The prompt for Blogtober18 today is, Just Be Yourself #Mental Health Awareness Day.
My daughter saw on the television this morning that it was Mental Health Awareness Day and said that they would probably talk about mental health at school today. I replied that it was good to talk about it as everyone’s mental health was important. She looked confused for a while and then asked, “does everyone have mental health then?”
Then it was my turn to look a little confused but I soon cottoned on. She was taking the term mental health as meaning that something was wrong. It’s true that a lot of us don’t think about our mental health until something goes wrong with it.
I explained to her that everyone has mental health just like they have physical health and that they both need taking care of because they can both get sick sometimes. If you get sick physically you seek help from a doctor or the pharmacy, or maybe you just take extra care of yourself until you feel better. It’s the same with mental health, if things don’t feel right then you should seek help and possibly treatment just like with your physical health.
Keeping Well Mentally
We all try to take care of our physical health but do we take as much care over our mental health. Sadly, a lot of us don’t, but it’s not so difficult to do. Self care is really important, especially when professional care when something goes wrong is so difficult to get.
So how do you take care of your mental health?
- The first thing you should do is talk about your feelings. Find someone who is prepared to listen and connect.
- Look after yourself physically, get some more exercise or just fresh air occasionally
- Eat well and moderate your alcohol intake.
- Be more mindful, take time just to be in the moment, not thinking about the past or the future.
- Find something new to learn, or even do some puzzles or crosswords. Give your mind something else to concentrate on.
- Reach out and care for someone else, it can boost your self esteem and create a closer connection.
If you do feel your mental health is suffering then seek help. If you were physically ill you’d ask for help, it’s just the same, it’s your health.
Don’t Judge
No one walks in anyone else’s shoes. Judging when you don’t know the full story is the worst you can do.
It’s not only the ones with mental health issues but their families that suffer. People tend to hide mental health issues, find them difficult to talk to, particularly if they are the carer. Life can be difficult and awkward but they may feel less inclined to talk or explain why.
Everyone deserves to be treated with kindness, no one should be judged
If you feel you have a poorly mental health then please find some help, even if it’s just someone to talk to.
Linking up to A Blogging Good Time
Mummy in a Tutu
You are so right Anne – everyone definitely deserves to be treated with kindness. far too much judging goes on nowadays!
You are right, we don’t think about our mental health until something goes wrong. My youngest had an assembly about mental health today and my teen had her’s on Monday. I am glad they talk about it in school.
This is a really well put together post. Thank you. I am glad they are talking about it more in schools now to increase awareness, sad that so many kids are suffering nowadays though.
Absolutely agree. It is accepted that we take care of ourselves physically, to avoid getting ill, but how often do with stop and think about preventative actions to take to preserve our mental health. #MMBC
When my little one first lived with us from Foster Care she had a hard time just doing life. I had so many parents JUDGE me for the way she was acting. When in reality she is coming from a place of trauma. I tried to educate parents as best as I could without bringing more attention but I got so many looks. Thankfully she is in a great place now but I still remember the judging eyes of onlookers. #ablogginggoodtime
Judging is never acceptable, nobody knows another’s difficulties.
Couldn’t agree more, and I hope your daughter took in a lot from your conversation. Mental health, whether healthy or ill is important! x
Yeah, talk sure does help Anne #MixItUp
Fabulous and an excellent way to cxplain it to your daughter.
You are so right I am sure when most people hear the term mental health they think of someone who is ill. Someone with anxiety of depression or who is self harming. I do think that education is improving around mental health though. We are beginning a mindfulness program in school now. #mixitup
Oh so true. So seldom do we use the term mental health, unless something goes wrong. There are positive terms but maybe we don’t connect them. I like your list, especially the last point about reaching out, because it can make all the difference to someone else too. #MMBC
It is great that you are having conversations like this with your loved ones. It is so important to be mindful of our body and mind. #AbloggingGoodTime
Mental health is so important and we need to talk about it every day not just on special occasions. great post
thanks for linking to #ablogginggoodtime
good point and interesting realisation, to acknowledge that mental health is only acknowledge when there is something wrong with it! We are programmed to monitor and manage our physical health even when we feel fine; diet, excercise, stretching, cleansing, yet wegenerally ignore our mental wellbeing until it is damaged x #blogcrush
I absolutely agree! I never thought to talk to my kids about mental health though until now. I’ve kept my kids home a few times giving them a mental health day. I told them it was a mental health day too because when I notice that they are too stressed from school, it’s important to me that they take a day to relax and re-charge. I asked my youngest about it and he said he knew what mental health was but never thought of it is a positive or negative way. And apparently he didn’t understand what “taking a mental health day” meant. I’m glad you wrote this Anne because it opened up my mind to talk to my kids about it. #ABloggingGoodTime
I’m glad to have helped a little x
I love you mention here my being judgemental. If someone needs to talk about their mental health it’s probably taken a lot to do it and judgy would not help at all. #blogcrush