What is Mental Health

Mental health is similar to physical health in some ways.  When you are mentally healthy it means you feel an overall sense of wellbeing and this enables you to enjoy a full and satisfying life and reach your potential as a person. With poor mental health it can get in the way of enjoying relationships, work.  It makes it hard to enjoy life when you’re feeling stressed or down, or dealing with the consequences of drug or alcohol abuse. 

How Can You Tell When You’re not Mentally Healthy?

If you answer yes to one or more of the following, you might have an mental health issue which can get in the way of having a fulfilling life.

Do you: find it hard to get out of bed? Feel stressed to the point where it you have a short fuse?  Have you withdrawn from friends and family? Have you lost interest in the things you used to like doing?  Do you feel shaky when in certain situations or thinking about particular things?  Do you find yourself in relationships where you are not fulfilled, are being abused in some way, are being taken advantage of, or your partners are not emotionally available?  Do you often think that it would be better if you weren’t alive?  Have you lost your energy or spark and ‘just going through the motions?’, are you having some problems in your relationships, health, social or family life as a result of alcohol or drugs?  Do you think it would be good to cut down on alcohol or drugs but you find you can’t and keep finding excuses why you keep doing it?  Are you obsessed by sex and this is getting in the way of other important parts of life?

What Causes Mental Health Problems?

If you have a strong family history of mental health issues, it is likely that under certain conditions you may have some issues.  This isn’t 100% guaranteed but it’s good to be aware of this so if you do have a family history of depression for example, you can keep an eye on your moods.   As someone who is gender diverse of attracted to the same sex, it’s quite likely that you had a hard time growing up.  This can include feeling that you didn’t belong at school and in the family, the things you were interested in and good at, people around you thought was strange and wrong, you might have felt shame about who you really are and spent a lot of energy hiding it, or you could have been teased and bullied at school or rejected by those who you loved when they found out about your orientation or true gender.  If any of these things happened to you, this can cause you to develop some deeply held beliefs which can lead to unhealthy patterns in your life in the future.  For example if you felt rejected by people you love as a kid or feared this, you could end up feeling excessively jealous in relationships or become clingy which can drive people to reject you. 

Timing

The reality is that the longer you leave it, the worse it can get.  One of the similarities with mental and physical health is early intervention.  So the earlier you can do something about your mental health, the quicker it will take to fix and less damage will be done.  An example of what can happen if you leave it for too long is if you are feeling down, over time you can spiral so slowly that you don’t notice how much it is taking away from your life.  It also slowly starts changing your brain chemistry so that it can mean you have to take medication. 

What Can be Done

Seeing your GP and getting a referral to a psychologist our qualified counsellor that has an LGBTI focus is a very good place to start.  If your GP believes you have a mental health problem, you can usually get a reasonable rebate from Medicare. 

What Stops People from Seeking Help?

Even though people can rationally see the benefit of seeing a counsellor, they might not go for reasons which can include: feeling ashamed thinking that you couldn’t fix it on your own, fearful of what you might discover about yourself in counselling, a fear of feeling emotional during the sessions and this then leading to you being out of control and not able to function in life, a sense of anxiety about opening up to someone if you have always been private about certain personal issues.

These fears are very natural, and most people have them.  Like many other fears they are not grounded in reality, and once you start you’ll realize that they are just a fear and nothing else.

What is Counselling?

Counselling is what’s called a ‘talking therapy’ which is just that!  You talk to someone about the issues, and they guide you so you can get an awareness of what the issues really are, where they come from and what can be done to make positive changes.  It is a confidential and safe process which is tailored exactly to your needs.

What is the Difference Between a Psychologist and Psychiatrist?

A psychiatrist is a medically trained doctor who is able to prescribe medications to help with mental health issues.  They often see people who are really struggling to cope.   

A psychologist is someone who is trained to understand mental health from a scientific perspective and have the knowledge and tools to enable you to achieve your goals to feel better.

Sometimes people can see a psychologist for counselling and a psychiatrist for medication or they can see either for counselling.

Physical Health

There is a strong connection between physical and mental health.  For example if you are not getting enough nutrients from your diet, or aren’t getting enough sleep this can contribute towards depression.   Exercise is natures anti-depressant and stress buster, so when you’re down or stressed doing something physical will also help.

MENTAL HEALTH WEEK RUNS FROM THE 9TH - 15TH OF OCTOBER, FOR MORE INFO GO TO: MENTALHEALTHWEEK.COM.AU