A Holistic View Of Mental Health
The mind, as we all know, is a complex thing. That statement in itself is too simple. However, it is not my role to explain the complexities of the mind, the structure of the brain or the scientific reason for them. My role, as a Holistic Wellness Coach, is to help you in some way to manage your mind in order to prevent some of the ordeals that it may attempt to engage you with, and recover from the past ordeals it has successfully put you through.
I do refer to the mind as its own entity, and that is due to the fact that it does seem to have a world of its own, and that world is vast. Undoubtedly, you will have had circumstances where your mind proposes a thought to you that you had no conscious intention to think. A clear example is every night, if you dream, you will often be in a scenario and have thoughts and feelings about that scenario. You might think ‘oh no, this is terrible’, ‘wow, is this really happening?’, or ‘I’m going to jump on that dolphin’s back and fly to the moon’. Today, I was thinking about what it might be like to be tiny and fly on the back of a bird, a thought stream that I could easily go down and get lost in if I wanted to. Random, unexpected or curious thoughts aren’t an issue, and they can be a source of great creativity as we allow our imaginations to run wild and free. The problem with our minds is that they can also be sources of great distress. Especially in instances when we are unwell or under significant stress, our mind can be swiftly prompted to pick out every negative thought and tie them together to create a story of misery, like a disastrous daisy chain that reaches the darkest depths in an ocean of despair. And when we sink that low, it can be hard to find our way back to the shallows.
When it comes to mental health, I still have the same belief that comes to any other aspect of our health; that if given the right support, care and time, it can be improved to make a way back to better health, if not better than previously. This may seem an outlandish statement to some, but I don’t see the benefit of being defeatist. We know that our brains are neurologically wired for negativity, as imagining the worst-case scenario is a way of preparing for our survival in the event of it actually arising. However, the worst-case scenarios that we we’re wired for are largely predators coming to eat us; snakes, bears, lions and deadly spiders, predators that aren’t all too common in normal day-to-day life of the developed world that we live in now. In modern life, this translates to fears of losing our jobs, anxiety in our relationships, feeling like we are always doing something wrong, panicking in times of change, a need for control and countless other ways small and large that this survival mechanism can manifest itself throughout our lives. Of course, our mind can cause us more troubles than simply focusing on the negative, however this is one area that we can all relate to, and a starting point for developing awareness of the long-term mental health issues that 800 million people live with every single day.
So what can we do to make things better? For ourselves, we can take steps to improve our mental health, no matter our starting point. Whether it’s committing to new healthier habits, leaving situations that cause us harm or simply taking a conscious breath, taking a step forward from where we are can help us to feel better in the here and now. For our immediate community, we can listen better to our friends and family, making an effort to be aware of any patterns that may be warning signs of deteriorating mental health and responding in a way that aims to help them. In addition, we can volunteer for or donate to a mental health charity, and support conversations around mental health and wellness.
If we can reduce our own stigmas and judgements, we are able to cause small ripple effects of acceptance and understanding, and when many ripples come together, they cause a wave.