Hello from beautiful Bali! 🌺
Megan and I have been here for the past week enjoying a couple of days rest and attending the 2024 Global Speakers Summit. The summit had a range of amazing speakers from all corners of the planet sharing their wisdom on everything from business best practice to the impact of AI. It’s been a great time.
Mental Health Month
The 1st of October marks the start of mental health month in Australia. It's a reminder for all of us to be aware of not only our own mental health but also that of others. Whist this is the month that highlights mental health, I’m sure most people would agree we should be actively checking in on our own mental health and that of others on a regular basis. Preferably daily.
Similarly to physical health, our mental health also exists on a spectrum. Except for major injury/illness, health is not binary. We all have varying degrees of physical and mental health that can be improved upon over time or if not consciously attended to, degraded over time.
Now the great thing here is that in many ways the two (physical and mental health) are linked. When you are consciously working towards improving one of them, you will almost certainly be having a positive impact on the other as well. Whether it’s attending to your sleep, nutrition, exercise, mindset or substance use, there are positive payoffs for both measures of health.
However, in contrast to physical health, whilst most injury/illness/diseases are visible, others are invisible. Arguably when it comes to mental health, the reverse is true. Most types of mental ill-health are invisible but that doesn’t mean they’re undetectable.
Mental Health Continuum
To help make our mental ill-health more visible I developed a mental health continuum together with good friend of mine, James Douglas. James is a highly experienced clinical psychologist with over 30 years in practice. The continuum demonstrates the fluid state of mental health and ill-health. That is, at any point in time we may experience signs/symptoms of positive mental health or poor mental health, and these signs/symptoms may be either for a brief period or possibly an extended period.
Importantly, if we’re not paying close attention and continuously working to improve/maintain both forms of health, then these signs may be invisible due to a lack of self-awareness. When that happens, it can become a slippery slope that needs attention. Giving ourselves permission to have self-awareness is critical here, as is suspending judgement on yourself or others as ultimately, our brain is doing what it believes it needs to do for survival.
The human brain invokes behaviours it believes necessary to remain safe (to survive). Rather than thinking of the markers in the continuum as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, consider them as indicators of the brain learning, evolving and acting to keep the individual ‘safe’ - in the moment. The markers are functions of the body, mind and heart that move an individual away from threat or pain and towards a state that serves them in the short term (for survival). However, if these functions continue on a regular basis, will they also serve the individual in the long term?
This continuum looks at various physiological, emotional and behavioural markers that when observed by the individual or third party, may invite introspection or compassionate enquiry. It is in becoming aware of these markers existence that an individual can take action to prevent degradation of function to unsafe levels, and instead move from Distress to Calm. The context (both personal and professional) is essential to determine if these markers are significant. Markers are significant if they represent a deviation from a mean (normal) state of being for the individual.
Review the continuum then circle all items that resonate with your own experience over the past week. When you’re done, observe the colour where the majority of your items/markers land or centre around.
The good news is that with awareness comes the ability to take action. That action is guided by a series of four Mental Health Checklists that I created to accompany the Continuum. As a pilot, checklists are vital in all stages of flying, whether it’s pre-flight, normal operations or in an emergency. Therefore, the Mental Health Checklists reflect an aviation checklist. I hope you find them as useful and user friendly as I intended.
When you identify your current colour area, go to that colour checklist and take the action indicated. If the majority of markers circled are in blue font, that may be an indication of burnout, in which case review the Blue checklist.
Mental Health Checklists
You can customise my suggestions into a routine that works for you. Just like one psychologist who told me that although yoga is a fantastic activity for maintaining wellness it was just not his thing, instead he finds joy and peace in a good book. Pick your own activity that allows you to switch off and tune into you.
With anything it takes practise to develop a habit and mental wellness is no different. Small daily changes that promote your well-being are not only achievable but essential.
So, October may be mental health month but let's take a more active approach to mental health by starting your own daily actions today.
Reach out to discover how I can help you understand more about where you are on the mental health continuum and how together we can change it for the better.
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