World Mental Health Day: Signs You May Struggling With Your Mental Health & Tips To Help

Anyone of us can experience a mental health problem at any time; mental health is one of the top health concerns in Britain, with 6 in 100 suffering from stress and anxiety, 8 in 100 with depression and 4 in 100 battling PTSD. This World Mental Health Day (Thursday 10th October), Lucy da Silva, Psychotherapist and Co-founder of treatment centre Silva Wellness looks at symptoms of mental illness and offers tips and techniques to improve your mental wellbeing.

Are you feeling restless or on edge?

Do you often feel irritable?

Are you getting tired easily?

Do you have difficulty concentrating or feeling your mind goes blank?

Are you having difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep?

Do you constantly feel sad?

Do you feel hopeless and that nothing is going right for you?

Are you losing interest in things you used to enjoy?

Do you often feel like isolating and being on your own?

Are your symptoms continuing for weeks or months and are bad enough to interfere with your work, social life and family life?

Do you often get feelings of shame or guilt about a past or recent event?

Do you find difficulty controlling your emotions and find yourself getting triggered?

Do you have periods of losing attention and concentration? – this is known as dissociation.

Have you noticed any physical symptoms? – such as headaches, dizziness, chest pains and stomach aches.

Are you finding yourself cutting yourself off from friends and family?

Have you found it or find it difficult to get and stay in relationships?

1) Box breathing: Inhale for a count of four, hold your breath for a count of four, exhale for a count of four, and hold your breath again for a count of four. Repeat this practice for 3-5 minutes.

2) Use affirmations to bring you back into the present moment. Stress and anxiety can make us feel out of control so the combination of slow deep breaths and calming affirmations such as “I’m safe, I’m protected and I’m exactly where I need to be” can be extremely helpful. When you are going into a meeting or a job interview, use affirmations to help you connect with the present moment and boost your confidence.

3) Grounding and walking is a fantastic way to calm the mind and recentre. Being barefoot on the grass, going for a mindful walk outside Focusing on the now, while mindfully moving, will help you to feel grounded and present while boosting your wellbeing. The science is clear. Physical exercise and mindful practice positively influence psychological functioning, improving cognition, lowering stress, and reducing symptoms of depression.

Tips and techniques – 3 tips to help with depression: During a depressive episode we often feel like everything is happening to us and not for us.

1) Journalling is a powerful way to get the mind chatter on paper and out of your head. Journalling is a great way to clear space and invite positive thinking. Follow your journaling by writing a gratitude list.

2) Gratitude lists have been proven to work on feelings of depression. When we express or receive gratitude, our brain releases dopamine and serotonin, which can help us feel happier and less depressed. Write 10 things you are grateful for each day and you will see significant changes in your daily life.

3) Ketamine Lozenge Therapy has been proven to help with the treatment of depression with studies showing over 80% improvement and positive results. In a recent study of 94 participants (treating individuals with treatment resistant depression, PTSD, anxiety & cPTSD) 91% reported improvements in their anxiety, 79% reported improvements in their depression and 92% had significant life/work functionality improvements. The most impressive results were out of the individuals who screened positive for PTSD post treatment 86% screened negative for this debilitating condition. These results are overwhelmingly positive which included several unsolicited self reports of transformation (Dames, S; Kryskow, P & Watler, C Front Psychiatry 2021).

1) Breathwork – this can help people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which can help counteract the fight-or-flight response. One case study found that connected breathing was effective in treating PTSD, with one participant’s PTSD going into full remission after eight sessions*.

2) Mindfulness meditation. It has been suggested that pre-traumatic mindful tendencies promote acceptance and awareness of posttraumatic responses, thereby reducing avoidance, re-experiencing and hyperarousal reactions to trauma-related stimuli and preventing the onset of PTSD.

3) Physical exercise. Many people who have been diagnosed with PTSD say that finding an enjoyable physical activity that they can perform regularly has helped them to reduce their levels of stress and cope with their symptoms.

Lucy da Silva, Psychotherapist and Co-founder of treatment centre Silva Wellness comments:

“Mental health affects all of us during the course of our lives. I do not believe anyone will escape being impacted by a mental health issue throughout our experience in this lifetime. Some of us may struggle more than others. Some of us will experience the pain of a loved one and vicariously feel the deep disparity these moments can cause. Some of us will feel some freedom for some time, then be pulled back down through the layers because we are not one dimensional and healing isn’t linear. Some of us will feel that there isn’t a way out but from personal experience I would say don’t lose hope. Your struggles do not define you. If we find community and connection we are halfway there. I truly believe we have the power to heal and alchemize our deep sorrow time and time again.”