It’s the buzz phrase of the moment and everyone is asking if you’re taking enough care of your mental health. Lady Gaga, Prince Harry and a whole myriad of top Aussie sporting stars have recently spoken about their personal battles in an attempt to remove the stigma around the subject of depression.
Experts are at pains to keep telling us that your mental health is just as important as your physical wellbeing and that sounds great, but what on earth does it actually mean?
As with all matters of the mind, it’s hard to find a straight up definition because what is true for one person, might not be of another. When talking about your grey matter, it’s not always black and white.
Perhaps a good place to start is with a definition from the World Health Organization, who describe mental health as “a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”
At LIV, we can identify with this description because it’s up front about the fact that there are daily stresses in life and you’d have to enjoy superhuman levels of Zen not to be affected by them. But it’s about your ability to cope with what life throws at you, bounce back and move on so that you’re always travelling forward and feeling good about the journey you’re on.
We’ve all heard the suggestions on improving your mental health from finding time to meditate each morning, to getting enough hours sleep at night and cutting down on those naughty treats like cookies and wine before bed (that’s definitely not us!).
But if there’s one thing we’ve learnt, it’s that you need to find what works for you. That might be improving your diet and doing more exercise, or it could be finding the right support network that you can turn to when you aren’t quite coping with all elements of your life.
So don’t feel pressured into following the latest fads if they’re adding more stress, rather than reducing it! Take some time to think about what having positive mental health means for you and then go out there and make it happen. And if you need help to achieve that, don’t worry, you can speak to your GP or some of the experts at the fantastic organisations below.