Mental health - it doesn't mean you're going to be locked away

The phrase "mental health" can have a lot of stigma attached to it. People are often frightened that they will be labelled as mentally ill and mental health issues are usually discussed in whispers if they’re spoken about at all.

But physical health, the counterpart of mental health is a perfectly acceptable term. People are prepared to talk openly about their physical health issues - sometimes in too much graphic detail.

Just as in physical health there are levels of mental health problems. If you’re physically unwell then you may have a stomach ache or a sprained wrist which are just short term problems that are likely to only affect you for a short amount of time and once they have gone are unlikely to have any future impact on you.

By the same token, if you’re mentally unwell then you could be suffering with anxiety over an event that you’re nervous about or you could have ongoing depression. Both issues are affecting your mind so they are both mental health issues.

I hope that helps to put it into context. Mental illness doesn’t have to be restricted to just the more extreme cases of mental disturbance.

You wouldn’t expect to set your own broken leg and whilst you will tend to treat your own cold symptoms, you’re still relying on your own experience and advice that other people have given you. You may be able to deal with some emotional issues on your own, such as short term stress or confidence. You may have colleagues or friends who can give you advice on how they’ve dealt with similar issues. But if something has been niggling away in your mind for a while then go and see an expert in the mind just as you’d see an expert in physical illness. You will be able to learn new skills or use techniques that you don’t have access to yourself which will get rid of the niggle and help you to enjoy life more.

Your mind does a lot of hard work so there are likely to be times that it doesn’t function on top form. Thinking you have to live with anxiety, low confidence, an unwanted habit or unwanted behaviour is like thinking you have to live with cataracts or broken bones. In most cases those are treatable and vastly improve your life. It’s the same with your mind. Most mental issues are treatable and again will vastly improve your life.  Hypnotherapy, cognitive behaviour therapy, NLP and counselling can be helpful in helping to improve mental health in lots of situations.