The Mental Emotional Health Blog

There are days when it’s tough to walk out the door after work without carrying some “emotional baggage” with you.

1. After you arrive at work and just before you start your day, close your eyes, picture yourself in a good frame of mind for the day, and take 2 deep, cleansing breaths.
2. Make your smiles simple and sincere.
3. Send a short, supportive or complimenting email to a co-worker you enjoy working with. 
4. Avoid listening to and spreading gossip. 
5. Right before you leave work, or just after you get outside, mentally review the day you just had in your mind (take about 30 seconds to 1 minute). Consider the emotion you felt most often that day (whether you think it was positive or negative), and then reflect on something positive outside of work. This provides a nice transition from your work life to your personal life.

Tomorrow, October 10th, 2008, is an important day. October 10th is recognized annually as World Mental Health Awareness Day. This year in the United States, October 10th is  National Depression Screening Day. I have provided a couple links to check out if you are in the U.S.

The first link goes directly to the National Depression Screening Day site, where you can get connected to depression and suicide prevention resources, find a screening site in your area, or take an online screening survey. http://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/events/ndsd/index.aspx

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has a wealth of information to look through, and also provides links to resources.  http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/

For my readers in the UK and other parts of the world, please visit the mental health section of the World Health Organization’s  website. http://www.who.int/mental_health/en/

If you are concerned that you might have depression, anxiety, or that your overall mental health isn’t what it should be, talk with your doctor, health provider, counselor, or check out some of the links above. People don’t have to be alone, especially if they don’t feel like themselves.  

When is the last time you played like a child? There is something about being silly (within reason) and carefree that can serve as a nice distraction from daily burdens. The next time you need to relax or unwind a little, try one of the following “kid” activities:

• Draw a picture of somewhere you want to go, or a wish you have.
• Find a playground and go on the swings, close your eyes as you feel yourself being rocked back and forth as you swing.
• Wish on a star.
• Lay down on the ground and find shapes in the clouds.
• Buy some comfy sleeper pajamas for the winter, the kind with feet in them.
• Sing.
• Read a children’s book.
• Buy some Oreos, stack 3 on top of each other, dunk them in milk and eat them. 

According to George Carvalho, “stigma is the shame that individuals in society place upon others suffering with mental health issues to distance themselves clearly and definitively from them” (http://www.namiscc.org/newsletters/April02/ClientStigma.htm).  Although I don’t necessarily agree with everything he states in his article, it’s a short and interesting read.

Stigma in mental health has decreased somewhat over the past few years, in part due to a slight adjustment by the news media, television, and movies. More often, however, I think it has been the combined effort of mental health providers, medical providers, social workers, and some government officials that have worked to lessen stigma. In 2004, Wisconsin’s Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton joined the fight against mental health stigma in a big way (http://www.wimentalhealth.org/userimages/LawtonHonorary.pdf). Thank you, Lt. Governor Lawton!

Actually the best way to defeat stigma is word-of-mouth, person-to-person, by people that are educated about mental health. Mental health concerns can be debilitating and frustrating. Continuing the stereotypes about mental health, and using derogatory terms like “crazy”, “psycho”, and “wacko”, make life more difficult for people that many times are trying to get better. Jokes and laughing about mental health stereotypes on television shows and movies don’t help either.

As I said before, the best way to defeat stigma is person-to-person. Remember that everyone is a person, so try to say “He or She is a person with Bipolar”, instead of “He or She is Bipolar”. Everyone has normal in them, and everyone has something that could be considered a mental illness trait. But we’re all human.

The resources you use can take on different meanings depending on your mood and life situation. For those of you that enjoy reading I will make some suggestions on what to read, or what not to read, at certain times.

• When you feel lonely - Read books that speak to you as an individual, whether it bolsters your self-esteem, discusses a favorite hobby or interest, or is something inspirational. Do not read books about relationships, unless you recently had a breakup or loss and the book is about recovering from those specific events.
• When you feel confident and self-assured - This is when you read about relationships, making them better, and improving your communication style. You can read just about anything when you are feeling secure in yourself.
• When you feel anxious - You can read about anxiety-reduction or stress management strategies, as long as you don’t read to the point of feeling overwhelmed by the ideas presented. Avoid reading material with a lot of detail or depth. Also, reading travel books or magazines with pictures can be helpful in providing your mind with calming images.
• When you feel depressed - Read a children’s book. The Dr. Seuss books are colorful, playful, and silly. And there are thousands of other great children’s books that can lift your mood in simple ways. It is also okay to read books to educate yourself on depression/treating depression so you know what to expect in getting better, but again, don’t overwhelm yourself.

Happy reading!