A mental health handbook
Mental health can affect you at different stages of your life, through the form of a breakdown caused by a divorce, work overload, death or even childhood trauma.
According to the world health organisation ‘one in four people’ will suffer from mental health in their lifetime
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You can’t prevent traumatic events unfolding but you can learn to adapt.
When people have a breakdown, they go through various stages of coping.
Denial: There is nothing wrong, I just needed to rest, like when you have the flu.
Fear: How will this affect my life and my relationships?
Acceptance: It’s not going away, so I have to adapt.
Mental health comes in all shapes and sizes and affects us all differently, but it awakens the demons within us. If you don’t learn to love your inner demons, aka that part of your brain which is sensitive to society. Then your mental illness will win. It will control your life and dictate what you do.
Our society, environment and behaviour affect how our brain copes. If our brain feels threatened, you will have a breakdown. We can’t predict when a breakdown will occur, but we can prepare our mind.
I have learnt coping mechanisms over the years and have found a way to manage my mental health.
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Medication: Is an aid to help you cope. It's not a cure but is a safety net.
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Routine: Set a routine. Our brains like having a routine.
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Healthy eating: A healthy body keeps a healthy body.
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Treats: You can condition certain foods to make you feel happy. Its called comfort food.
Diary: Write down your thoughts. I blog every day about how I feel. It takes me less than ten minutes to do and it feels like I’ve empty my head
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Yoga: Do daily yoga, just ten minutes in the morning sets you up for the day. ​
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Exercise: Daily exercise helps keeps the demons at bay, plus releases those feel-good chemicals.
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Analyse and research: Why did your breakdown happen? The more you research and analyse yourself, the more you will understand what's going on.
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Therapy: Sometimes there are hidden memories that trigger your mental health. Therapy can help unlock the doors to these repressed memories.
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Self-therapy: Figure out if your personality traits contribute to your condition.
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Work: It’s a big part of our life’s because we need to earn money. Yet, ask your self I'm I working long hours that is affecting my health?
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Time: Mental health is not a quick fix. You will have slip-ups, but don’t give yourself a hard time.
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Once you take back control from your mental health it does get easier. You're stronger than you think.