I want to address the elephant in the room (2)

*Disclaimer: I am not a mental health professional, I have written these blogs to help people with the knowledge and experience I have acquired.*

Mental Health Disorders

We’ve established that everyone has mental health and outlined the tabooness (yes, I know that’s not a real word) and their effects.

Now we need to consider mental health problems. Because everyone has mental health this means that everyone is prone to having mental health issues.

Stats say 1 in 4 people have a mental health illness. We Need To Talk.

Mental health disorders unlike most physical illnesses can’t be seen.

This is why we need to be extra cautious of the way we approach, speak and treat each other.

There are symptoms however, which help you identify the problem.

Mental health disorders include:

anxiety disorder
depression
obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
personality disorder
post-traumatic stress disorder and many more.

Some disorders can also lead to others and some entwine with each other. These disorders can be caused by the environment you are surrounded with, genes or both.

You can develop a mental health disorder later on in life depending on different circumstances such as, bullying, being in a toxic environment, tragedies and trauma.

But you can always heal as well. It’s just good to be aware.

Symptoms vary on the condition, but the most common ones are:

mood changes
high levels of feeling sad or down
withdrawal from things you would normally enjoy
fatigue.

Every individual diagnosed with these conditions would behave differently. Some may be affected by their condition more or less than others.

Most would show anti-social behaviours. It is good to be informed about mental health in general and then to research the different disorders to be able to identify them and help yourself or someone else.

Having a mental health disorder affects the individual’s quality of life. They might not want to socialise, avoid places or fear a lot of things.

It can affect the people around them as well.

I put a lot of importance on speaking up because you gain information that you need to move forward. And what you might be suffering from is not as uncommon as you would think, so there’s plenty that you can do to heal.

Not knowing the diagnosis can cause a lot of distress in itself.

I started having panic attacks at the age of 12 and I did not know what it was. The panic attacks would come randomly but mostly in the same context.

For example, I remember having my first panic attack in an assembly hall. Every time I thought about going to an assembly, I would feel terrified.

I feared having the same experience of the panic attacks but also because I did not know what I was experiencing added on to my fear.

I started avoiding places where I knew would trigger it. When I had the panic attacks and felt actual physical symptoms, I thought I had a terrible life-threatening disease.

Knowing that the panic attacks came from high anxiety levels allowed me to move forward.

What You Can Do To Move Forward

Parent/guardians

Most parents/guardians want the best for you, they are certainly not evil and act from the result of their own knowledge.

It is also not their fault for most beliefs they have acquired. But it can be changed.

If you have been raised in a community where mental health is a stigmatised topic and want to help your parents/guardians understand mental health, you can follow these steps:

1). Open a conversation about mental health. Ask them what they think it is. Listen, don’t debate.

2). Introduce mental health by calling it ‘the mind’s well-being’ or ‘well-being of the mind’ whatever you prefer.

3). Explain that everyone has mental health, outline and explain why mental health has been stigmatised by going through assumptions and conditioning used in the media.

This will challenge your parents/guardians own beliefs especially if it relates to any of the assumptions.

Ask them if they’ve picked up these beliefs because of their peers, media and if they’ve ever experienced any of the assumptions to be true.

4). Allow them to question you. Do not state that you are trying to change their belief.

5). Repetition is very important when you are trying to change a belief or even a belief system. Show different videos or facts every now and then to help expand their thinking. But also make sure to not bombard them with a ton of new information!

6). Talk to them about positive experiences you may have encountered from other people.

7). Speak about your own mental health disorder whenever you feel comfortable.

The most important thing to remember through this process is that you have to be patient and mindful of the language and tone you use when speaking to your parents/guardian about this topic. Follow the steps with an open mind.

I believe, the frustration comes from the rigidness some people have when it comes to beliefs.

If that’s the case, I encourage you to do what’s best for you regardless of what anyone thinks. There are a lot of self-help methods available for use as well such as, CBT websites that offer free resources. Your mental health comes first.

Therapy/counselling

I am aware that the NHS (UK, National Health Service) have low funding to help those with mental health problems. Therefore, there’s a long waiting list to get any counselling or therapy.

However, there are many schools, universities and charities that provide regular help if you need it including mentoring. Even though the waiting lists are long it will be worth putting your name down.

Speaking to someone allows you to get stuff off your chest and speaking with a professional will help you gain an honest, new and a helpful perspective to overcome what you are struggling with.

Self-regulating methods

There are self-regulating methods that have a lot of benefits for mental health such as:

meditation
exercise
writing in a diary every day
being surrounded by nature
keeping a balanced diet and more.

Self-management techniques

Everyone has different coping mechanisms.

In my experience, I have found some methods to manage my anxiety especially at those moments where I felt it was spiralling out of control and leading up to a panic attack.

My body tends to tense up during high anxiety levels so I found that chewing gum helps or taking sips of water. This allows for little movement, which releases some tension.

The most significant tools are our mind and breath. Telling your mind that everything is fine, reverting your attention to something in the room or your body and taking deep breaths also helps magnificently.

Resources

Personally, I love to read books about human psychology.

They’ve really helped me understand the mind I want to encourage you to research and find resources such as, books, blogs (*cough* like mine*cough*), podcasts and YouTube videos that explain not just mental health specifically but also the mind.

Spiritual and motivational books, YouTube videos and music are my favourite tools. Some examples include: 'The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind' by Dr Joseph Murphy, ‘Heal Your Body, Cure Your Mind’ by Dr Ameet Aggarwal and Bob Proctor on YouTube.

One of my favourite authors is a Buddhist Vietnamese monk, his name is Thick Nhat Hanh. He’s a peace advocate and has written many books!

Two of my favourites include: ‘The Art Of Living’ and ‘Peace Is Every Step’.

Definitely read his books, just by reading these books you’ll feel the blissful energy.

These links are self-help websites, helplines, mental health charities websites where you can get a lot of information:

https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/key-data-mental-health

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/

https://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/self-help-resources

http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/

Learn, share and lets begin to end this elephant in the room!