Examples of Mental Health Problems
This is the second in a series of blogs and videos to help give you an initial awareness of mental health problems. The first blog is here: https://plumessencetherapies.co.uk/the-meaning-of-mental-health/
The videos and blogs will cover an awareness of:
Mental Health in general, stress, anxiety, phobias, depression, post-natal depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dementia, eating disorders, ADHD, OCD and PTSD. All of these subjects will be based on my personal thoughts, my personal experience, and research used to pass my Mental Health Problems qualification. I have also been asked to talk about the difference between bullying and banter, and alcohol and drug dependency.
I hope you will find the information interesting and informative and it helps break the stigma of mental health and encourages people to talk about it.
Examples of Mental Health Problems are:
Anxiety and panic attacks. Anxiety is a normal emotion. It can be described as dread and inner turmoil. The person can be nervous, fearful and worry and these feelings are exaggerated, taking over and begin to interfere with every day life.
Depression. Depression can affect someone’s ability to think straight and effects how we feel about ourselves and the world around us. It can result in a person feeling worthless. Depression takes many forms, including:
Bipolar Disorder, also referred to as Manic Depression – episodes of feeling very high and then very low. It’s like very extreme mood swings. High episodes of bipolar disorder can make someone feel overly confident and can result in reckless behaviour which is usually quite risky to their own physical and mental health. Periods of being very low can result in suicidal thoughts and extreme worthlessness.
Postnatal depression or Postpartum depression affects people, usually recognised in women, after childbirth. It usually manifests itself within 6 weeks and can be slow progress or come on suddenly. People with postnatal depression tend to feel really low, irritable, lack self-worth and self-esteem and feel unable to cope sometimes, becoming quite hostile to friends, family and even children.
Rage and anger can be a mental health problem when they become regular occurrence and affecting the relationships with people they care about, work with or life in general. Rage and anger can manifest itself physically, towards others or resulting in self-harm, sometimes with poor coping strategies of drugs and alcohol to try and remain calm, which in themselves can cause further mental health problems.
Abuse of substances such as drugs (prescribed or un-prescribed) and alcohol, for instance. Reliance on drugs and alcohol can cause a spiral of physical and mental health problems which can be harder to recognise, cope with and manage.
That’s all for now. Just some examples of mental health problems. These will be expanded upon throughout the series.
In the next video and blog, I will look at how mental health care has changed over time and an indication of the problems people with mental health problems, may face day to day.
If you have any subjects you would like to cover, please let me know. If there is anything on here you would like to talk about, or find out about therapies and training offered by PlumEssence to help and educate about mental health, then look at www.plumessencetherapies.co.uk or call Tracey on 01889 808388 or 07803399594
Coping with unexpected boulders
Quartz boulder
Coping with unexpected boulders
Sometimes, boulders can help you focus, regroup and rediscover what is important to you. But, they can also cause stress, anxiety and depression, if not managed and you learn ways to cope with them.
So, what are boulders?
Things like:
Illness – both short-term and long-term
Death of a loved one.
Unexpected financial outlays, ie for significant items breaking in the home or business
Debtors not paying
Marriage break up
Suddenly losing ‘me time’
Loss of work
Sudden overwhelm
Children leaving home
Children moving back home
You getting in your own way
What simple coping strategies could you put in place?
In no particular order, you could try:
Wine and chocolate! (please don’t do these long term)
Acceptance and acknowledgement
Meditation
Comforting yourself and being kind to yourself.
Reward yourself and others.
Exercise
Seek the opportunity from the situation
Looks at the end result, make a plan of action and break into small, baby steps
If something the same or similar has happened before, learn from it by thinking about what you did last time.
Delegate and outsource tasks, so you can focus on you and your recovery.
Know that the situation will not last forever.
Forgiveness of yourself and others.
Show gratitude of the past and other present situations.
Talk to someone! Even, seek professional help! There is no shame in it.
Regular self-care helps in the long term and perhaps lower the impact of boulder situations.
Tracey of PlumEssence is a therapist, hypnotherapist, mental health first aider, stress management consultant and mentor, who helps people to manage and cope with boulders thrown at them. Tracey also runs workshops about Managing and Coping with Stress and Anxiety, which are suitable for support groups and the workplace.
For a no obligation chat, so see if I can help you, please call 01889 808388 or 07803 399594 or email [email protected]
Grief – the loss of a loved one
Grief and Loss
Of all the trials we face in life, the loss of a loved one may be one of the hardest to endure, much less overcome. During these dark times, the worst within us rises and threatens to overwhelm, but while we are at our worst, we are also at our best.
