Mental Health Reflections
During the course of my abbreviated Winter Solstice Weekend, I was Reflecting upon various aspects of Mental Health.
One thing that I was pondering is how incredibly mentally sick people can be, and never, ever even think of going to a (head) Doctor. But if someone has a bit of congestion--which we all know will go away with plenty of rest, fluids, and time--they will leave work early that day to make an emergency trip to the (physical) Doctor. I know the arguments of why people so willingly go to the (physical) Doctor but will do anything to avoid going to the (non-physical) Doctor. I've given them myselves!
A related topic is how people will endure non-physical hardships in their Life for years, but not do a goddamn thing about it. Last I talked with my mother, she was talking about how difficult it is to deal with my brother's ADHD (he's now 16, and they've known he has this for at least a whole decade). I asked her, "Have you ever read anything about how to better deal with ADHD kids?"
"No... is there stuff on that?"
[insert stunned silence]
"Yeah, mom, there is... a lot of great ideas out there, for free. Or you could ask me for my thoughts, given that I've got my degree in Psychology and half the kids I've worked with in the last year have an ADHD diagnosis somewhere in their chart."
It's amazing what an internet connection, google, and a few hours can accomplish in this--or any other--topic you'd like to know more about.
The last thing I'll talk about is how people, when they say they are Depressed, chronically Angry, or (insert Mental Illness), they "would do ANYTHING to change how they feel", and then promptly never do a goddamn thing. I mention this because I have stated that I would do "anything" to avoid another Depression, and I'm putting myself to task. I'm making lists of things that I know will cheer me up, motivate me, and help me be a Happier person. Some of these things--healthy as they are for me--I seem to have an uncanny knack for avoiding. But how can I rationally back-up a proclamation that "I'd do anything to avoid another Depression" if I know that exercise does wonders for lifting a Depression, particulalry when I know I need to exercise anyway? Similarly, as stupid as many people may feel about doing it, how hard is it to spend a few hours doing some self Work? I sat down and wrote out various things that are directly related to being Happy. I'll give the topic of each page to give an idea (I use Mind Maps for much of my hand-written idea-organization):
"Things that make me feel (Good/Positive/Joyful)"
"Things that can seem to trigger 'The Bad'"
"Pattern Interrupts"
"Things I Value"
"Things I dislike"
etc.
Looking at these lists, they all seem pretty freakin' obvious. So deceptively obvious that 99.999% of people alive will never, ever do anything like this. Interestingly, the excuses most often given is that doing these types of things "is too much work", or that they "take too much time". It's interesting, because living with these problems (in the case of my mother, over a decade with just this single problem alone) is already consuming vast resources of time, energy, and patience--only with nothing to show for it and no progress! Wouldn't it be better to stop wasting effort and time you're already giving, and invest it in something that will actually make a desired Difference?
Wee humans are funny, funny creatures...
Agape!
"Know Thy Selves"
One thing that I was pondering is how incredibly mentally sick people can be, and never, ever even think of going to a (head) Doctor. But if someone has a bit of congestion--which we all know will go away with plenty of rest, fluids, and time--they will leave work early that day to make an emergency trip to the (physical) Doctor. I know the arguments of why people so willingly go to the (physical) Doctor but will do anything to avoid going to the (non-physical) Doctor. I've given them myselves!
A related topic is how people will endure non-physical hardships in their Life for years, but not do a goddamn thing about it. Last I talked with my mother, she was talking about how difficult it is to deal with my brother's ADHD (he's now 16, and they've known he has this for at least a whole decade). I asked her, "Have you ever read anything about how to better deal with ADHD kids?"
"No... is there stuff on that?"
[insert stunned silence]
"Yeah, mom, there is... a lot of great ideas out there, for free. Or you could ask me for my thoughts, given that I've got my degree in Psychology and half the kids I've worked with in the last year have an ADHD diagnosis somewhere in their chart."
It's amazing what an internet connection, google, and a few hours can accomplish in this--or any other--topic you'd like to know more about.
The last thing I'll talk about is how people, when they say they are Depressed, chronically Angry, or (insert Mental Illness), they "would do ANYTHING to change how they feel", and then promptly never do a goddamn thing. I mention this because I have stated that I would do "anything" to avoid another Depression, and I'm putting myself to task. I'm making lists of things that I know will cheer me up, motivate me, and help me be a Happier person. Some of these things--healthy as they are for me--I seem to have an uncanny knack for avoiding. But how can I rationally back-up a proclamation that "I'd do anything to avoid another Depression" if I know that exercise does wonders for lifting a Depression, particulalry when I know I need to exercise anyway? Similarly, as stupid as many people may feel about doing it, how hard is it to spend a few hours doing some self Work? I sat down and wrote out various things that are directly related to being Happy. I'll give the topic of each page to give an idea (I use Mind Maps for much of my hand-written idea-organization):
"Things that make me feel (Good/Positive/Joyful)"
"Things that can seem to trigger 'The Bad'"
"Pattern Interrupts"
"Things I Value"
"Things I dislike"
etc.
Looking at these lists, they all seem pretty freakin' obvious. So deceptively obvious that 99.999% of people alive will never, ever do anything like this. Interestingly, the excuses most often given is that doing these types of things "is too much work", or that they "take too much time". It's interesting, because living with these problems (in the case of my mother, over a decade with just this single problem alone) is already consuming vast resources of time, energy, and patience--only with nothing to show for it and no progress! Wouldn't it be better to stop wasting effort and time you're already giving, and invest it in something that will actually make a desired Difference?
Wee humans are funny, funny creatures...
Agape!
"Know Thy Selves"