Mental health has finally started to get the attention it deserves.
Let’s characterise mental health as your proclivity to fall into alternate and unfavourable mental states, such as anxiety, depression or stress.
We all experience these states, some more often than others, and some much more powerfully than others.
Mental health seems to have roots in both biology and psychology. For example, a bad experience during childhood, losing our jobs or feeling isolated can make us more anxious or depressed.
But, also, mental health problems like depression can be improved, at least momentarily, by restoring certain neurotransmitter imbalances, such as a lack of serotonin. This is why most clinically depressed individuals are treated using SSRI drugs or other similar treatments.
Mental health can also be adversely affected by trauma, loss or going through generally bad experiences which can shape our brain in different ways.
Our genetics can also play a role in our tendency to suffer from depression and anxiety.
Mental health is insanely complex, and there definitely cannot be a “one size fits all” approach to treating it or optimising it. It seems to be highly variable.
The decline in mental health is pervasive in today’s world and may be even more devastating than the effects of neurodegenerative disease. Living in suffering is no way to live at all.
Thankfully, there’s a lot of fresh research being conducted that is slowly uncovering the complex puzzle of depression, anxiety and mental health. We need to find what causes it, and how to treat it effectively to keep us healthy and happy in the long term.
Just to name a few interesting points:
In terms of some immediate lifestyle or nutrition strategies that you can look at to help improve mental health such as depression, anxiety or stress - there are a few things we would recommend:
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