Dance 492

Surviving or thriving?

Society Co-Vice Chair Erin Sanchez explores some surprising ideas about what it means to thrive and experience mental health.

Let’s be honest. It’s been a tough year.

Lockdowns, exponentially increasing work intensity or limited opportunities for work, difficult financial decisions, and physical distance from loved ones have been some of the challenges. But perhaps the freedom from the daily commute, an unexpected opportunity to slow down, and a discovery of totally new ways of being in touch were also a part of this year.

Personally, this year I got to see our four children grow (physically and emotionally), I discovered a beautiful place to walk near my home, I felt hugely engaged in my work to help people, and I reflected, a lot, on what was most important in my life. However, I also struggled with significant burnout, anxiety and depression. Thus, I find myself asking, did I survive or did I thrive this year?

Thriving can be defined as ‘the joint experience of development and success, which can be realised through effective holistic functioning and observed through the experience of a high-level of well-being and a perceived high-level of performance.’ (Brown, Arnold, Fletcher, & Standage, 2017, p175)

So, to thrive, we need to have a chance to grow and experience accomplishment. A real life example of this might be learning a new skill, such as a language, and having success putting it into action by being able to have a conversation with someone. We also need to be holistically functioning, which means to experience high levels of physical,

psychological and social well-being and high levels of perceived ability to execute tasks and achieve. Here an example could be a situation where we are excelling in our work and seeing our students developing, we have good close friendships, we eat well, sleep well and feel good about ourselves.

By this definition, I certainly did not thrive this year. However, growing understanding of thriving suggests that it can follow on from experience of an adverse event (Brown, Arnold, Fletcher, and Standage, 2017). In this case, thriving would be considered the ability to experience a negative event, and to not only return to functioning (resilience), but also to see enhancements in function. Further, thriving usually follows something called ‘challenge appraisal’, where challenge is viewed as relevant to personal goals and the ability to cope with it seems feasible given the resources available. Having a sense of autonomy, belongness and competence (also called the three basic psychological needs) can support thriving in adversity. (Brown, Sarkar, & Howells, 2020)

This presents an interesting viewpoint – looking back on last year, the darkest moments were ones where I felt completely out of my depth and without the resources I needed, and the best moments weren’t always they easiest ones, but the ones where I was challenged in a way that felt important and I had support to keep going. I can also recognise that in the best times, I felt that I had been able to choose how I approached the challenge (autonomy), that I felt a part of a group that valued me as I addressed the challenge (belongness) and that I felt I had some skills to offer to finding a solution (competence).

A similar paradox often occurs to me when considering my perceptions of my own overall mental health last year. In 2002, Corey Keyes published a seminal paper suggesting that experiences of mental health, termed flourishing and similar to thriving, could co-exist with experiences of mental illness, such as depressive episodes. Keyes later proposed a diagram (reproduced above) representing this phenomenon (Keyes, 2014)

In the green area, I may have no mental illness, and may be experiencing positive psychological, social and emotional well-being, such as being in good spirits, feeling confident and having trusting relationships. I could also be in the blue area, experiencing moderate depression and anxiety, but still having positive emotions, relationships and sense of ability.

Taking this into account I can look back at the past year and find myself on different parts of the wheel at different times.

So, what does all of this mean for us, now and in the future? What I take away from this is that mental health is a much more varied state than we might usually believe and actually, you can experience challenges both large and small and still reach mental health. Further, perhaps shifting our focus on how we thrive and experience mental health or what we do in the face of challenge could be useful.

• How do we view challenges – are they important to our goals? Do we have the resources to address them?

• Are our basic psychological needs being met to help us engage with challenges – do I have a voice and sense of control over what I am doing? Do I feel connected and a part of my social group? Do I feel competent based on my own internal standards and goals?

• Are we aware of the areas of our life that provide positive emotional, social and psychological well-being and do we cultivate them?

I certainly do not have any answers, but I know that for me, considering the questions above is a powerful opportunity to support my own well-being. And I hope it will be for you too.

Mental health is a much more varied state than we might usually believe