Building the Mental Muscle of Resilience in a world of Mental Health Myths

Change is the new norm, there is no going back and business as usual has disappeared into the abyss. We can see it all around us with people under more pressure, under resourced teams, individuals working longer hours, constantly connected 24/7, stress is on the increase and I am commonly being asked to speak to teams and leaders around the topic of resilience. I wanted to share some insights and bust some mental health myths with you and hopefully calm your day.  Firstly, thank you for taking the time to read this article and before you go any further if you are interested in this topic then just take a few seconds to yourself before you go any further and just     

 S M I L E  &  B R E A T H E.

I am hoping you took just a couple of seconds for yourself just then, because lots of the problems as we will see below are we don’t take enough care of ourselves and we don’t take time out, even short moments in our days to focus our energy on ourselves. Did you know smiling for 30 seconds releases oxytocin (feel good hormone into our body) Also smiling for this long will probably make you feel silly so you will laugh (even more oxytocin is released; laughter really is the best medicine!

So, what are some of the myths that are being thrown around to make us think that we can solve this chaotic crisis of spinning in our own heads.

MYTH No. 1

·      ANXIETY & DEPRESSION ARE THINGS YOU CAN SNAP OUT OF

The idea that you can snap out of these feelings of anxiety or depression in an instant is just utterly ludicrous. These feelings are not something that you can “will “yourself to stop by reading motivational quotes on the way to work and eating chocolate cookies all day to make you feel better.

MYTH No. 2

·      ONLY SAD EVENTS CAUSE DEPRESSION & ANXIETY

Fact: Stressful life events, such as the death of a loved one, marital problems, family dysfunction, financial difficulties, or health problems may lead to feelings of unhappiness, but they don’t always trigger depression. Many other things in life are associated with an increased risk of developing depressive symptoms. For example, mild traumatic brain injuries like a concussion or falling down the stairs are a major cause of depression that ruins people’s lives, but very few people know about it. The reason we don’t know is because only a handful of psychiatrists ever look at the brains of their patients, usually specialists ask questions and look for a cluster of symptoms to diagnose, rather than actually looking at what’s going on in the brain.

MYTH No.3

·      POPPING PILLS IS THE ONLY WAY OUT

Selling tablets to depressed and anxious individuals is a billion-dollar business, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you all that! A study from researchers in the UK found that over 50% of depressed patients still experienced symptoms after being treated with antidepressants. About one-third of people, they still felt blue after trying FOUR different antidepressants.

Antidepressants should never be the first and only treatment for depression or anxiety. There are many natural ways to overcome symptoms, including supplements, physical exercise, nutrition, ANT therapy (questioning negative thoughts), practicing gratitude and appreciation, surrounding yourself with people who provide positive bonding, and finding your purpose and passion but that doesn’t seem to create the same kind of revenue as popping pills!

MYTH No. 4

·      MEN DON’T HAVE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

Fact: 1 in 8 men call an ambulance with suicidal thoughts in Australia every day!

Fact: Women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression, but according to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 6 million men suffer from the condition each year. It may be overlooked in men in part due to a lack of willingness to talk about their feelings as openly as women. Even more interesting, men don’t always display the symptoms we typically associate with depression, such as sadness, fatigue, or hopelessness. Men are more apt to exhibit anger, aggression, and irritability or to engage in reckless behaviour, such as substance abuse.

MYTH No.5

·      IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD!

Fact: Depression is not an “imaginary illness” it is in your head but there is a difference it is in your brain! If you look at the amazing research work done by Dr Daniel Amen and his team brain imaging studies using a technology called SPECT show the people with depression tend to have abnormal activity in an area of the brain called the limbic system. Brain scan reveal that when there is too much activity in the limbic system, it is often correlated with a tendency toward negativity, chronic guilt, crying spells, and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. In a SPECT study of more than 15,000 patients, researchers at Amen Clinics noted a significant correlation between increased activity in this brain region and self-reporting of symptoms of depression. Why are we not looking for it? How many dollars are being spent with psychiatrists and counsellors talking through symptoms and looking for clusters of symptoms. Now I am not suggesting we shouldn’t use the services of these specialists, but wouldn’t it also help if we actually took a look at the organ that was causing all the issues. If I break my leg, I have an X ray BEFORE the Dr even sees me, why wouldn’t; we do the same thing for mental health?

