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IS IT ONLY YOUR MIND THAT’S ANXIOUS, OR YOUR BODY TOO?
It is World Mental Health Day!
There wouldn’t have been a better time to talk about one of the most common afflictions as far as mental health is concerned, something that almost all of us face – ‘Anxiety’.
Be it seeing after your children or making it on time to work, several situations give us the “on the edge” feeling.
When we talk of dealing with or managing anxiety, we think about it the mental way. We try to take things easy, we try to consciously ask ourselves to ‘calm down’ and stay focused.
However, what we tend to ignore is that –
Anxiety is as much in the body as it is in the mind
THERAPY FOR ME IS…
Through our posts, we’ve been talking about how it is okay to seek help and how seeking help is a sign of strength, not of weakness.
We understand that even then, when you do decide to go in for counseling, you might have some doubts or apprehensions-
“What really is counseling?”
“What happens in these sessions?”
“Will it actually help?”
These are real questions and a lot of people we interact with do voice them as well. So, we decided that real questions deserve real answers; we asked some of those who have been in therapy with us, to share what therapy or counseling means to them.
IS IT OKAY TO SEEK HELP FROM A MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL?
Yesterday, we spoke about how consciously taking care of your emotional health goes a long way in nurturing and strengthening yourself.
Today, we address a slightly deeper issue.
What happens when sometimes, you feel stuck at an impasse? When you know internally that something is not quite okay… that you’re feeling a certain way and you don’t want to continue feeling like that?
You try to resolve it. Yes, it’s good to do that. You’d try and check what’s going wrong; you’d try to correct it.
What happens if still, those stresses or feelings don’t get better? Then what do you do? Turn to friends, family and other people you can trust. This is also good. People who know us act as sounding boards and support us.
But sometimes, even after talking to them, you feel that things are still not okay; like there are some knots that are entangled, and just won’t loosen up.
What then would you do?
WORLD MENTAL HEALTH WEEK 2013 IS HERE!
To all of you who have been reading what we share, and to those who have stumbled upon our website more recently – World Mental Health Week is here!
We’ve always been excited about this week… more so because we hold mental health very close to our hearts. So over 2011 and 2012, we have been posting something special for all of you throughout this week..and the tradition continues this year as well.
Before we share what we are up to for Mental Health Week 2013, we want to ask you – what does mental health mean to you?
IT’S AN UNPLEASANT THOUGHT, NOT A FACT
“My life is pathetic”
“Others are so much happier than I am!”
“I will never be able to make friends”
These are thoughts aren’t they? Often, we experience distress, anxiety, discomfort and a lot of pain because of our thoughts. We have a thought or a belief about something, which causes us stress.
In the course of life, our mind is flooded with thoughts. If you take even a minute to be aware of your mind, you will know just how active your mind really is. It is constantly evaluating, judging or making sense of events around it. Such is the nature of the mind. The mind as a faculty thinks and interprets events.
However, what happens when our thoughts begin to distress us? When this mental chatter begins weighing us down? For some of you, your mind thinks certain things over and over again. Or, it thinks in a certain way over and over. It keeps going on about how lonely or unwanted you are, or about how you are uncertain if you are heading in the right direction in life. How then can you deal with it?
OVERCOMING THE FEAR OF FAILURE: “TAKE THAT LEAP”
Take a moment. Think about something you really want to do, but haven’t yet because you are afraid it might not work out:
Taking up that new project at work. Starting your own homemade cupcakes business. Shifting to a new house. Starting a fitness regime. Investing in some property. Taking a break from work to travel. Telling that someone special you love them.
Your mind is probably telling you: What if it doesn’t work out? What if it is a big mistake? What if I fail? Sometimes, when you want to take up something new, your mind will tell you that you are not ready, even if you are. Yes, taking up something new does come with changes and some amount of risk but it also comes with a gamut of exciting possibilities.
When you are scared to fail, you take a step back. You colour inside the lines. This fear limits you from attempting certain activities, taking risks and you start to undermine your potential.
