There are so many aspects to maintaining good mental health.

There are some important cornerstones such as eating well, sleeping enough and getting exercise. Sometimes in life however that may not be enough and we need to implement more strategies to keep us feeling well, psychologically and physically. Life can become extremely tough at times and that can lead to the erosion of our sense of wellbeing. We may find ourselves feeling constantly fatigued; struggling to find enjoyment in the things we used to, withdrawing from things that we used to enjoy, a general sense of feeling bleak about life, feeling more anxious or having physical complaints such as being more frequently unwell, struggling with digestive issues or muscular aches and pains. These issues can be suggestive that stress is having an impact on your psychological wellbeing. Symptoms that your mental health may be deteriorating may often be more marked such as beginning to hear or see things that others don’t; becoming dangerously underweight or having episodes of mania to name a few. Over time, these patterns may become a familiar way of being and we may slowly drift from our own sense of ‘normality’.  It can then seem a bit tricky to work out how you got from A to B and how you navigate your way back to A.

My aim for the blog posts is to explore a variety of topics around maintaining and restoring mental health. I will look at areas that are unhelpful to assist in working out where things might have gone slightly off track. I will also look at strategies that are helpful in restoring mental health. The idea is to begin to impart some psychological ideas that can help you to start looking at your issues through a psychological lens. Rather than replacing a psychological assessment and treatment, the idea is to sow seeds that you might want to further explore in a thorough psychological assessment or therapy.

My hope is to weave together psychological theory, research evidence and my experience from my years of working with people with mental health problems.