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Mental Wealth

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Re: Mental Wealth

#21

Post by jordwest »

agent008t wrote: post #9
jordwest wrote: post #3

In this article the author covers a few areas to consider in managing mental health: Sleep, Diet, Exercise, Stress Management, Exogenous Compounds (from coffee to melatonin to Prozac, and anything in between) These are certainly important factors, and I think we need to look much more broadly at underlying factors than just these (or just drugs). I've been reading about mental health issues for years with my own ups…

Could you please give some examples of the changes you have made?

I'm working on pretty much all of the suggestions from the book so I'd highly recommend giving it a read if you can. Some big ones are moving closer to nature, spending more time with a close group of friends (at least pre-lockdown), looking back into my past for things I'd avoided thinking or talking about.

Also meditation was for me a pretty good mood improver, but it's more recently helped me uncover some painful thoughts and surface emotions that I'd essentially avoided without realising it.

Lastly, the value of exploring all these things with a therapist can't be overstated, if you have the privilege to afford it.

Re: Mental Wealth

#22

Post by wastedhours »

frequentnapper wrote: post #20

I wouldn't put much stock in Ayurveda or even worse, Traditional Chinese Medicine, except some of the treatments which have been proven to work. There's a reason why western medicine is superior - it follows evidence-based modern scientific and research principles, not hogwash.

Always brings me back to the line from Storm by Tim Minchin "Do you know what they call alternative medicine that's been proven to work? Medicine."

Re: Mental Wealth

#23

Post by logicchains »

glutamate wrote: post #16
logicchains wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The goal the article is referring to is improving mental health. Is a consistently unhappy person considered mentally healthy?

If I worked for my own happiness, how would I look at myself in the mirror knowing that my happiness is based on an unsustainable lifestyle? How can I be happy knowing that that my sisters can't get three square meals a day and my brothers can't breathe?

>If I worked for my own happiness, how would I look at myself in the mirror knowing that my happiness is based on an unsustainable lifestyle?

Clearly you have goals/values other than just "maximising own happiness". If your goal was purely that (not suggesting it should be), then those other values would just stand in the way of happiness.

Re: Mental Wealth

#24

Post by NalNezumi »

>When it comes to mental health, our society approaches it like we did with physical health 50 years ago. We only think about it when something is wrong.

I'm not sure about the broader society, but I think this mentality is still prevalent in both physical and mental health these day.

My mother was a very health conscious person (to the level of insanity) but one attitude she showed that I think lead to long term mental/physical health improvement is what your attitude towards medicine is. She saw medicine never as a solution but a temporary band-aid and if you use one medication more than once, it is a indication that something in your life is terribly wrong. I don't share that absolutist attitude, some situations are only solvable with medical interference. But where you draw this line seems to have an profound effect.

I've observed that people that consider medicine (both for physical & mental health) as a part of the solution to a problem they have in life never achieve to get out of their trouble. If you're living a unhealthy lifestyle, any health complications are amplified and taking medicine might suppress it for now, but unless you change the underlying life-style, it will slowly make things worse. Same goes for mental health; If your mental life style is unhealthy (bad social interaction, information consumption that most lead to negative emotions etc), any amount of anti-depressant won't get you out of trouble. You're only delaying it.

Re: Mental Wealth

#25

Post by logicchains »

glaberficken wrote: post #13

I think the author is mistaking cause with effect. When the things mentioned (Sleep, Diet, Exercise, Stress Management, Exogenous Compounds) go out of balance, that "unbalancing" may well be a symptom (consequence) of the mental issue and not the cause as is implied in the article. You can invest all you want decades in advance in creating balanced habits in those areas and still be disrupted down the line with negat…

It may not be clear that those things can completely prevent mental issues, but I think it's fairly clear that poor diet, sleep, stress management and exercise can contribute to an increase in the frequency of mental health issues.

