Thinking Clearly and Your Health
KEY POINTS:
1. Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which an individual can realize his/her own abilities, can cope with stress, can work productively, and is able to make contributions to his/her community.
2. There are many tools, tactics, strategies and techniques that can be used to improve mental health.
3. Eating smarter, moving more, and sleeping soundly will all enhance your ability to think clearly and will improve your mental health.
“There is no health without mental health.”
The number of people affected by mental health challenges is staggering. Mental health disorders include depression, bipolar affective disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, intellectual disabilities, and developmental and behavioural disorders. People with mental disorders experience 40 to 60% greater chances of disability and dying prematurely, often because physical health problems go untreated. One in five people will be affected by a mental health challenge during their lifetime.
To make things worse, mental health disorders are often “invisible,” in that they’re not obvious to an onlooker. So people often don’t get the help and support they need. We stigmatize people with mental health challenges. We hide them away and don’t talk about the issue. They are discriminated against, and there are even widespread human rights violations against people who experience mental disorders. We need to do better. We have a mental illness epidemic that is sweeping the world, and I hope you’ll join me in turning the tide.
The World Health Organization has defined mental health as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make contributions to his or her community.” They expand on mental health as it relates to children where they state that children should “have a positive sense of identity, an ability to manage their thoughts, emotions, and to be able to build positive social relationships as well as having an aptitude for learning.” I think those sound like good goals for adults as well.
Fortunately, there are many tools, tactics, strategies, and techniques that can be used to improve mental health. Those that I propose here are mostly focused on helping to create better mental health, improve mental performance, and to prevent mental illness. If we apply these ideas as a society, one person at a time, I think that we can make a huge impact and create a culture and an environment where people experience much better mental health and people with mental illnesses get comprehensive and holistic help and treatment. The ideas and concepts that I am presenting here cannot take the place of medical and psychiatric treatment. They are meant to be used as preventative and complimentary modalities to improve mental and physical health and to help you unleash your potential.
This Week’s Exercise: Practice short bursts of happiness
This week your challenge is to take 5 minutes to boost your happiness each day. Here are a few ideas: email someone to thank them for something they did for you, have a meaningful conversation with a friend, take 30 seconds to help someone who needs it, or recall a great past experience.
Enjoy!
Bonus Content
Here's a cool video by my friend, colleague, and member of our amazing team Prof. Ellen Choi on Understanding Stress.
You can watch the video at this link.
Enjoy!
The information and advice provided in this program is intended to assist you with improving your performance, as well as your general health. It is not intended and should not be used in place of advice from your own physician or for treatment or diagnosis of any specific health issue. By participating in this program you acknowledge that undertaking any new health, diet and/or exercise regime involves certain inherent risks, that you assume such risks, and that you release Wells Performance Inc. from any responsibility or claim relating to such participation.