A Holistic Approach To Our Mental Health

by Kaytlyn Sheffler | Jan 4, 2016 | habits & behavior

An integrative approach to a healthy mind.

It’s often not the solution we are handed. Maybe because practitioners know the difficult task of changing someone’s habits. Because they know how difficult it is for them to even change their own. Maybe that’s why anti-depressants were the second most commonly prescribed medication last year, 254 million prescriptions written with $10 billion in costs according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

We cannot choose to take the easy route for the long-term solution we really need. The deeply complex nature of our minds and our body demand attention. We need to look at a holistic approach to our mental health, that which one pill cannot fulfill.

We have a wide array of research available at our hands.

Claims and statements – evidence proving that certain new habits can dramatically improve our health and our life satisfaction. Yet, we find ourselves ignoring it- letting it slip away from us. We need to take the time to change our mindset about how we will tackle these new goals. Improve the life we were given, and continue to aim to our full potential. Living, breathing, enjoying- the human experience we have been granted.

Set yourself up for success.

It is a worthy journey- living, being, doing things for your better health. For better life satisfaction. Make the decision to use the following factors I have listed below, and check where you stand in these areas. Being honest with yourself will be worth it.

Below are the 6 key factors that influenced my own mental health.

1. Nutrition – Your body and your brain work together.

Our nutrition plays a huge role in our mental health. Fatigue, irritability, moodiness- can be a product of the food we consume. Lacking nutrients, or the the lack of absorption of these nutrients, can create issues within our mind. Many medications can block our ability to absorb key nutrients we need. Do not fall for the diet fads. Start living healthy on a day-to-day basis, with unprocessed foods, fruits, and vegetables. You have to make it a lifestyle change.

I chose to: make nutrition my first step towards better mental health. It lifted the fog enough for me to work on deeper issues. I let go of dieting, and made long-term lifestyle changes. As simple as this, I mostly only eat foods that expire within a week to a few weeks. Foods that are living make us feel more alive by giving us key nutrients. Be careful about your portion size. I workout 3-4x a week, and I drink alcohol rarely. My new goal is integrating a daily meditation practice, because I saw great results from doing this every other day for a couple of months.

2. Environment – Our environment influences us consciously and unconsciously.

Our environment impacts our mental health. It is broadly wide- from the type of content we consume, the people we surround ourselves with, our activities and surroundings. We can remove or reduce the negative factors in our own environment. The first step is to be mindful and aware, learn the ways your environment is impacting you. What is in your environment? Binge watching Netflix- or binge eating or drinking? Gossiping, fighting, addiction? Immersed too much into technology, not enough into nature? Is your life too busy, cluttered, stressed? Do you feel balanced?

What is toxic to you, and what cultivates joy and fulfillment?

I chose to: detach myself from my old environment. As lonely as that may seem, I was able to connect with myself on a deeper level than I had ever allowed myself before. Although, I lost old friends and habits, I gained clarity on who I wanted to be and what I wanted my environment to be. I incorporated new activities- reading, exercise, yoga, painting, meeting new people, joining different student organizations, attending different events. I used to watch Netflix almost every day. For a while, I transitioned first into watching useful documentaries and TED talks, and now I barely ever turn on the tv. I am continually constructing my environment. I mostly have a choice of what I choose to include- the type of people and energy, the activities that bring me happiness, the content that I consume. I can tell how impactful this has been on me, and how I plan to continually grow a fostering environment for myself to include fulfilling things, growth, and challenges.

3. Chemicals – Our feel good brain chemicals- endorphin, oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine, play a role in our moods.

Do they cause our mood or do our activities, thoughts, feelings – create the chemicals that trigger our mood?

Cause or effect?

Serotonin and dopamine has been shown to be related to depression. However, we do have the power to produce more of these brain chemicals. I’m not talking about through medication either. We can increase these chemicals through our thoughts, activities, and nutrition. There has been new evidence to show that neuroplasticity, creating new neural connections, influences our mental health.

I chose to: Implement better nutrition, an improved environment, healthier thoughts, new activities, a positive mindset- that takes care of this factor for me. Each of these separate factors are truly intertwined in the way that they work and support your mental health.

