July is Mental health awareness month, to create awareness around mental wellness to help save lives and break the stigma around mental illness. Showing people that we truly care and help people to deal with their stress in a way that prevents the progression of mental illness.
The mental health continuum stretches between flourishing and languishing.
We might find ourselves moving up and down this continuum, let me explain. Mental health is the capacity of each and all of us to feel, think and act in ways that enhance our ability to enjoy life and deal with the challenges we face. It is a positive sense of emotional and spiritual well-being that respects the importance of culture, equity, social justice, inter connections and personal dignity. In other words we have a fulfilling and meaningful life. The other side of the continuum stretches to unhealthy feelings, we feel overwhelmed and are unable to think straight. We experience poor sleep, which results in the inability to function normally and presents us with various uncomfortable symptoms of stress, exhaustion, fatigue resulting in an unhappy life. If this continues it CAN develop into a mental illness.
The important part is to be aware where you are in this continuum, because the sooner you realise you might need help, you can prevent the development of more serious mental illness. We all experience ups and downs, but some of us develop better coping skills than others.
It is not the storm that is the problem, but it’s the way we set the sails. There is help out there that can help you to set your sails and navigate around the storm.
When we are emotionally aroused we have the tendency to overdramatise and exaggerate. It is important to understand that our physiology allows that to protect us, but if we get stuck in a stressful state we tend to project these distortions onto our own lives and mental state and that is not good. The good news is that we all have a built in homeostasis that naturally leads us towards balance and optimal functioning and therefore we have the ability to self-rectify. Some 75% of us slip out of depression within 6 -10 months (with awareness about ourself) and only 25% might need help, so there is always hope. Self-awareness is key in understanding what is really going on. Any threat to our emotional needs registers in our brain as a stress response.
There are three stress triggers
- We cannot meet one or more of our emotional needs
- We believe, or perceive or imagine we cannot meet our emotional needs
- Something or someone prevents us from utilising our inner resources that stops us from meeting our needs
When we start feeling that we cannot cope because we feel overwhelmed by a challenge, or we feel unsafe, undervalued, bored or purposeless in our life. That’s when our brain starts to experience the stress response and when this happens we quickly switch into survival mode and start acting impulsively. Stress response processes demonstrate that our brain reacts and functions instinctively or emotionally in times of danger. Ask yourself today if you are in survival mode and get the help you need.
There is a variety of mental illnesses or psychological distresses. Symptoms may differ depending on the condition and circumstances:
A few examples:
- Dramatic sleep and appetite changes
- Decline in personal care
- Rapid or dramatic shifts in emotions
- Withdrawal from social activities that you once enjoyed
- Change in performance either at school or at work
- Loss of initiative or desire to participate in activities
- Fear or suspiciousness of others
- Uncharacteristic behaviour
- Heightened sensitivity to sounds, sights, smells or touch
- Concentration problems, memory or logical thoughts and speech that is difficult to explain
- Suicidal thoughts
Keep an eye on the warning signs above. Learn what your triggers are and make an appointment with a healthcare professional.
If you feel that you need to reach out, contact SADAG toll-free line Suicide helpline 0800 567 567 (24 hours), or CIPLA mental health helpline 0800 456 789, CIPLA WhatsApp line from 9am – 4pm 076 882 2775
You can also SMS SADAG 31393 available 24 hours.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, June 27, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