MYTH No. 6

·      SUCESSFUL PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS HAPPY AND DON’T GET MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

Fact: Depression doesn’t discriminate. It can affect anyone! Even people who are highly accomplished in their field. Doctors, professional athletes, and even major celebrities can struggle with the condition. Think of people like Kate Spade, Anthony Bourdain, and Robin Williams, who seemed to have it all but took their own lives. People who appear to have so much often think they don’t have a right to feel depressed. But no amount of material wealth or external validation can heal the emptiness you feel inside or balance abnormal brain activity.

MYTH No. 7

·      EVERYONE SHOULD BE TREATED IN THE SAME WAY

 Fact: Based on brain imaging research, it is very clear that giving everyone with depression the same one-size-fits-all-treatment plan will never work. This is because brain scans reveal that there are 7 different types of depression, and each type has its own treatment needs. In addition, each person may have other factors contributing to their condition, such as hormonal dysfunction, a chaotic family life, a poor diet that needs to be addressed. Finding a treatment plan that is tailored to your needs is the key to overcoming your symptoms

SO WHAT?

I hear you call, what strategies can we put in place, how do we build our own mental muscles to our own resilience and mental toughness. Firstly I want to acknowledge and share with you the size if this immense issue. A report released by the Australian Productivity Commission shows the

economic cost of mental ill-health and suicide

in Australia is up to $180 billion a year.

Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health conditions experienced by people and tend to affect people during their prime working years. One in five Australian workers is currently experiencing a mental health condition. 

In an office of 250 people

on average

1 will be having suicidal thoughts

Q. HOW MANY PEOPLE WORK IN YOUR OFFICE?

DO THE MATHS!

What can we do to really look after ourselves?

 ·      MEDITATE

If you are good or bad at it, just try it, it doesn’t cost a thing and it can be very quick, even 5 mins a day you will see improvements VERY quickly. Get an app if you need something to guide you, I love Dr Richard Miller Yoga Nidra but there are millions out there just try it on the way to work, in the shower, having your morning cuppa. Science and research benefits are astounding and over 80% of the world’s top leaders and professional athletes do it so there must be something in it right! Now take it from someone who knows, can I sit on the beach, legs crossed for 20mins at sun rise and 20mins again at sun set ? NO! I have 3 kids I can’t sit on the toilet for 20 seconds without being interrupted BUT if you can find 5mins out of your day then you will see positive affects VERY quickly at no cost to your pocket. Small incremental steps forward are the way forward.

 ·      YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT/DRINK/Whatever you put into your bodies!

This one for me is a tricky one, there are so many fad diets and info (too much info) out there I think we all get a little lost in what is good for us, what is good bacteria, how many probiotics should I take, how many times a week can I eat carbs, meat, fish the list is endless! I think this is the trickiest of all because WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT and I believe our bodies all respond differently to different foods at different times of the day and no one knows your body like you do. My advice here is to find out what suits you, for instance I know I can’t eat breakfast it literally makes me feel awful, I also know I cant exercise in the morning as I have to eat to exercise then I feel sick the whole time. Recently I discovered that I have such a long gut (intestinal tube) for my body type that I store food (like a hamster for the winter!) So it makes sense that I don’t need to eat brekkie, I can go for 5-6 hours without food easily because my body is still digesting and if I snack then I’m actually putting my system under more pressure and stress.! With so much info out there I implore you to look at your INDIVIDUAL health (I can point you in a direction if you are interested in this) 

94% of patients with Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) were also

affected by psychiatric disorders especially

anxiety and depression

·      I CAN’T GET NO SLEEP

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of sleep to increasing your mental resilience. When you sleep, your brain removes toxic proteins, which are by-products of neural activity when you’re awake. Unfortunately, your brain can remove them adequately only while you’re asleep, so when you don’t get enough sleep, the toxic proteins remain in your brain cells, wreaking havoc by impairing your ability to thin, something no amount of caffeine can fix.

Mentally tough people know that their self-control, focus and memory are all reduced when they don’t get enough—or the right kind—of sleep, so they make quality sleep a top priority.