4. Thoughts, Emotions, Behaviors – Your thoughts, emotions, behaviors become conditioned.

You have the power to choose the type of thoughts you want to constantly think, the emotions you feel, your behaviors. Initially, it will be quite a journey to break down the destructive barriers that has been created in your mind. You can learn to bend these thoughts, and retrain your brain to see life in a new light.

You have to make the effort to be consciously aware. Of your thoughts, feelings, behaviors- as they are. How all influence each other. Do they stem from a positive and empowering place or a negative and destructive one?

Realize your thoughts are not truths. You are the one who labels them as so.

You make the choice to believe them. Initially, you chose to- as so they may have became conditioned. Feeling resistance is normal when you attempt to deconstruct and reshape your thinking.

I chose to: reframe my destructive thinking, emotions, and behavior. This is something that I will work to do throughout my life. I chose to realize the destructive and debilitating thoughts served me no real purpose. I used to believe that it pushed me to be better, yet, I felt the pain and limitations it constructed. Positive and empowering thoughts, emotions, and behaviors offer me an opportunity, to learn more about myself and this world in a curious and open-minded way.

Struggling with self-love? Visit my other post, A Beautiful Human Being.

5. Mindset – Your ultimate lens of life. How do you choose to look at life?

Carol Dweck is a known researcher of mindset. Through her examples and case studies, you can see it can be life-changing. Your thoughts, feelings, and actions stem from your mindset, and you have the ability to change it.

What would be an unhealthy mindset?

Fixed Mindset. Abilities, traits, personality- are all fixed traits.
Negative, close-minded, avoids challenges, avoids failure (“I am a failure.”), self-punishes, victimizes, self-destructive, negative self-talk, auto-pilot, conform, fearful, “glass half-empty”

What would be a healthy mindset?

Growth Mindset. Abilities, traits, personality – are not fixed traits.
They can change, and are malleable. You have the choice to do so.
Positive, curious, open-minded, welcomes challenges, learns from adversity, embraces failure (“I have failed at ___, and I have learned ____.”), resilient, self-compassionate, positive self-talk, mindful and aware, authentic, courageous, “glass half-full”

I chose to: Put in the effort to reconstruct my mindset. I made it a goal I will live with everyday- to cultivate a healthy mindset to live with compassion, curiosity, resilience- with open arms to adversity and failure- to the lessons I must learn.

6. Spirituality – A sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves

Here is an expert’s definition of spirituality- Christina Puchalski, MD, Director of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, states that “spirituality is the aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred.”

I chose to: begin learning about spirituality, and seeing it in my life. I had been raised through religion, but I had never truly understood what that meant for me- what it was to be a good person, to find the meaning in my pain and adversity, and my connection with the world around me. I always assumed spirituality and religion were almost the same thing, but I’ve learned how different they are. I opened my mind up to the range of possibilities that exist, and how spiritual practices can support our emotional health. I personally adopted a gratitude practice, and have tried different meditation practices including affirmations. This is still the segment I’ve reached to last in working into my life, but I’m excited to dive deeper.

Make the decision for better mental health, believe in yourself and love yourself to make the change, and understand that this is a journey. Not a quick fix solution. Schedule the time for these new habits, integrate them into your daily and weekly living. We are meant to live life with intent. Caring for our body, our mind, the life were given.

Take Action – 30 minutes to sketch out an outline.

Create a general outline of the improvements you need to make to live a better, healthier life. Set the time next Monday, that you will revisit this outline. You will work to make it detailed for the week ahead, with scheduled times for the weekly habits. You will visit this every Monday, going in depth on creating and sustaining habits for the week ahead.

I applaud you for the steps you take for better mental health. It’s a journey worth venturing on.

Read This If You Don’t Have Enough Time In The Day.

Watch these great videos to learn more!

For Nutrition – Check out a TEDx Talk- The Surprisingly Dramatic Role of Nutrition in Mental Health, Julia Rucklidge. An eye-opening talk about medications, effectiveness, and nutrition.

For Mindset – Check out TEDx Talk- Change your mindset, Change the game, Dr. Alia Crum. Awesome examples of how our mindset influences our lives, including the effectiveness of treatments and the placebo effect.