It is World Mental Health Day this week and an opportunity for us to make mental health issues a priority and highlight the support of mental health.
This year’s theme is ‘Make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority’ as set by the World Federation for Mental Health.

A key point to dealing with mental health issues is to talk about it and never be embarrassed or too proud. It is a huge problem in the UK, with 1 in 4 adults being diagnosed with a mental health problem, with depression being the most common diagnosis. Remember depression isn’t about feeling a bit low, it actually changes our physiology and has a much wider impact on our health and the people around us.
Someone somewhere every day is undergoing personal trauma, whether it’s losing a loved one, illness, work issues or physical abuse and many more experiences. So, it’s vital that we make it a priority by offering support, listening to the individual and helping them seek professional help if necessary. You don’t need to be an expert in mental health to help; just a simple text or phone call can make all the difference to someone and support them with their recovery.

Talking, whether it’s face to face or to someone impartial, is essential in lifting your mood and helping you move forward when trying to overcome a mental health issue. Talking is NOT a sign of weakness, it is the opposite as it is taking control of your well being and doing something positive for the good of your health. We all feel better when we have got it off our chest and sometimes the problem isn’t as bad as we imagine it to be. Often we just need an alternative way of thinking about things.
Self awareness, self acceptance and being proud of who you are is key to feeling more confident within yourself and helps give you that boost to learn a new skill, or meet new friends. Learn to love yourself rather than wasting time wishing you were: not depressed; not anxious; not stressed; not unconfident; not unhappy; or not overweight etc.

Note the unconscious mind is unable to process the term ‘not’, so what you are telling yourself is you wish to be depressed; anxious; unconfident; unhappy; overweight. And as our unconscious mind wants to please us, it works hard to make us feel and be that way. So make a simple change and instead ask yourself what do you want, rather than what you don’t want to be and feel? Hence, focus on what you’re good at and what you want to be and feel, and then learn to accept what you’re not so good at and learn how you can change things for the better and to feel better. Because you can feel better.
It’s so important to stop making excuses or reasons why we feel negative and instead find ways to adapt and change to overcome things and focus on how you want to feel and be. Anything is possible, you just need to give your mind guidance of where it’s trying to go and not what it’s trying to stop. As whatever you focus on you will get… so make it a commitment to feel great. You deserve it!!

I offer One to One Sessions as well as workshops for companies, which have had great feedback. I can help you change the way you think and feel with a number of simple exercises and tools to use easily in everyday situations and start to help you learn to think differently, to help you feel more relaxed, calm and better about yourself.

Life only comes around once, so it’s so important to let go of the past and embrace the present.