How to get help with your mental health (anxiety, depression, or both) can take you in several directions.
If you are having suicidal thoughts, you must get medical help right away. Do this by calling 911 in Canada or calling your emergence number in your country or call a friend or family member and get to a hospital right away. You will need to take Western medicine to help settle your brain down.
If you are not sure if you are being challenged with your mental health, there are two links on our www.weareindividuals.com website that you can use. One link will take you to a website with a list of symptoms and the other link will take you to a website with a test that you can take to help you decide if you are being challenged with your mental health.
Some symptoms that may be clues that you are being challenged with your mental health (anxiety or depression) are you may feel like you are always tired, short tempered (you get upset quicker than you used to – you have a short fuse), you cry easier then you used to, you feel more moody, you start to become withdrawn (you don’t care to hang out with friends or family members), you are always worried about what could happen, your heart feels like it is beating out of your chest (racing), you get all sweaty, your breathing starts to race. These are only a few symptoms that could be linked to feelings of depression, or anxiety. Like I mentioned in the above paragraph, there are two links to a website with more symptoms and a test to help you become more educated with what to look for to help you decide what type of help you should seek.
If you are challenged with your mental health and you are not having suicidal thoughts, that does not mean you do not have to seek help. Go to your family doctor and have a discussion with them about how you are feeling and your symptoms (and be HONEST…this is not something that should be sluffed-off …remember doctors need all the information… not just bits and pieces – they cannot read your mind). If your doctor does not take this seriously or you get the feeling like they don’t want to help you with this challenge, you need to find a different doctor…and this is very important. Most doctors are general doctors, and they are human; therefore, some of them may not be comfortable with this area of health challenge.
Sometimes you may have to be put on Western medicine to help you get through your “challenging times”…and that is okay, BUT remember it is medicine and if you drink or do drugs while taking your medicine it can have the adverse effect on you and it can make you experience suicidal thoughts. Also, Western medicine is a “Band Aid” that is providing you time to heal…you still must find a therapy or modality or a combination of them to help you heal your mind.
There are many therapies and modalities that can help you get through your “challenging times” …whether you are on medication for your mental health or not.
- The very first step is to know the symptoms of your mental health challenge (example: anxiety or depression).
- The second step is to seek help – that help will be determined by how severe your symptoms are and what type of help is available.
- The third step is never give up…it can be very challenging at times…but don’t give up!
I have a list of some of the options for therapies and modalities on our www.weareindividuals.com website. I also have blogs written on each one so you can learn a little more about what each one is about. This information will help you decide which one you may be interested in trying. I also try to provide links to the practitioners and therapists around the world that provide these services and their location. As I learn about other therapies and modalities I will continue to blog and share more information.
If you are a friend, family member, co-worker, or boss, and you are concerned with someone that you think is struggling with their mental health, your first step should be is to talk with them and let them know that you are concerned. Offer to help them seek health. Provide them with different alternatives including seeing and talking to a healthcare provider or trying a modality or therapy focusing on mental health. Do not judge them…support them. Not everyone that is being challenged with their mental health realizes that they need help…because mental health challenges can sneak up on you and slowly alter the way you are feeling, the person may not be aware of the change.
If you are feeling a little depressed or anxious as you are reading this blog (or whenever you have these feelings), you may want to try using these two Jin Shin Jyutsu self-help holds:
- For depression – hold your baby finger on your right hand until you feel a pulse; then move to your middle finger on your right hand and hold it until you feel a pulse, and then move to your thumb on your right hand and again hold it until you feel a pulse. Next, move to your left hand and repeat. (While doing this focus on your breath – breathing into the count of 4 and breathing out to the count of 4).
- For anxiety – hug yourself holding under your armpits and again focus on your breathing…breathing into the count of 4 and breathing out to the count of 4. Hold the spots under your armpits until you feel a pulse then continue to hold them until they are in sync (both sides are pulsing at the same time together).
Many people already know about talking to councilors or psychiatrist and they are great, but sometimes depending on your location and the severity of your mental health challenge it may take weeks or even months to see one. So, to help you out through that waiting time, or even to help you out if you are not at that point with your mental health challenge where you need a psychiatrist or a councelor, here are some of the modalities and therapies that I have studied, tried, and have found helpful:
- Access Bars
- Jin Shin Jyutsu
- Hypnotherapy
- The Simpson Protocol approach to Hypnosis
- Breathing Exercises (Breathing into the count of four and breathing out to the count of four – doing this 36 times)
- Yoga
- Walking
- Art Therapy
- Even rubbing a worry stone (thumb stone) with your thumb can help
When you are looking for a practitioner in a modality or therapy, make sure you go to one that is certified and do your research (ask around…talk to people who have gone to them and check out their website – read their reviews) It is also a very good idea to bring a friend for support whenever possible.
Creating a team is a very important step when it comes to healing your mental health. Your team may consist of your family and friends, your family doctor, using Western medicine (sometimes), a councelor (if needed), and then a few practitioners that provide different modalities and/or therapies.
When we experience a “trauma” in our life, our cells in our body change…they become elliptical. Since they change their shape, they no longer flow through our veins the way they are supposed to; therefore, creating changes in the way the blood flows through our brain which leads to mental health challenges. Apparently if we don’t take care of this, these odd elliptical cells can then be passed down to the next generation through our DNA and our genes which leads to inter-generational trauma; therefore, it is very important to heal our mind/brain in each generation. If everyone would take the first step in getting help to heal their brain (healing their mental health challenges); then we would see an improvement in so many areas in society. There would be a reduction in suicide, child poverty, addictions, crime, abuse, bullying, and the list goes on and on…and society would then experience a positive shift.
The main idea behind healing your mental health challenge is to get the blood flowing through your brain the way it is supposed to naturally flow, but because of a trauma you experienced in your life (for example a bump to your head like a concussion, or a traumatic experience like loosing a loved one, or a move to a different location, or a divorce, or a loss of a job, or a medical health challenge like cancer…and the list goes on and on and on) remember everyone’s trauma is different; therefore, never judge someone or compare them. Your mental health is an individual experience…not a comparable experience. Also, everyone will have a different comfort level for trying different modalities and/or therapies. Therefore I am blogging and sharing information about the different ones I know and learn about… so that each person can choose the one they feel more comfortable trying. For example, one person might find getting a full body message very helpful while another person might find a combination Access Bars/ Jin Shin Jyutsu treatment beneficial.
Another very important reason for taking care of our mental health is…a poor mental health leads to poor physical health. It all starts with our brain and filters through our bodies from there.
So…learn the symptoms of mental health challenges, take the test, see your health care provider (providing them with ALL the information they need), read about the different modalities and therapies available to help you through your challenging times, decide on one to try….and don’t give up…keep taking one step forward…even if it is a little step.
Take the first step in creating your team. The feeling you will get is unexplainable…but it is very empowering.