World Mental Health Day – 10 October 2017

World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.

The Day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.

The above was taken from World Health Organization website http://www.who.int/mental_health/world-mental-health-day/en/

And you can probably see the link between World Mental Health Day and my profession as a hypnotist

But you probably don’t know how it affects me as a person

You see, I suffered from depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and didn’t dare speak up or seek help

Partly because I didn’t know I was suffering from them

But also because of the stigma I used to have (as well as what society had years ago)

You can read more about my life story here

Thankfully things have changed

More people are becoming aware of mental health care and how important it is to look after the mind

Of how anxieties and abuse can affect a person’s life

Of how it’s ok to seek help and voice out

Of course, more can always be done

Like how I share in some of my Singapore Hypnosis meetups that it all starts at home

What you as parents say to  your children is so important and is one aspect of mental health care at home

What you as children (now adults) say and treat your ageing parents is so important and leads to their mental health care

What you as bosses say and how you treat your staff is so important and leads to their mental health care at the workplace

I can continue on and on but you get my point

Finally, it’s what you say to yourself that is probably the key to proper mental health care

Yes, there might be a lot of sh*t flying around and you might question whether people are really good or not

Yes, there might be a lot of hurts going around, physically, emotionally, mentally and socially

Yes, there seem to be a lot of fights, war and violence

And here is the thing, media always show the bad stuff

Remember this

Media doesn’t show the millionth successful plane flight from the airport (probably well over a trillion successful flights all over the world now)

Media doesn’t show the random stranger feeding the hungry

Media doesn’t show a family hug

What I am saying is this:

“For every bad that is seen, there is good that is yet seen”

Why is it yet seen?

Because we as humans are looking at the wrong things more than half the time

You probably saw the mom scolding the kid but did you see the mom hugging her child just beside?

You get what I mean don’t you?

Start changing your perspectives and you can change your life

No joke

When you change how you look at things, in a more positive way

When you change where you are looking, at the good stuff

When you change what you perceive, that there was some benefits

You change your thoughts and mindset

And that’s a simple way towards proper mental health care for yourself

That’s my sharing and there are other ways like relaxation techniques and how to release stress

But I don’t want to overload you so yup

Just remember this ok?

And if you want to share this on social media so more people can know how to take that first step towards their own mental health care, that will be much appreciated for World Mental Health Day 2017 🙂

Thanks and have a great October!