Mental Health Awareness Month: Personal Growth and Emotional Regulation through Self-Awareness in an Era of Anxiety and Depression

Mental Health Awareness Month

Yesterday, kicked off the start of Mental Health Awareness Month. A month filled with opportunities to educate yourself or educate others on the importance of mental health fitness, reducing the stigmas around mental health issues, and provide advocacy for those impacted by mental health illness. Our last few posts have been centered around mental health as it relates to creating space for healthy worklife balance, so I was hesitant to kick off the month with this topic. My personal experience with mental health ailments and providing services for those impacted by events and things that impair mental health, make it a topic of discussion that is near and dear to me.

Most recently, I had the opportunity to interview a mom and discuss events surrounding degraded mental health in an earlier period of her life, inspiring the topic of discussion today.

What is Mental Health?

In a previous post, we define mental health as the emotional, psychological, and social well being of an individual. When you hear us say mental health fitness, its the actions you take to remain proactive, and maintain a healthy "mind", literally and figuratively. This typically includes, working out the body and the mind, eating healthy, and being conscious of the type of media and information you consume.

Why is Understanding Mental Health Important?

Understanding mental health is important so we are aware of the role it plays in the daily operations of our lives. The better understanding we have the more in control we are of:

• Our ability to show up as our best self.

• Making rational decisions with clarity.

• Our ability to care for loved ones around us.

• Maintaining self aware and introspect for continued growth and development.

• Our ability to remain productive contributors towards a better society.

Although there are plenty other reasons, these are reasons that remove the glitz and glamour that we typically chase after, to ensure we are able to achieve success, no matter the definition of success. In the chances that we do not achieve success, or some other outcome that we have expected, self awareness will help you to accept the outcome and figure out how to go after it again, opposed to allowing the outcome to defeat you. Taking care of your mental health allows you to proactively pay attention to your personal needs and avoid ailments such as anxiety and depression. For more information on what anxiety and depression is, you can review the, Fifth edition of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" or DSM-TR-5.

A Modern Society Plagued by Anxiety and Depression

In today's society we are constantly stimulated through the innovative advancements of technology, briding the gap between people and access to information. There's TV, mobile devices, internet access and many other developing areas to access information. Not including social media and video hosting platforms providing voices to the unseen and unheard and access to some of the things we've not seen in our local area. This can often leave people wanting for more, or lusting after things they have not seen or tried, removing the trials and tribulations or hard work that it took to get to that point. This is more of a personal opinion, but I believe in combination with unhealthy life habits, is a top contributor towards depression. And although both are neuropsychological disorders that can occur separately or together, they each are triggered by enhanced or degraded performance of a different component within the brain. I'm no scientist, but based on my experience with both, believe one is more neurological than the other, leaving how they show up in individuals very different and dependent upon the cause and genetics.

If we factor in a global world, still recovering from a pandemic, much of what was previously mentioned holds true due to a 25% increase in prevalence of anxiety and depression, rooted in a decrease of social isolation. It's important to understand that many things can be impacted by our external environments but involve a chemical imbalance that is not visible to the eye. Therefore, self awareness and anything else mentioned throughout this post is not going to provide you with a full proof method to avoid or resolve a mental condition. It is to reflect the thinking of, "just because it can happen to us, does not mean we need to increase our chances of it occurring". In my line of work, we improve performance by reducing reactivity through proactivity. Consider this that, and always seek a mental health or licensed medical professional when you are aware you are in need.

In the 1950's anxiety, your fight or flight response x 10, was common with cases of depression being more rare. Today, we've shifted towards depression being more common, and in many instances the two tied together. We won't dive into the reasons why, but let's discuss some ways to proactively improve our chances of experiencing either, or when we do experience either, how do we continue forward with positive practices to ensure our journey remains healthy!

