It’s Mental Health Awareness Week from 16 – 22 May 2016 and this year the theme is relationships and how maintaining and making new relationships can be crucial to overcoming this illness. Talking face to face with a loved one or someone impartial plays a huge part in lifting your mood and helping you to move forward. Also as someone who wants to help a loved one dealing with mental illness, you don’t have to be an expert, just be there to listen and not be frightened to contact the individual, as this also goes a long way to speeding their recovery.
There is still more to be done to remove stigma attached to Mental Illness Even though there have been many campaigns over the years, and we are much better at talking about mental illness, there is still a stigma attached to it as it isn’t a physical illness and people can be ignorant as they don’t understand it. People can treat someone with cancer or suffering from a heart attack more naturally, empathetically and openly compared to those with a mental illness. Harsh but unfortunately true.
A staggering 70 million work days are lost each year costing employers a huge £2.4 billion per year and more worryingly is that 10% of children and young people in the UK have a mental health problem.(1)
It terrifies me how much more demanding school is becoming for children.
I worryingly see many teenagers and even 10 year olds as clients who are anxious and depressed due to the intense pressure they are put under at school. These are the lucky ones who get a chance to get rid of this anxiety and stress, whilst others suffer in silence with the problems often escalating into other issues for the future.
What life are we as a society creating for our children and the workers of the future?”
A staggering 70 million work days are lost each year costing employers a huge £2.4 billion per year and more worryingly is that 10% of children and young people in the UK have a mental health problem.(1)
It terrifies me how much more demanding school is becoming for children.
I worryingly see many teenagers and even 10 year olds as clients who are anxious and depressed due to the intense pressure they are put under at school. These are the lucky ones who get a chance to get rid of this anxiety and stress, whilst others suffer in silence with the problems often escalating into other issues for the future.
What life are we as a society creating for our children and the workers of the future?”
Don't have to suffer alone. 1 in 4 adults have been diagnosed with a mental illness with Depression being the most common diagnosis (2) but Stress, Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder and many more effect a growing amount of people.
So how does the human body deal with stress?
The human body was designed so that when confronted with danger the fight or flight response is fired in us, which allows our bodies to release adrenaline and stress hormones that allow us to fulfil either one of these responses. Either way the body's heart quickens to pump blood to the heart quicker, extra weight is expelled to allow you to exert this high energy response to attack or run to get out of there when faced with a deadly creature or real danger.
However, in modern day life, danger and stress can come from a very different source such as home life, work and social settings where running away or physical attack is inappropriate and socially unacceptable. Hence the stress hormones and adrenaline are not used up in exertion and so remain in the body.
If this response gets stuck and you become trapped in a cycle of anxiety and fear you will still continue to physically produce these hormones and physiological changes, slowly wearing down your body having a negative effect on your mental and physical health. In addition to the above physical changes the reproductive system also is put on hold as rearing off spring in a perceived danger zone is not conducive to a successful outcome for you or the child.
There is help out there if you are suffering from any of the mental illnesses mentioned in this article.
The following can help to overcome mental illness and move forward with your life again and feel like YOU again:-
 Taking the time to ask someone "How They Are?" and listening to them is vital. |  Mindfulness is being used more and more in the successful treatment of mental illness. |
Talking- Face to face with a professional or joining a self help group.
Exercise- Releases powerful endorphins chemicals in the brain that make you feel good and uses up that excess adrenaline and stress hormones.
Diet- Eating a mood enhancing diet such as leafy greens, fish, beans, chicken and eggs, plenty of fluids (not alcohol!) omega 3 and Vitamin’s D and B.
Mindfulness – Being aware of the present moment by using techniques such as concentrating on your breathing, and using yoga and meditation. This is being used more and more in dealing successfully with stress/anxiety, but it is something you need to do regularly to see best results.
Sleep – Important for your body and brain to recover and flush out toxins while you sleep and give you energy to deal with your busy day.
Hypnotherapy – Hypnotherapy helps fine tune your thought processes and taps into the latent power of the mind, to de-stress you and promote relaxation and healing throughout your mind and body. Highly successful tool that is now being used more and more.
Mental Illness can be debilitating but it can be helped with these techniques in conjunction with help from your GP.
References below linked to the numbers stated above, plus some other reading used to produce this blog.
1.https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/mental-health-workplace
2. http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2016-01/15/mental-health-stats-uk
Please contact me for a chat if you'd like to make a change and feel happy and free of anxiety again. Because you can with a little work. And it's worth it!
http://www.mind-bodywellness.co.uk/depression.html
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