Basically turning up to work with less than 8 hours sleep a night your cognition/processing speed is severely impaired in fact you may as well be drunk! Meditation can help but also strategies such as removing phone from your sight at least 2 hours before bed, have camomile tea and warm shower and have a sleep routine. Don’t go on your phone in the middle of the night and certainly don’t wake up with it in the morning, leave it in another room! Bedrooms were not built for phones!

·      LET'S GET PHYSICAL

Now we all know the benefits of exercise so there is no need to get into it BUT we are all also very good at making excuses! Just a small step in the right direction can help. I know you are a busy parent and have no time, you travel too much you can’t go to the gym but that’s not what I’m taking about. A walk in nature, putting your feet on the sand or grass, getting up and moving from your computer and walking around the block, going to “play” at break, tennis, squash, running with your dog anything to keep your body moving. Sitting at a desk set your alarm to MOVE every 90mins. Maybe think about what exercise you could do at night in the bedroom if you removed your phones from the room, just a thought!

·      FEELING GOOD

Start noticing your emotional wellbeing, write down or journal how you are feeling, it doesn’t have to be war and peace but just make a note at lunch time how do you feel. It sounds crazy but if you do this for a week you will start to see patterns, certain times of the day, certain people, certain situations trigger you. If you want to stretch and grow your emotional intelligence the first thing to do is to notice what triggers you , only then can you get your emotions in check. Writing things down (pen and paper not on notes on a phone) help to declutter the brain and the action of physically writing it onto paper helps with this brain dump. Even if you are not a lists person writing all the jumbled thoughts down and then circling the 3 major priorities can help your brain to calm the overwhelm that it going on it all of our heads. It is the same for gratitude, writing down things you are grateful for helps you to see with more clarity that you are a lucky person who is fortunate and this positivity releases those happy hormones around your body again making your feel good.  Positivity then breeds further positivity. When your sense of pleasure and satisfaction are derived from comparing yourself to others, you are no longer the master of your own happiness. When mentally tough people feel good about something they do, they won’t let anyone’s opinions or accomplishments take that away from them.

·      POSTIVE RELATIONSHIPS

Being around constantly negative people at home or at work is no good for anyone. We all know them, the energy drainers who spend all day whinging and wining at you to make themselves feel better, only to make you feel worse! Reducing interactions or getting rid of these toxic people all together from your vicinity is mind numbingly obviously but doing it can be tricky, but it seriously does it help! To be a better friend, colleague, leader, parent, daughter, son brother or sister we need to spend time with people who make us feel good and vice versa, do not waste our time on energy drainers. Make time for your friends, we all lead busy lives but the implications of not spending social time with your friends and building on those connections of belonging is what being human is all about – if you deny yourself of this then you are denying a basic human need for connection. In the workplace this is a catastrophic fail as a large majority of people leave companies because of their relationship with their boss. If you have a toxic employee or a toxic boss you need to talk to them, you need to build a constructive conversation around what is going on so that you can both support each other in fixing it, no blame, no judgement, no conflict just a conversation about wellbeing of each other. We need to bring the human back to the workplace, so that we all feel fulfilled and happy. (If you need help with this sensitive topic I can help as I spend much of my time working through these difficult situations with people, just get in touch!)

·      GET INTO THE GROOVE

Whatever it is that gets you into your “Flow” then do it! Flo is a scientific thing, its real! If you surf, dance, play music, play golf, ride motorbikes whatever it is you need to do! When we are in a state of FLOW both our left /right hand brain are integrated, this is lighting up all the neurons and connections in our brain which is switching us on! This is THE BEST MEDICINE you can give your brain; it loves connections! The longer you can get into your flow state for every day and light up your brain activity like a Christmas tree the better you will feel.

Now all of this can sound overwhelming so much to think about BUT remember its all about small incremental steps 1 step at a time, even improving 1 thing by 1% a day will have a HUGE impact over a year. So before you do anything else today just…

 S M I L E  & B R E A T H E

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, if you would like any help with any of the topics mentioned above do not hesitate to contact me

BOOK A FREE 60min session at odelle@8consulting,com.au or call +61 405 211 243