Understanding Self-Awareness

An important benefit of understanding the role of mental health on our self awareness as it relates to personal development and growth is very important. Without growth and development, we risk the chance of missing out on new opportunities, advancements, and existing in unseen silos that result in nothing. In our last post, "The Importance of Effective Communication for Women in Various Social Settings", we mention the impact our emotional intelligence has on our social relationships and ability to communicate effectively. Our self awareness, in some instances may not have a dependency on emotional intelligence, but there is definitely a relationship between the two. I am only mentioning "may" because I don't have a relevant stat at hand to back up the correlation and dependent relationship.

We can define self awareness as our innate ability to remain conscious of our behaviors, capabilities, and limitations, among other characteristics, in their true form. Being self aware, means we are realistically able to take inventory of our emotions and behaviors and those in others, to formulate meaningful information that drives the decisions we make. If we do not take care of our mental health, we limit our abilities of remaining self ware and can increase the chances of irrational decision making.

Let's take a look at a few practices we can adopt to increase self awareness and proactively provide a positive environment, fostering a healthy mindset.

Self-Reflection

The role of self-reflection in personal growth cannot be overstated. Self-Reflection requires us to take inventory of our emotions, and a high level of vulnerability.

Techniques for Effective Self-reflection

• Carving out time to practice journaling and guided reflections.

Introspection

Introspection is the steps we take to understand our inner thoughts and feelings. It differs from self-reflection reflects on the meaning of thoughts and feelings, while introspection goes a bit deeper to analyze and understand different inner experiences and motivations. Some years ago, I invested time in understanding shadow work, and have an opinion that shadow work and introspection are similar and fall along the same spectrum, with shadow work requiring a greater level of depth, exploring repressed or denied experiences, feelings and motivations.

This examination typically occurs within a question/answer format, to probe deeply into feelings and thoughts that provide insights into moral development and what the "meaning of life" is. Introspection and self reflection are associated with what is termed "Socratic Thinking" developed by Greek philosopher Socrates.

Techniques for Effective Introspection

• Practice regular solitude and deep questioning. When posing deep questioning, thinking in solitude will foster the environment needed to think and reflect on those thoughts.

• Develop a personal value or mission statement that aligns with your own beliefs. Continually revisit it and use it as a guide to ask yourself probing questions and update it according to your findings.

Meditation

Practices such as meditation are critical for mental clarity and emotional regulation. It consists of using these practice to train the mind to focus on a single concept, to achieve a state of mental clarity and calmness. When we speak of mental health and self-awareness, meditation helps to direct the mind to the present moment. If we think of the times we were overwhelmed, stressed, or feeling defeated, this likely occurred at a time and for an event that we had no control over.

As with most things, there are different types of meditation practices that focus on different aspects, creating a practice that welcomes people with different capabilities.

Types of Meditation

• Mindful Meditation

• Spiritual Meditation

• Transcendental Meditation

• Movement Meditation

• Progressive Relaxation

• Focused Meditation

• Guided Meditation

Recommended Thought Leaders for Exploring Meditation

• Deepak Chopra

• Sharon Salzberg

• Jon Kaba Zinn

• Thich Nhat Hanh

The history of meditation and its increasing popularity within modern society, is a separate conversation on its own. Therefore, we won't get into too much detail or suggest to much on this topic, due to the vast amount of information and apps available to get you started today.

Understanding Chakras

On a personal level, I whole heartedly believe in the essence of energy and natural elements within the earth to maintain a healthy state of mind and body. This does not mean that medicine does not work, or that you should avoid it. However, despite your believe, maintaining and neutral and centered ora can help you to proactively maintain a healthy state. This could be the reason why so many people feel a lot better when you workout as well. Your body is stimulating and opening up parts of the body, while releasing the necessary chemicals for the body and mind to thrive. I'm sure this could be a topic in and of itself, but I digress.

What are Chakras?

Chakras are the energetic and spiritual powers, located along the length of the spine, which correspond with different nerve bundles, internal organs and levels of consciousness within the body. Below you'll find a few of the main Chakras:

• Root Chakra - Located at the base of the spine and responsible for grounding, stability, and survival.

• Sacral Chakra - Located within the lower abdomen, responsible for sexuality, emotions, and creativity.

