topic Re: Thoughts For Today in BB Social Zone

Thoughts For Today

CheaB — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 06:09:46 GMT

'Your mental health is just as important as your physical health'

When I read this, I tend to disagree as I think to myself that one's mental health is more important than one's physical health. Why? It is important to protect your mental-wellbeing, to nurture your emotions and to look after your mind because your mind is what allows you to physically operate.

To lift your pinky finger, to kick a ball, to look towards the right, to savour the smell of yummy food - basically anything and everything, your mind sends that signal so that you are able to physically operate.

I urge each and every one of you to look after your mind, to practice self-care and to seek support!

Re: Thoughts For Today

Ggrand — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 06:34:53 GMT

Hello Dear CheaB,

A very warm and caring welcome to our forums…

I think that both physical and mental health are as equally important as the each other and when both are in prime condition then you are doing very well….

Unfortunately, when one or the other tends to get unwell, then that unwell part of our bodies can both bring both our physical and mental health down…

I recently went through a lot of physical pain, which in turn sent me spiralling down into a deep dark depression….as my physical pain was treated my mental health also improved….Same with mental health, when I’m in a depression cycle, I can’t exercise, get out of bed sometimes…or even do the simplest things around the house, which then effects my physical health…kinda like a catch 22 situation I think…

Your post is very inspiring and I want to thank you for posting your thoughts here…

Looking after our mind and practice self-care, also to reach out for support is very important for everyone to try to do daily…

My kind thoughts Dear CheaB, with care..

Grandy..

Re: Thoughts For Today

mmMekitty — Sat, 07 Oct 2023 11:46:40 GMT

Hello CheaB, & welcome.

I,too, feel my mental health declines wien I've been physically ill, or have an injury. Then, getting help for that, getting treated & moving into recovery, I feel my mental health improves.

Howvever, I don't know exactly what state my physical health was in when my mental health was at it's worst, because I simply didn't care about it. I had cared nothing for my physical health then, not eating right, not exercising, smoking & later, getting into alcohol, doing other risky thngs, I cared nothing about myself at all.

But it was my mental health declining like it had which 'woke me up'. Still, it was a long time before I cared enough about me to try to look after myself.

But I had to have cancer to get me to be really serious about looking after the body.

Now I am, I feel that is helping my mental health. I am feeling better about myself, less anxious, less of the old depression symptoms, less of the PTSD symptoms - but not perfect. Something going wrong can still have me feeling all the old symptoms all over again.

When our mental health is good, we can care for ourselves, deal with stress & change more easily, problem solve & make better decisions, & are more resillient when faced with difficulties.

When our bodies are as healthy as can be, we are better able to recover from illness & disease, our immune system works better, too. We also have less of the 'stress hormones' floating around in our brains & more of the 'feel good' hormones too.

So, I don't think having one over the other is how it really works. There is a constant interaction going on all the time.

All the best,

mmMekitty

Re: Thoughts For Today

snazzypretzel5 — Wed, 11 Oct 2023 11:06:22 GMT

Yes CheaB, I agree with that! Look after your mental health and you will have the energy and motivation to support your physical health. But it is a fine line. Spiritual health is important too, whatever that means for people. I don't think it's about church or religion but the things that you engage in that keep you happy and gives you your sense of belonging- our family, your dog, your tribe, your online gaming, your Renaissance dress ups- it's different for everyone.

Self care on all these fronts supports our overall health. So I would recommend we do all of it regularly. Lift your pinky, as you suggest, have a bath, play with the dog, dance to our fave tunes, smell a flower, hug a tree, go to church, sing in the shower, splash in puddles. It comes down to doing things that lift us up, whatever that is for each of us.