World Mental Health Day 2018

culled from: http://www.who.int/mental_health/world-mental-health-day/2018/en/

Half of all mental illness begins by the age of 14

Half of all mental illness begins by the age of 14, but most cases go undetected and untreated. In terms of the burden of the disease among adolescents, depression is the third leading cause. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds. Harmful use of alcohol and illicit drugs among adolescents is a major issue in many countries and can lead to risky behaviours such as unsafe sex or dangerous driving. Eating disorders are also of concern.

Growing recognition of the importance of building mental resilience

Fortunately, there is a growing recognition of the importance of helping young people build mental resilience, from the earliest ages, in order to cope with the challenges of today’s world. Evidence is growing that promoting and protecting adolescent health brings benefits not just to adolescents’ health, both in the short- and the long-term, but also to economies and society, with healthy young adults able to make greater contributions to the workforce, their families and communities and society as a whole. 

Prevention begins with better understanding 

Much can be done to help build mental resilience from an early age to help prevent mental distress and illness among adolescents and young adults, and to manage and recover from mental illness. Prevention begins with being aware of and understanding the early warning signs and symptoms of mental illness. Parents and teachers can help build life skills of children and adolescents to help them cope with everyday challenges at home and at school. Psychosocial support can be provided in schools and other community settings and of course training for health workers to enable them to detect and manage mental health disorders can be put in place, improved or expanded. 

Investment by governments and the involvement of the social, health and education sectors in comprehensive, integrated, evidence-based programmes for the mental health of young people is essential. This investment should be linked to programmes to raise awareness among adolescents and young adults of ways to look after their mental health and to help peers, parents and teachers know how to support their friends, children and students. This is the focus for this year’s World Mental Health Day.

Mindfulness found to be Useful in the Treatment of PTSD

If you have experienced and/or witnessed a threat to your life, your body, your moral integrity, or have had a close encounter with violence or death, you may have felt an array of emotions including that of fear. Fear triggers what is commonly known as a  “fight, flight or freeze” response in the body that results in psychological, behavioural and physiological actions to occur in the body during the event. Those who continue to experience effects related to the occurrence after the danger or problem has subsided may go on to be diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

PTSD is described as a severe response to trauma and can causes a huge deal of distress and severely limit active daily life in those who experience it. PTSD is characterised by three primary symptoms:

1.     Re-experiencing the traumatic event
2.     Avoiding any reminders of the event, or feeling emotionally numb 
3.     Hyper-arousal, which consists of a very sensitive startle/fear response

Those who experience PTSD may also develop other mental illnesses such as severe anxiety, depression and suicidal feelings

Rethink Schizophrenia: A Mindful Mental Health Approach

Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder that affects about one percent of the population. Although the specific cause of the illness is unknown it is believed to be as a result of several factors including: genetics, biology, environment and lifestyle. A combination of genes is believed to be associated with the development of schizophrenia, which may indicate the link between the increased occurrences in families. Studies have shown that while 1 in 100 people may be effected by a schizophrenia diagnosis in the general public this number drops to 1 in 7 in non-identical twins and a 1 in 2 chance for identical twins, where one sibling has previously been diagnosed.

Low birth weight, premature birth and asphyxia during birth are more likely to have been experienced by

Easy Actionable Steps to Leave a Positive Impact on Your Kids Emotional and Mental Wellbeing

The Opposite of Addiction is Connection

Two 

Two things I've come to understand about addiction are the desire to not be present in ones life either due to circumstance (environment/ past experience) or not having enough meaningful connections.

You see happiness does comes from within but also comes from outside, experiences and relationships, therefore it is not always enough to push the self love message when dealing with avoidance behaviour. When helping addicts, its important to encourage positive relationships as part of the healing process and utilise compassion as a route to recovery.

If you are looking for a therapist in your area check out Better Help for more information:
https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/therapy/how-do-i-find-a-therapist-near-me/

The Information Age and the Stress Epidemic

Over time we have become increasingly exposed to more and more sources of information dissemination and at 1000/second we have access to billions of pages of resources. We are forced to deal with a barrage of often times unnecessary information for our minds to process.  It is no wonder there are more and more retreats popping up where cell phones and other computerised devices are banned.

We asked Seye Kuyinu a Web /Software Developer, writer and mindfulness advocate if we could share some of his tips for coping under the barrage of information.

What works for me(and should work for you)?

1. The Zero email policy. This is the zen of my computer life! First, I check my emails at intervals that are set in my calendar. I make sure my inbox count is 0 at the end of each interval. The 4 D’s for achieving inbox zero are:

• Delete when you’ve read it and doesn’t need any action

• Delegate if it would take you more than two minutes to attend to and there’s someone you can delegate to.

• Do-it if it would take less than 2 minutes.

Common Anti-Depressant Drugs

      

      The below information is an introduction to some of the commonly prescribed antidepressants (not by brand name).When treating mental illness such as clinical depression there may be a need for prescribed medication, for further information about specific medication please speak to your doctor or health provider.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are one of the most common used antidepressants on the market. Serotonin levels are believed to effect mood, by reducing the reuptake of serotonin by neurotransmitters in the brain, SSRIs work to facilitate an increased serotonin level. It is believed that by maintaining the increased levels of serotonin in the brain SSRIs can lead users to experience an elevation in their mood and therefore a reduction in their symptoms.

Eating for a Healthy Mind: The Role of B Vitamins on Your Mental Health

Vitamin Bis a name given to a complex range of compounds, some of which have similar functions and work together within the body. Unlike other vitamins, B vitamins vary in such a way that they are individually named and listed in foods. The majourity of B vitamins are water soluable so only limited amounts are stored in the body.

The diet plays an important role in the health of not only your body but also your mind. We will focus this article on the specific benefits of the B vitamins to mental wellbeing and over all health, featuring a list of B vitamins with their roles and functions and associated cognitive disorders

Happy New Year Chase Your Dreams

Happy New Year to all our readers, we are so happy to have seen in 2018 and having started a gratitude practice early last year, will be spending the first few days focussed on all the wonderful things that happened in 2017.We have also found time to work on our 2018 goals and will be focussed on growing our in-house resources to better serve our users and readers much better.

We do hope you have been able to get clear on your goals for the year and set some long term goals in order to lead your life with intent. If you feel that you will need a little help in realising or creating some specific, measurable, attainable and time sensitive goals then do sign up for a our free e-course, which focusses on building purpose and self esteem in to the realisation of goals.

In "Dream Chaser... The Power of Purpose of Self Esteem" you will receive a daily email over the course of seven days which will require less on average 15 minutes to complete, which will feature a short text exploring the daily topic, affirmations and daily exercise.

To register for free sign up here: Dream Chaser Sign Up

Wishing you an intentional purpose filled 2018

Love

Sound Mind Africa 💙