Our unique strengths appear as we fight to persevere.
Grief is universal, but understanding the particular challenges faced by different personalities, may help us prepare for the inevitable and cope with the irreversible.
Grief, sadness and depression are all emotional states that drain a person’s energy and stated to be one of the biggest causes of stress. Once we get past the anger of losing someone, these feelings follow closely behind and in no particular order, or over a specific time span. During times of grief, we don’t seek pleasure and we don’t enjoy life. Our energy for such matters usually evaporates during mourning. The energy depletion is often intense and we sometimes hear phrases like, “I don’t know how I’m going to go on with my life.”
For some people, the death of a loved one is a death of possibility, future adventures, shared goals and dreams, all gone. The only thing left is fading memories. Grief wounds us all, but for some, the hurt is more visceral than most, and they may find loss hardest to accept.
Some people believe that death can give some relief from a life full of hardship.
Some people realise that they are “very afraid” to die.
Some people are not content with the fact that everyone has to die.
Some people start to think about how short life really is.
Some people start to worry about the possibilities of death-inducing events like future wars.
On the whole, many people love happy endings, but more than that, they love that happiness doesn’t need an ending. Death is final, and it serves as a slap in the face to people’s soft-hearted optimism. This is why some people may struggle more than most at foraging meaning out of the chaos of grief.
Drawing upon Resilience
As terrible as grief is, as heavy as it lies on our shoulders, grief is very rarely in a hurry to leave us. Eradicating that pain would mean people ridding themselves of the person they once loved. They may find themselves revisiting old memories for comfort – but instead drawing up pain.
With their inability to ignore their emotions or to forget their loved one, the question must be asked: How do some people deal with their grief? How do they avoid being consumed by it?
Healthy mourning allows people to pass through their exhausting sadness, to accept their loss and then to arrive at a “new normal”.
For some, they may need more private time than usual to rebuild their reserves following a tragedy, but they should be careful not to turn this into isolation.
Some would do well to remember that although there may be a strange comfort in the company of ghosts, living people must take precedence.
Because of their nature, some people have remarkable resilience and an uncanny ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
Even in the darkest of times, some people find ways to be hopeful that life can be beautiful again, and it’s this hope, no matter how small, they should cling to as they find their way out of grief.
Effective grief counselling is mostly about giving people permission to deal with death in the way that suits them best.
Whatever your personality type, when you face a loss, give yourself permission to do whatever it takes to get through the experience in your own way. And be generous enough to allow others to grieve in their fashion even if it doesn’t feel quite right to you.
Has a loss left you feeling like a shadow of your former self? Or did you find strength, even in your sorrow? Please share your thoughts with me so I can help others in future.
This piece of writing has been adapted from a piece published by The 16Personalities Team at 16personalities.com
PlumEssence Therapies and Training can offer a range of natural therapies to help you cope with, and manage grief, whether that’s a safe space to talk, aromatherapy, reiki, crystal therapy, meditation and mindfulness or NLP and hypnotherapy. No obligation chat’s are always offered to see if we can work together.
Contact [email protected] or call 01889 808388 or 07803399594.
Distortions, Deletions and Generalisations
A Devon view
Distortions, Deletions and Generalisations – What do you say, without thinking that could be causing your own stress, low mood, depression and anxiety?
In only a couple of days last week, I noted how people spoke to me and posts they put on social media. There was a pattern and I considered some of the things said could be continuously contributing to people’s low moods, anxiety and stress levels.
Stress is a silent killer. Regular low mood can be linked to depression. Simple things that can cause YOU stress, that YOU can actually do something about, TODAY!
Stop comparing your inside with other people’s outside!
If other people’s social media posts make you feel less worthy, stop reading them!
Distortions and Generalisations examples: “Everyone is doing better than me” “Everyone else can afford this/that” “All my friends are in a relationship” “Everyone else can afford a holiday/car/eat out” “Everyone else has lovely children”
Action: Stop going on social media. If you use it for business, stop scrolling and stop noting only the good things being said. Focus on the good things going on in your life. There will be some, I can assure you.
Stop focusing on the negatives in your life. Focus on the positives!
Distortions and Deletions: “I can’t afford (insert something really cheap and basic here)” “I don’t have ……” “I never get what I want” “I always make bad decisions” “I can never get things right”
Action: Get someone to help you go through your income and expenses with you and see where you can make savings. You don’t have to be on the TV programme Live Well for Less to sort your finances out. You probably can afford things if you made savings elsewhere. Work out the difference between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. You need to be brutal with yourself. Ask someone to pick you up on the things you say. Speak to someone.
