You may have seen the outpouring of grief over the suicide of a Melbourne footballer, Danny Frawley, an advocate for mental health because of his own struggles. He took himself off medication recently.
Another high profile individual Jarrid Wilson, another advocate for Mental Health solutions, died this week.
Each week I get the Google Alerts for mental health. The problem of mental health is growing, in particular amongst those with a history of it. What it says to me is that our solutions are weak, designed not to cure, but to either prevent admission or prevent deterioration. We’re trapped between trying to support those with mental health and to prevent those with suicidal inclination from going too far. The question is not being addressed, “how do we stop it?”
Mental health is sometimes a hereditary issue. We inherit a gene and that gene creates tendency to extremes. We also can inherit meme’s which unlike genes, are a subconscious part of our thinking process. Our culture is not fully able to witness its own role in the problems it creates.
Nature functions in every cell. The universal laws of nature can’t be defeated. But we try. This is the root of mental health issues. We try to defy nature. And the sources of that defiance are subliminal but often overt and unstoppable. An advertisement for a happy person who has consumed something that makes them overjoyed, like buying a jumper from K-Mart, can be as subtle or Coke adds life can be overt and grossly fighting nature. So, in this mayhem how do we help people?
If we witness the behaviour of a depression prone individual we’ll see a huge degree of ambition. They are the “winners” who strive for the best, depression and ambition are partners. Wanting to be better carries with it a hidden poison, and that is the infatuation with the future, the appetite for better, the desire for improvement. “greener fields make depressive individuals more depressed.” and therapy, supports the myth.
Learning to be satisfied with what we’ve got is only half the story. But learning to be satisfied with what we’ve got can dampen bouts of suicide and depression. Thankfulness and unhappiness cannot coexist in a human mind. But satisfied with what we’ve got is not a panacea. It does not collude with the human appetite for more…
Evolution is fighting satisfaction. Evolution is fighting appreciation. So, satisfaction and appreciation are both “goto” mindsets that equally can be healing and toxic. We must also embrace the need to change, to let go, to grow, to see differently. That means satisfaction and disatisfaction are both a part of the healing journey for mental health. Uppers and downers both play a role.
I’ve experienced the hell of mental health challenges with a few bouts of dark blues and once, a thought to suicide out of my emotional pain. Lucky for me, my genetics don’t allow me to stay in that space too long without reaching out for a lifeline. But I really feel for those who don’t have that makeup. It’s tough. And emotional pain, even if as sporting individuals we belittle it, is the worst pain of all because it encases us in a cell where our problems multiply along with the guilt of dependency.
To start solving the growth in mental health issues, we need to change, not so much what we think, but how. Starting with the love of nature we might just be able to exit the roundabout of philosophy and therapies and get back to grass roots to deal with the cause of the problem, rather than solve the effects of it.
I’m not a doctor, therapist or qualified medically to treat mental health. I have worked with many people and helped most. If you’re struggling with mental health issues, feelings of blues or depressions, please seek professional help and I can work side by side with your doctor, psychologist or counsellor.
INSPIRED THINKING 