Brain Science: Neuroscience, Behavior Managing our mental health
Mireille and Adam discuss key aspects of mental health and what it looks like to manage our own mental well-being. What are the key ingredients to managing it? How do our relationships and boundaries impact it? Are sleep, food, and activity really that important? We talk through these questions and more to better understand mental health and the ways in which we contribute to our well being.
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Show Notes:
Mental health is a system issue — if one aspect isn’t working well, it impacts the system as a whole. Similar to that of a symphony, we, as individuals, work better when we acknowledge and allow all of our systems to work together. When key ingredients that contribute to our mental health are depreciated, we can expect that other aspects of our lives will be influenced as well. Mental health is variable. Just like our physical health, the knowledge base we have is always in flux. We never stop managing our mental health just like we don’t stop managing our money, health, relationships, etc. Remembering that there are always “knowns” and “unknowns” when we talk about health will help us better apply what we know about these things to us as individuals.
Key ingredients for mental health
Below are some key ingredients that impact our mental health.
Managing our physical body
Sleep, food, and activity are critical — as are the rhythms of each of these.
- Sleep - at least 7 hours; 8 is better
- Food - this is variable for all bodies. Food is fuel and without food (fat, protein, carbohydrates and fiber) our bodies don’t “move” in the same way
- Activity - We need to exercise. We need to move around. Movement helps to “discharge” the negative and input the positive. It’s an exchange base.
Relationships and boundaries
As we’ve discussed previously, we fare better when we’ve got good social relationships and boundaries too. Boundaries involve consideration of our resources and the allocation involved in these. What are you committed to in terms of work responsibilities, home, relationships and relational demands, and stressors in general?
- Constraints are a good thing
- Boundaries provide clarity in terms of the expectations between you and others
- These are particularly helpful for kids and teenagers
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