In 1990, Congress designated the first week in October every year as “National Mental Health Awareness Week.”
It seems each day we hear of someone that has a cold or flu, an injury, or maybe something worse, and we have so much compassion for them. As we say, “If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.
But, when it comes to “mental health”, it might not be a stretch to suggest most people become afraid. Why the difference in our attitudes about body health vs. brain health? That’s the reason for this years campaign by NAMI is called #IAmStigmaFree.
If you’re like me, “health” is one of your highest values in life. I run on the beach most days then have a salad for lunch. I like to hit the gym on the weekends to build muscle. And, besides supplements to make up for our poor farming strategies today, I work to keep my mind in peace and harmony, not letting most things generate stress… a leading cause of illness.
So where does the stigma of speaking about mind health come from? Well, since we’re basically conditioned hairless monkeys, taught to follow culture… we only need look back a hundred years to see that for CENTURIES, anyone that was even sad for an extended period of time might have been attacked for being posed by a demon, or worse, a danger to everyone that should be killed. We’re not too far from a barbaric past that still may be creating a superstition that seeking assistance to ensure our mind is running at optimal performance could get us fired from a job, banished from friends, lose a marriage, or worse.
Point: Let’s wake up into the 21st Century and abandon all superstition. Your brain is an organ like any other and DESERVES to be performing at optimal health levels!
If you knee continually hurt when you went running, wouldn’t it be great to find out why and the solution for it? It’s same thing for your mind! When the organ of our brain is not functioning optimally, life it just harder than it needs to be. Keeping our mind in optimal health doesn’t come from just come from will power.
For example, studies show that alcoholics could keep from relapsing, but supplementing with EPA oil, because it helps replenish the fatty oils of the brain that when depleted, have us be more angry and agitated. Many alcoholics us trying to use alcohol as medicine because they won’t seek any other kind of mental health help. Some times mind health shows up in a simpler way in that an entrepreneur has a slight adult ADHD and that’s the real reason why she keeps voraciously learning how to be successful but can’t seem to translate that into success. Many hugely successful entrepreneurs, like Sir Richard Branson, are are aware of their ADHD and that awareness helps them.
How can you check out your levels of mind health? Here’s a short quiz I discovered years ago when consulting for some dating coaches. We were dreaming of a day when everyone would first want to get their mind in optimal health, before dating, to have the best experience. Check out the quiz here: www.sanityscore.com
For those afraid of the word “sanity”, it doesn’t mean “not crazy”. It means “healthy condition” from the Middle French word sanité meaning “health“. The quiz is a health score for your mental health with insights into key things to look at that, if addressed, could make life happier, peaceful, and more like the success you dream about.
To your health! Mind and body health!
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