Mental Health Is Something We Can Practise
When we think about looking after our health, most of us understand the basics. We know that what we eat, how much we move, how well we sleep and the habits we develop over time can affect our physical health. Just as we can develop habits that support our physical health, we can also learn and practise mental health skills that help us cope with everyday challenges.
But we don’t always think about mental health in the same way.
Mental health is often discussed only when somebody is struggling. We hear about managing anxiety, recovering from burnout or seeking support during difficult periods. All of those things are important, but looking after our mental wellbeing doesn’t have to begin when something has gone wrong.
There is a lot we can learn before we reach that point.
Building a mental health toolkit
Life will inevitably bring stress, disappointment, frustration, worry, conflict and change. We can’t remove those experiences altogether — and trying to do so would probably leave us exhausted.
What we can do is become better equipped to deal with them.
That might mean learning to recognise when our emotions are beginning to take over. It might mean noticing the thoughts that are making a difficult situation feel even worse. It could mean learning how to pause before reacting, communicate more effectively, tolerate uncomfortable feelings or bring our attention back to what is happening right now.
These sound like simple things, but they are skills — and skills improve with practice.
This is one of the ideas behind The Decider Skills, which turn principles from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) into practical, memorable strategies that can be used in everyday life. The skills cover areas including mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance and communication.
You don’t have to wait until you’re struggling
Learning mental health skills can be useful whether someone is experiencing significant difficulties or simply wants to understand themselves better.
Perhaps you notice that you overthink conversations afterwards.
Maybe stress makes you impatient with the people closest to you.
Perhaps your first reaction when something goes wrong is to imagine the worst possible outcome.
Or maybe you simply find it difficult to switch off after a busy day.
Becoming aware of these patterns gives us an opportunity to respond differently.
The aim isn’t to never feel anxious, angry, sad or overwhelmed. These are normal human emotions. The aim is to become more confident in recognising what is happening and deciding what to do next.
That small difference — between automatically reacting and making a more considered choice — can be incredibly valuable.
Start small
Looking after our mental health doesn’t always require dramatic changes.
Sometimes it starts with noticing.
What am I feeling?
What am I saying to myself?
What does my body feel like when I’m stressed?
What usually happens next?
And is there another way I could respond?
The more familiar we become with our own patterns, the easier it can become to recognise them when they appear.
At Anú Community Healthcare Ireland, we believe in practical approaches that help people build confidence in managing their mental health and wellbeing. Anú provides Decider training in Ireland across healthcare, education and community settings.
Mental health isn’t simply something we have.
It’s something we can learn about, strengthen and practise throughout our lives.