How Can We Improve Our Mental Health?

[If you're interested in the topic of how to improve your mental health, please do attend our upcoming webinar on May 29 at 1:30pm New York time. Register here.]

Data indicates that almost half of us will suffer from some form of mental illness in our lifetime. About 20% of people have had a mental health diagnosis within the past year and many of those people are on some form of medication to treat that mental illness. 

Despite the fact that this makes mental health conditions one of the most ubiquitous health issues in the world, people who suffer from mental health conditions still face a lot of stigma. Why should that be the case?

Traditionally we think of stigma as arising from ignorance. In bygone eras we had no explanation for mental illness so we ascribed it to demons or the devil or something similar. I think this explanation is at least partly true. That being said, I’d like to suggest a different explanation - perhaps we fear mental illness precisely because of we understand it too well, or at least we understand its danger.

If one in two of us will face mental illness and for one in ten of us that might be a debilitating mental illness, that means that mental illness is not something foreign to the human conditions. We all know someone with a mental illness and perhaps we all know that we might someday suffer from one. Most of us know that when we’re not having a good day, our levels of anxiety or depression can increase. And with a couple of bad weeks or some shock to the system like an injury, a job loss, a death, or a divorce, our own mental health could well be at risk. 

If what I’m suggesting is at least partly true - we’re afraid of mental illness because we know we’re susceptible to it - what can we do about it?

Well the first thing is just to acknowledge that it is a possibility. Mental illness rates have been increasing for many demographics over the past few years, especially among women. In the case of men, there’s a chance they’ve been increasing as well but men are less likely to report them because of the stigma. And when we consider that 50% number, the obvious conclusion is that in some ways mental illness is at least partly the luck of the draw. Yes there may be a genetic component to it and certainly there are environmental triggers, but whether or not you succumb to your genes or your triggers is perhaps a matter of luck.

Are there things we can do to make our luck better or worse? Well there are certainly things we can do to make our luck worse. As I mentioned in this Facebook post last week, there is a surefire way to make your mental health worse: wreck your sleep. Study after study has shown that even mild reductions in the quantity or quality of our sleep can result in a significant downturn in our mental health. Those studies show pretty conclusively that if we will never be able to improve our mental health unless we practice good sleep hygiene and optimise both sleep quality and sleep quantity.

OK, so that’s a tip for avoiding bad luck. What about increasing good luck?

Is there something that is relatively easy to do, we all know to be good for us, and can improve our mental health better than medication? Yes indeed there is and it’s called exercise. According to the research, exercise beats a placebo and often beats prescribed medications for the treatment of mental health disorders. As little as 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day three times a week can have the desired result.

Does that mean exercise is a panacea and if I exercise I’m never going to suffer mental illness? Of course not. Silver bullets are few and far between when it comes to health in general and mental health in particular. But remember we’re trying to reduce our risk of falling into the category of people who suffer from serious mental illness. Population level data shows that people who exercise are less likely to be in that category than those who don’t.

Right, so exercise is good for us. Shocker. How about telling us something we don't know?

Well how about this: when it comes to diet make sure you’re getting enough fat. That’s a strange thing to say, right? I thought fat was bad for you. Well not all fat. There’s an extensive literature showing that some fats, particularly Omega 3 fatty acids found mostly in fish and other sea food, are extremely important for brain health. Olive oil has also been shown to improve cognitive function and reduce the chances of developing mental illness.

There's a lot more to say about how we can improve our mental health, including genetic factors and case studies from people who've been able to completely reverse their mental illness through diet and lifestyle changes. I'll be discussing some of those in this webinar which will take place on May 29, 1:30pm New York time. See you there!