sits a person that has never had any problems in their life what so ever. The best possible version of yourself, untouched by testing relationships or traumatic events. At the other end of the scale would be the version of you that everybody fears becoming. The result of years of trauma and pain.
Obviously no one is completely with or without pain or trauma in their lives. We all have our own individual life experiences and through them we all sit somewhere on this mental health continuum. Most are balanced nicely in the middle but beware that our sliding scale can move and just because you have good mental health today it does not follow that tomorrow will be the same.
However, the opposite is also true. If you find yourself in a place that seems dark and foreboding take comfort in the thought that this is only temporary. With the right training, or therapy you can shift yourself back towards the light. I personally believe that everybody has bad moments in their lives, thats just the way the cookie crumbles. But if we acknowlege our mental health and wellbeing before it all gets too much we can better prepare our minds for the stresses of the modern world we live in.
If you, or someone you know needs a little help, I am always available to offer a helping hand.