Re: Mental Wealth

#26

Post by alltakendamned »

logicchains wrote: post #19
alltakendamned wrote: post #8

It always surprises me how little value is given to positive human relationships and community when considering mental well-being. It's in my opinion the second most important thing after sleep.

It's harder advice to give. Trying to wake up at the same time every day and not drink coffee before bed is, at least in theory, something anybody could do without too much difficulty. Going out and making more friends, getting more involved in the community, is a scarier idea to propose, especially if somebody already has some kind of social anxiety.

I agree it's not as easy as drinking a cup of coffee, but does it have to be easy or does it have to be effective ? Mental health is too important to leave it up to quick fixes.

While social anxiety seems to be definitely more prevalent these days, I am wondering if this might be something that actually increases due to the precise lack of sufficient positive community experiences.

Meeting new people has always been uncomfortable and a bit scary for most people, but being part of something low key like a community garden or a group of people playing sports for fun will in my opinion do more for one's mental health than drinking coffee or taking melatonin.

That said, of course not every experience counts as positive nor will every activity suit everyone, it might take some time to find what you enjoy - but it's worth it.

But let's also turn it around and follow the advice, you sleep well, eat healthy, do your round in the gym, meditate and drink your coffee every day. Well, you're still going to feel pretty sad and lonely if the rest of the time you're locked up in your room reading Reddit. The advice given is not bad per se, it's just not complete.

Re: Mental Wealth

#27

Post by lotsofpulp »

frequentnapper wrote: post #20

I wouldn't put much stock in Ayurveda or even worse, Traditional Chinese Medicine, except some of the treatments which have been proven to work. There's a reason why western medicine is superior - it follows evidence-based modern scientific and research principles, not hogwash.

Instead of “western” medicine, I prefer to call it “evidence based, tested with randomized controlled experiments, mechanism of action deduced” medicine. No data, no medicine.

Even then, medicine is super hard since there is so much complexity in the human body and variations across populations, and experiments are extremely costly.

Re: Mental Wealth

#28

Post by NalNezumi »

glutamate wrote: post #14
andi999 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree fully, except you shouldnt work for social and environmental justice, but social and environmental improvement instead.

What is the difference, to you? To me, working for improvement can too easily become redirected towards self-aggrandisement. I did this, I accomplished this. Working for justice implies that laws and rights, natural or human-made, are being denied and broken.

Improvements are (often) incremental, and easier to break down in to actionable tasks. You can also already start on existing work/not working parts. Justice on the other hand is (often) focused on the end-goal, which is much harder to break down to actionable task.

Work on social and environmental improvements by the day, asses it on social and environmental justice every month.

Re: Mental Wealth

#29

Post by rrmm »

jordwest wrote: post #21
agent008t wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you please give some examples of the changes you have made?

I'm working on pretty much all of the suggestions from the book so I'd highly recommend giving it a read if you can. Some big ones are moving closer to nature, spending more time with a close group of friends (at least pre-lockdown), looking back into my past for things I'd avoided thinking or talking about. Also meditation was for me a pretty good mood improver, but it's more recently helped me uncover some painful…

I don't know the contents of the books, but nature and friends are great ones. Also teaching others, helping kids and people younger than you. I think you can get a lot from their enthusiasm and excitement for life. And it feels good to feel like you're passing on stuff you've learned to people who may be around after you're gone.

Re: Mental Wealth

#30

Post by frequentnapper »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #27
frequentnapper wrote: post #20

I wouldn't put much stock in Ayurveda or even worse, Traditional Chinese Medicine, except some of the treatments which have been proven to work. There's a reason why western medicine is superior - it follows evidence-based modern scientific and research principles, not hogwash.

Instead of “western” medicine, I prefer to call it “evidence based, tested with randomized controlled experiments, mechanism of action deduced” medicine. No data, no medicine. Even then, medicine is super hard since there is so much complexity in the human body and variations across populations, and experiments are extremely costly.

Yes, that's what I meant. The article was blaming western medicine and the comparisons are often made between eastern and western medicine - western referring to the current mainstream approach.
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