Mental Health

THE STRENGTH TO HEAL and get back to what I love about family medicine

Mental Health Top 5 Strategies to Cultivating Your Mental Health

By Lindsay Israel, MD,

Modern life keeps us very busy. We find ourselves ignoring the fundamentals like our health, family, friends, community etc. All that neglect causes dysfunction in our lives. We try desperately to fix the problem after it becomes a significant issue. In other words, we are attempting to reverse the damage once it has already become a disorder. As a physician, this neglect is something I see among my patients every day. It is important to remember that prevention is a big piece to eradicating depression and anxiety. Yes, there are some things that are simply unavoidable such as genetics and certain life stressors, such as a death of a loved one or a lay-off from a job. However, if we focus on areas of our lives we can control, then we would have a much easier time coping with events that are out of our control; the “curveballs” of life. Though the word “habit” can have a negative connotation, it more accurately describes a behavior done repetitively as a routine. A habit can be a choice, and a healthy habit is a healthy choice. These lifestyle amendments are time-tested and clinically proven to be effective in preventing the symptoms associated with anxiety and depression. Here are 5 simple strategies we can incorporate into our day-to-day routine to lay a healthy foundation and maintain our mental wellbeing. Depends on It! This is perhaps the most important intervention to our mental upkeep. Chronic sleep problems affect 50% to 80% of patients in a typical psychiatric practice, compared with 10% to 18% of adults in the general U.S. population. It is a chicken or the egg dilemma. Do mental health disorders cause sleep disturbances or does insomnia trigger a cascade of symptoms leading to a mental health problem? The basic answer is both can occur. Neuroimaging and neurochemistry studies suggest that a good night’s sleep helps foster both mental and emotional resilience, while chronic sleep disruptions set the stage for negative thinking and emotional vulnerability. In 2010, the American Medical Association along with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recognized insufficient sleep as a serious health risk amongst adolescents. It is not too surprising that sleep issues in our teen years can persist into adulthood. The brain likes patterns; repetition, routine. If it receives signals on a regular basis, even unhealthy ones, it will lock

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1. Protect Your Sleep, Your Life into that pattern. Good sleep hygiene is of the utmost importance in preventing sleep disorders which can lead to other comorbid psychiatric illnesses. 2. Maintain a Balanced Diet Our eating habits can play a large role in our mood regulation throughout the day. Big carb loads can lead to big carb crashes which can cause fatigue, concentration issues and irritability, symptoms that are also apparent in depression. Protein, healthy non-saturated fats, fiber and some simple carbohydrates should all be represented in our meals. Moderating our food intake will give us the best chance of having a good day. 3. Get Regular Exercise Any activity that induces our heart rate to increase is considered

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