• Solar Plexus Chakra - Located in the upper abdomen, responsible for confidence, personal power, and self-esteem.

• Heart Chakra - Located in the center of the chest, responsible for compassion, love, and emotional well-being.

• Throat Chakra - Located in the neck area, responsible for self expression, communication, and authenticity.

• Third-Eye Chakra - Located between the eyebrows, responsible for spiritual awareness, intuition, and perception.

• Crown Chakra - Located at the peak of the head, responsible for higher consciousness, spiritual connection, and enlightenment.

When our chakras are "imbalanced" we'll notice a change in our behaviors and a difference in our mood. Related to each, you'll hear terms such as balancing, healing, or opening chakras. This is done to improve the state of the chakra and thus, a positive benefit on our mental health.

Practices for Balancing Chakras

• Yoga and Pilates

• Energy Healing - Related to Reiki and acupuncture practices.

• Crystal Therapy

• Mantras and Affirmation

• Meditation
  

Affirmations

Affirmations are positive words of encouragement that can reshape thought patterns and promote positive self-talk. It consists of repeating these positive words over and over for some time length, at the respective cadence.

Techniques for creating effective personal affirmations.

• Assess your strengths and weaknesses. Based on your findings create a split, but equal number of words of encouragement, in the form of short sentences. Carve out time during a number of days that works best for you, to repeat these to yourself or in front of a mirror.
  

Integrating Practices into Daily Life

The practices mentioned in this post are extremely simple. What I find is that it is easier to carve out time to go to the gym, whether we want to or not. This isn't always the case, but for the most part. But when it comes to setting aside time sit in silence and mediate, stretch, practices positive affirmations we are not as disciplined or hard on ourselves as we should be.

When carving out time with a busy work schedule, it is easy for us to cancel this time due to an upcoming deadline. If this is you, then I encourage you to simply start when you feel like your mind or body needs it. Preparing for a stressful meeting, where deadlines were missed, mediate for 5 minutes prior to attending so you are in control of your own emotions. Let's shift towards a few other things we can do to improve our self-awareness.

Incorporating Self-awareness Practices into a Daily Routine

• Identify apps that focus on the specific practice you want to incorporate. Many apps include functionality to send alerts and notifications as reminders.

• If you're not into apps, use an alarm clock on a mobile device or a standard clock to set an alarm. This is a double combo, in that you'll likely want to time the length of time you spend doing it and easily have a timer available.

• You can even use an electronic calendar to create reminders and physically block off time during your day.

Practices such as those mentioned here are simple and effective, but challenging to remain consistent and reach deeper levels of your higher self. Therefore, consistency is likely going to take you far. However, I want to challenge you to define what consistency means to YOU! When people hear consistency, they automatically assume this means you need to get up at the crack of dawn, everyday, at the same hour and minute, and do the same exact thing. No, absolutely NOT!. Consistency in this instance, is determining what you need, the amount of effort that is required, and at what cadence.

If I am 100% transparent here, I am terrible at maintaining a consistent schedule and I actually do not like to. I am consistent at learning about myself, determining what my mind and body needs, and doing just that. This results in me not wanting to tell people how or when they should do things, but equipping them with enough information to assess their "environment" and taking ownership of the resolution through implementation.

Conclusion

The brain is one of the largest organs in the body, and I'd argue its likely the most delicate. It consists of sensitive neurons that are responsible for how we function and show up as our best self. It in combination with other organs and parts of the body, are responsible for working together as a single entity and release the appropriate amount of chemicals that we need, when we need them to ensure we remain in a healthy state. As society continues to advance, it becomes increasingly important to remain self-aware and equipped to treat our bodies the way we want it to treat us.

We at Tech & Toach encourage you to take the necessary actions to improve the quality of your mental health, fostering a proactive step in the right direction toward mental health awareness month. Although a month long celebration, understand the goal is to zone in and raise awareness of its importance, for you to continue your journey.

If you are looking for personal growth and emotional regulation, in ways that improve how you show up in other areas of your life, then I challenge you to get started today!