Reduce your risk of…
Reduce the risks to your mental health
Mental health problems are very common
As Mind Suggests
- “1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England.
- 1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (like anxiety and depression) in any given week in England.”
“How common are mental health problems?” Mind website. Retrieved 19/1/2024
Any type of person can be impacted by mental health problems
Firstly, we must remove the stigma around mental illness. Everyone will suffer some anxiety and low mood at some stage in their life. This may not be obvious but can present as irritability, reduction in communication and poor sleep.
Most GPs would not be able to tell you what type of person comes to see them with anxiety or depression or other mental illness, in the same way they cannot tell you what type of person comes in with infections. All types of people are affected, including of any age, sex, wealth, and culture.
Reducing the risks to your mental health
As Better Health NHS suggest
“It might seem like the most important time to take care of your mental wellbeing is when you are not feeling your best. But it’s actually a great idea to take steps to look after your mental health every day, regardless of how you may currently be feeling or what’s happening in your life.”
“Bouncing back from life’s challenges.” Better Health NHS. Retrieved 19th January 2024
Though we cannot fully stop mental health problems occurring we can reduce the severity in many cases and also reduce the length of an episode.
Mental wellbeing
There are some simple steps we probably should all consider to improve our mental health. They can significantly help those across the whole spectrum of mental health from people who just want to be more content with their life to those who are going through an episode of depression or anxiety. These simple steps, with local support if needed, are covered under
In addition there is good evidence our mental wellbeing is helped by paying attention to
Some of the steps to reduce the risks to you mental health, even if you are feeling fine, are covered in detail in the links above but there are short summaries below:
RESILIENCE
Some of the ideas in the mental wellbeing section are summed up in the short articles below on mental health resilience.
From Better Health NHS
Bouncing back from life’s challenges Bouncing back from life’s challenges and building resilience – Every Mind Matters – NHS
From Mind
How can I be more resilient? Developing resilience – tips | Mind, the mental health charity – help for mental health problems
From Very Well Mind
Why Emotional Resilience Is a Trait You Can Develop Emotional Resilience Is a Trait You Can Develop
From the Mayo Clinic
Resilience: Build skills to endure hardship Resilience: Build skills to endure hardship – Mayo Clinic
KINDNESS TO OTHERS AND YOURSELF
We live in a competitive society where performance is often measured from an early age until the point we retire and this can tie up with school education, further education, jobs and financial rewards and in other ways we are judged. All of us can underperform and over perform at different stages of our life, and this creates expectations on ourselves but also from others.
The Mental health foundation touches on a key ingredient “kindness” which can be completely missing in many social interactions. We are all guilty of this at some point. However even if we have to deliver a difficult message to someone else, we can deliver it with kindness and we can make more of our interactions much kinder and more positive.
This is a challenge for all of us but such a pursuit would significantly reduce the societal burden and personal impact of mental illness for so many people. Kindness as explained by the Mental health foundation also has huge benefits for each of us individually and also can help all of us take a more positive perspective on life. A lack of kindness in many of our own interactions can reflect stresses in our own lives and just a simple change in approach, adopting a kinder approach to ourselves and others can help turn this around.
From the Mental Health Foundation
Kindness Matters guide Kindness Matters guide | Mental Health Foundation
Anxiety and depression
If you develop anxiety and low mood which does not improve, then further information and links to local support can be found under