Get your work/life balance sorted!
This means different things for different people. If you believe you have no time for friends, family or you, then make time!
Distortion and Deletions examples: “I never have any time for me” “I work all the time” “I have to work evenings and weekends” “I have to stay late” “I have to take work home” “I never get to go out” “I have to do everything for my kids/partner”
Action: Again, get someone to work with you to see what you are spending your time on. Implement your own time analysis, recording all that you do with every minute of your day. Be honest! Do you need to ask for help to do your work? Can you outsource?
A busy fool is not a productive fool. Regular work breaks will only make you MORE productive.
Put dates in your diary for yourself, your friends, your family – and stick to it!
On the whole, the answer is: Ask for help. There is no shame in it and, usually, people are more than willing to help. Strong people ask for help – they do not think they can do it all.
Don’t wait to burn yourself out, or have that breakdown, before you realise you need to make some changes.
Men – why avoid the ‘taboo’ subjects?
Charlie Chaplin .. As I began to love myself
On a daily basis, I tend to get a great bunch of clients. My clients tend to come to me because they are suffering some form of physical pain and I attract many clients that are suffering from anxiety, stress or depression.
That’s great because I do state I aim to help people suffering from pain, stress, anxiety and depression.
There are days when I have all female clients, days when I have all male clients and days where there is a mix.
A few weeks back, I had all female clients and all had come to me suffering from depression.
The last client of the day stated “there seems to be a lot of ladies suffering depression at the moment”. I totally agree with her, and although the opposite appears to be the case, men are more prone to suffering from depression than women. More women are signed off sick with stress related conditions, as opposed to men, but it is men to more prone to committing suicide than women. (Recent statistics state that of suicides committed in the UK, 75% of them are men).
Also, at recent workshops, based on mental health awareness, coping with pressure and stress, recognising depression and other similar titles, there were all women in attendance. Why is that? Why are men not attending the workshops? Why are men not seeking help?
It appears there are many reasons why men are not prone to not admitting to suffering from stress or depression, which is a shame when there is a lot of help available and many natural therapies which can help. Why is that? What are those reasons? I would love to know and aim to understand the reasons. I keep everything private and confidential.
To help all my clients, the sessions include diet advise, colour therapy, aromatherapy body massage and holistic facials, empowerment coaching and on-going mentoring sessions. (Mentoring does not always have to be work-focused).
So, I’ve had a thought ……… If I ran men-only workshops about the ‘taboo’ subjects, would they attend? If the answer is yes, then I will arrange some. Guys, please let me know. And ladies, if you could ask the men you know, can you let me know what they say please?
If you would like to explore natural therapies as a way of helping you cope with pain, stress or depression, you only have to call for an informal chat, or book a 1-2-1 session with me, which can be done via my website www.plumessencetherapies.co.uk if I’m not able to take your call.
I look forward to hearing from you [email protected] 01889 808388 or 07803399594
Move out of your comfort zone
January, so far, has been a time of some stress for me. Yes me, she who helps people to reduce their stress and to manage their stress, managed to get stressed herself. It was all about awards.
But, only for a while because I was able to put into practise, some of my own teachings.
The cause of my stress was having to promote myself. Mainly to talk about myself and tell others why I deserve to win some awards. Yikes!
I have some exciting and nerve-racking moments coming up in February, because I was able to push myself out of my comfort zone.
Firstly I wanted to be part of a programme called iGrow, a high-level intensive programme available to a small number of businesses with aspirations to grow. As this is a Government funded programme, available to only a select few, there was an application process to complete. I had to make a written application, a tweet and a video, basically stating what I wanted and why I was worth investing in. You can see the video on YouTube here or copy this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4HZJEdjXqA&list=PLIp36bRnR6iRHTNhRQSc0dOH81aW84p7A&index=2
Secondly, I have been nominated for a business award – Networker of the Year. As part of the second stage of the nomination process, I had to write, in 400 words, why I deserve to win, including giving examples of how I have successfully connected people and which networking groups I run. (Strange how the above video mentions networking quite a lot and yet it was made before the nomination was announced).
Naturally, I had moments of doubts when applying for the above two awards, especially when I saw who else was applying for the growth award and who else had been nominated for the business award. But, I’ve had my Belief Change and Empowerment Coaching training. I am also a certified practitioner and all I had to do was put my training into practise. It was time to put the ‘What If’ scenario into action. And, as is always good in these cases, I called upon some business buddies to support me. After-all, if you want to achieve your goals and dreams, you have to ask for help.
