Your mental health is important. Just as important as your physical health, maybe even more so, but I think they also complement each other quite a bit. When one is going well, it helps the other, or at least it’s one less thing to worry about. The science heavily suggests that being active helps with your mental health, and I would imagine it’s easier to be active when your mental health is under control too.
The first thing I’ll say is, and I will say it loudly, do not be afraid to talk about any issues you think you may have. It really doesn’t matter how small they seem, because that can easily snowball into something bigger. There are plenty of people you can talk to, plenty of people who will listen, especially nowadays. Family, friends, doctors and helplines. You have options. Don’t ever feel like you have to suffer alone or in silence. And don’t feel like you have to wait for it to become a big issue either. Pre-empt it, catch it early on, and you might stop it developing further.
I’ve said before, that what you’re looking for are any changes to your lifestyle; your temperament, your mood, your sleep patterns, your eating patterns, any unhealthy habits that you’ve picked up. These could be signs that you may be developing a mental health issue, and the first step is to get checked out, and get a diagnosis. Now, there may be nothing wrong, or it might just be temporary, but better safe than sorry. You might have to put a little pressure on your doctor, if you think there’s something wrong, because I’m still not convinced that all of them take it as seriously as they should do. But hopefully you’ll get looked at, and if there’s anything that needs to be done, the process starts ASAP.
Now, here’s where it gets trickier. The next step is treatment, and there are so many different illnesses, and so many different treatments, there’s no guarantee they get any of it right. Unfortunately, it still seems to be quite a trial and error system. Sometimes they’ll put you on medication, and that might not work, or it might only work for a while. Sometimes you’ll go to therapy, and again, that might not work, or it might only work for a while. It sucks, but hopefully you persist with it, and find something that does work.
Our understanding of mental health will continue to get better, I suspect rapidly, so hang on in there. There’s a lot more emphasis on its importance these days. In the meantime, don’t bottle everything up, don’t be afraid to talk about any problems you have, and don’t wait until it gets too far along. Not only will it help, but you’d be surprised how many people are going through something similar. See you next week.
Dan Miller
Body Fuel Personal Fitness Trainer
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