Positive steps to boost mental fitness

By Lionel WIJESIRI

All of us grow up with a set of ideas about who we are, what our life was and will be, and what the world is like. These ideas come from our past experience, and, because no two people ever have the same experience, no two people ever see things in exactly the same way.

Depression, a result of mental problems

Our ideas are not an exact picture of what’s going on around us, but a set of guesses or theories about what’s going on. If we grow up with certain views or beliefs about how life is or should be, we can then be greatly shocked if we discover that things aren’t the way we thought they were and that we’ve made a serious error of judgement.

Whenever we encounter some unexpected disaster or setback, we discover that there’s a serious discrepancy between what we thought our life was and what it actually is. Perhaps we thought our life was safe and secure, and then we suffered from a serious burglary at home. Perhaps we thought we were going to spend the rest of our lives with one special person, and then that person left us, or died. Perhaps we’d grown up believing that if we were good, nothing bad would happen to us, and then something did.

Whenever we discover we’ve made a serious error of judgement, we may start to doubt every judgement we’ve ever made. Then we start to feel very unsure of ourselves.

If we value and accept ourselves, we have confidence in ourselves, and, even though we’re frightened, we tell ourselves that this feeling will pass, that we can meet the challenge and cope with whatever follows. If we don’t value and feel positive about ourselves, we may feel that we’re about to break down, and we have to find some defence to hold ourselves together.

These defences might include:

* Harming our body by injuring or starving it
* Blaming ourselves for the disaster or setback, and so becoming depressed
* Locating the cause of our fear and becoming too frightened to venture out
* Retreating into our own inner world.

We don’t consciously choose a particular defence. Instead, we unconsciously and quickly resort to the one defence available to us because of the way we see ourselves and our world.

Changing needs

So, what should we do? There is no specific recipe for a healthy mind, as each individual is different, and our needs change over time too. The experts’ advice is simple: Become aware of the full spectrum of essential mental activities, and just like with essential nutrients, make sure that at least every few days we are nudging the right ingredients into our mental diet.

Mental wellness is all about giving our brain lots of opportunities to develop in different ways. In organisations, from a practical perspective, this means allowing people to work from home more, to be more flexible, to give people more autonomy.

Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, MD of Harvard University created what he calls the Healthy Mind Platter. This platter has seven essential mental activities necessary for optimum mental health in daily life. These seven daily activities make up the full set of ‘mental nutrition’ that our brain needs to function at its best. By engaging regularly in each of these servings, we enable our brain to coordinate and balance its activities, which strengthens our brain’s internal connections and our connections with other people.

* Focus Time. We closely focus on tasks in a goal-oriented way, taking on challenges that make deep connections in the brain.
* Play Time. We allow ourselves to be spontaneous or creative, playfully enjoying novel experiences, which helps make new connections in the brain.
* Connecting Time. We connect with other people, ideally in person, richly activating the brain’s social circuitry.
* Physical Time. We move our bodies, aerobically if possible, which strengthens the brain in many ways.
* Time In. We quietly reflect internally, focusing on sensations, images, feelings and thoughts, helping to better integrate the brain.
* Down Time. We are non-focused, without any specific goal, and let our mind wander or simply relax, which helps our brains recharge.
* Sleep Time. We give the brain the rest it needs to consolidate learning and recover from the experiences of the day.

Diet

The researchers, from two major universities in Spain, conducted a four-year study of the eating habits of more than 11,000 university students. They found that eating a Mediterranean diet is good for the mind as well as the body and improves a person’s quality of life, according to researchers.

The study found that the consumption of oil-rich Mediterranean foods, such as fish and seafood, helps improve overall mental well-being. So scientists devised a food pyramid, which states that main meals should never lack cereals and fruit and vegetables - and a daily intake of two litres of water.

At the top of the pyramid are sugar, sweets, cakes, pastries and sweet drinks, which should only be consumed occasionally and in small amounts.

Exercise

The Institute of Medical and Social Care Research, Bangor University, Gwynedd, UK conducted a two-year survey on the effects of exercise on mental well-being. They found positive effects. As a minimum, the evidence would suggest that exercise can also improve the mental well-being of elders. Economic evidence indicated incremental effectiveness for community-based walking and exercise programs.

Seek help

In general, it is a good idea to seek professional help for a problem that affects your mind when:

* A symptom becomes severe or disruptive
* A symptom becomes a continuous or permanent pattern of behaviour
* Symptoms become numerous and affect all areas of life
* We feel out of control, extremely anxious or deeply depressed
* We are thinking about hurting ourselves or someone else.

Let us think about our emotional well-being. Let us give ourselves permission to take a break from our worries and concerns. Let us recognise that dedicating even a short time every day to our mental fitness will reap significant benefits in terms of feeling rejuvenated and more confident.