Do you have thoughts and beliefs that stop you from getting in the way of achieving what you want, your goals, dreams and aspirations?
If so, give me a call. I would love to take you on the journey of changing your beliefs, changing your life for the better for good and then continuing the journey with on-going mentoring. After all, if you watch my video for my iGrow application, you’ll see that’s one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made – not having a mentor earlier.
Please leave your thoughts and comments below.
I’ll buy the cuppa if you want to meet for a chat to see how I can help you. Just contact me on [email protected] or call 07803399594
Annual success, happiness or achievements jar
On 1st January, why not start a “success jar”? In fact, you can change the name to the ‘happiness jar’, the ‘achievements jar’ or ‘joy jar’ or any mix of these names than resonate with you.
On 31st December (or early on 1st January), sit still, calm, relax and clear your head (meditate) and ask for answers as to what you truly would like for 2016.
Write down the answers that come to mind without question or taking any notice.
Afterwards, then write, with thought, stating what you would like to achieve in the year.
Put all your comments in the jar. Perhaps, add some crystals and some I-Ching coins, or anything else you associate with abundance. Alternatively, put the comments on a vision board.
Every morning, try to remember to add a coin to the jar whilst stating your affirmations.
When you’ve had a particularly good day, or done something that has really made you smile or appreciate, add a note to the jar stating what that was. Try and find something every day.
On 31st December, open the jar, count the money and read all the daily notes.
Start again for the following year.
It’s a great way to remember the small, perhaps insignificant things, which made you smile but also a reminder of where the time went.
One of my clients expanded on this, by emptying her jar whenever she felt low or depressed. Opening her jar and seeing her notes, made her realise what she had achieved so far, especially in comparison to what she had thought, or in comparison with her initial goals. It lifted her and motivated her to carry on.
Why not give it a try and see how it works for you?
Remember, you can start this sort of thing at any time in the year. You don’t just have to set resolutions and goals at the beginning of the year. Here and now is always a good time to start.
My emptied 2015 jar
Show you care
At some point, everyone will suffer either, or all, of pain, stress and depression.
Many will not admit to these, potentially causing themselves more problems.
Giving a gift voucher to those you care about and who you see suffering, can help those people to open up and receive the benefits of natural therapies and personal support from a therapist.
Not just for Christmas or birthdays, but at any time, give a gift that cares as much as you do.
I supply gift vouchers for any value.
On the vouchers you can either specify the monetary value, the amount of time bought or specify the actual treatments or sessions you want the receiver to have.
It’s easy really. All you do is call me on 01889 808388, 07803 399594 or email [email protected]
Well-being is not self-indulgent
Caring for yourself is not self-indulgent, it is self-preservation.
Looking after yourself is not pampering, it is a necessity.
I thought of this today as clients are not booking appointments due to their workloads.
Many in the health field will say “when you don’t have time for you, then that’s when you need to make that time”.
To enjoy work, to stay focused and be productive, you need to take time out for you. Enabling your mind and body to relax, helps them to rejuvenate and refresh, helping you to replenish the energy in both. Renewed energy allows for improved thought processes and to be able to think more productively, often allowing you to come up with better and new ideas.
You need to take care of yourself as it is easy to forget to do so, especially when you’re busy looking after your work responsibilities and trying to appease others.
Whatever you do, you should prioritise your own health and well-being. You need to eat well, and rest your mind and body. You need to take time out.
Scheduling time to help you maintain your well-being gives you something to look forward to. If
you like, you can consider it a pampering treat for all the hard work you have completed. Take it as time to enjoy. It’s more difficult to be successful if you don’t take care of yourself.
Working hard and not taking time for your well-being will lead to regular illnesses and stress-related illness. More illness causes more stress as you fight the initial illness and then you don’t perform at your best. It’s an easy catch-22 situation to fall into.
This is usually when I get the calls. People wanting to book in because they don’t feel great. That’s fine, I like people to book in and we can start the well-being journey.
But really, prevention is better than cure.
Don’t wait until you feel something is wrong. Don’t wait until you are in pain, stressed, or suffering anxiety or elements of depression.
Make a plan, now, to book yourself in for your well-being treatment, and make sure you come first.
If you don’t look after yourself, you cannot look after anyone else. If you don’t know where to start, or don’t know what treatments to have, then just ask!
