by Sarah Monk | August, 2024 | Mental Health, Sarah Monk
Introduction Positive Psychology has traditionally been aimed at moving those without mental illness from a state of languishing towards flourishing. In this blog I argue that it also has an important role in helping those struggling with mental ill health on their road to recovery, in finding sustainable wellbeing and in preventing relapse. The cost of mental illness The Centre for Mental Health (Cardoso & McHale 2024) report on the economic and social costs of mental ill health in the UK suggests that in 2022 mental illness cost £300 billion. This covers three elements; economic costs such as sickness absence, staff turnover and people with mental ill health being unable to work, health care costs of providing formal and informal treatment and support for those needing mental health care and human costs which comprise an estimate of the monetary cost of the reduced quality of life of those living with mental illness. The authors suggest that this is effectively equivalent to the economic impact of having a pandemic every year. Mental ill health is a huge challenge for our society and we need to move towards prevention and sustainable approaches to maintaining treatment effects if we are to address this. Can PP have a role in this? Mental health is not the absence of mental illness PP was founded on the premise that it is not enough just to reduce distress, we need to understand the factors which promote wellbeing and thriving. PP research has supported the idea that separate dimensions exist for mental illness and mental wellbeing in large surveys, clinical populations and longitudinal studies (Bohlmeijer & Westerhof...
by Lesley Lyle | June, 2023 | Mental Health, Nature, Spirituality
Here are 10 reasons why you might choose to enrol in MA in Spirituality, Ecology & Mental Health at Buckinghamshire New University. 1. Academic Excellence The program is offered by Buckinghamshire New University, renowned for its Centre for Positive Psychology and international reputation. With expert lecturers, visiting experts, and practitioners, the course provides academic excellence in the field of spirituality, ecology, and mental health. 2. Take a Transformative Journey The program presents a unique opportunity for you to embark on a transformative journey that will profoundly reshape your perspective on life, the world, and most importantly, yourself. By exploring spirituality and adopting practical approaches to living a healthy and fulfilling life, you will not only experience personal growth but also gain a sense of empowerment that will enable you to thrive in all aspects of your life. 3. Make a Meaningful Difference The program strongly encourages active participation in community projects or initiatives, empowering you to make a meaningful difference. By applying the knowledge and skills gained, you have the opportunity to actively contribute to positive change in your community or even on a global scale. Whether it’s initiating your own projects or joining existing ones, you can leverage your newfound understanding and abilities to create a positive impact in the world around you. 4. Find New Career Opportunities The program opens up diverse career opportunities for individuals from various professional backgrounds. It provides avenues for career advancement and prospects in fields such as complementary and alternative medicine, healthcare, education, counselling, coaching, leadership, social work, journalism, and more. The interdisciplinary nature of the program makes...
by Lisa Jones | November, 2022 | Lisa Jones, Mental Health
“The more space we give to stillness and silence, the more we have to give both to ourselves and to others” – Thich Nhat Hahn “A poor life this if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare” – W.H. Davies The late Thich Nhat Hahn was a wise person indeed. He could see that the world with all of its rushing and busyness was not a rewarding place. There is a significant amount of research that suggests that the way we are living our lives, with speed and urgency to achieve the next thing, to rush to the next challenge, and to have what everyone else has, is making us ill. The sociologist Harmut Rosa has recently developed a theory which proposes the metaphor of being on an escalator trying to get to the top yet the escalator is moving downwards. It is taking all of our effort just to stand still. This post is offering you an opportunity to reflect and think about your own life and where you are on the escalator. Are you running fast to stand still? Positive psychology offers us helpful guidance on how to connect rather than run. Wanting more, conquering all Rosa (2020) proposes that we are in a state of social acceleration. To be able to stand still we have to aim for more: More money, more growth, more qualifications, more technology to list just a few. For consumer businesses to stay profitable they need to continue to sell to the population. Inventing more things we don’t need, convincing us we must keep doing more and...
by Janette Kirk-Willis | September, 2022 | Janette Kirk-Willis, Mental Health
Where do you think you might be on the mental health spectrum today? (don’t worry it changes regularly) just today…are you struggling or thriving? unsettled or excelling? It’s important to really stop for a while and connect with what you’re thinking and feeling to try to establish just where you are. Important because once you understand where you are you can begin to take really good care of yourself or to seek help that will support you through any difficulties that you might be experiencing. There are 5 points on the mental health spectrum, from left to right; 1) In Crisis 2) Struggling, 3) Unsettled, 4) Thriving and 5) Excelling You may well be able to instinctively pinpoint where you are, but if not here are some descriptions of each of the areas to help you identify. In Crisis When you’re in this state you may well be feeling very anxious, unable to think clearly and could often be exhausted. You may well be physically ill, and have pain (there is a very close connection between psychological health and physical pain) You may not be sleeping well and this in turn will undoubtedly be affecting your day and maybe your performance at work. You may have started relying on substances like alcohol or drugs, or you may have become isolated. Struggling If you’re struggling you may well be tired, anxious, sad or even depressed. You may have a poor appetite or have lost weight. You may be simply unable to concentrate for significant periods of time and your self-esteem may be noticeably dropping. You could be present at work...
by Lisa Jones | January, 2021 | Lisa Jones, Mental Health, resilience
In previous posts I have written about emotions and how they are constructed by us rather than fixed within our brains. This gives us a great deal of freedom and opportunity to construct many different emotions to build a healthy emotional life. To do this we need to have a rich body of conceptual knowledge. This post will look closer at what this means and how we can do this through skill development, so we can start the New Year by giving ourselves the gift of healthy mental health and resilience. The importance of situation We experience emotions within context, meaning with each moment of the day we are doing something, with or without another person, at a particular location, for a particular reason. All of this is data is gathered by our brains, alongside the feelings we have about the situation (it’s good or bad), and ends up as an emotion, thought, or behaviour. We therefore have the potential to have an infinite amount of emotional experiences as each moment is slightly different to the next. These differences may be subtle, but they are different and if we want we can develop the skill of constructing emotions that are specific to each of those moments. This is called ‘emotional granularity’, or the ability to be really specific about the emotion we experience for that particular situation. Why a skill, isn’t it just what happens? Even though we all have the ability to experience our emotions very specifically, we are taught to experience them in a more general way. In our culture, we talk about basic emotions...
by Janette Kirk-Willis | February, 2020 | Janette Kirk-Willis, Mental Health
‘Prevention is better than cure’ so the old adage goes…and it was never truer than with mental health. Fortunately, there are actions that we can take in order to keep ourselves psychologically well and resilient. It concerns me that the focus for some organisations is on providing Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA’s) rather than ‘Wellbeing Advocates’ Mental Health First Aid is about responding to someone exhibiting signs of distress or changed behaviours. It is, by its very nature, the equivalent of offering a sticking plaster when someone is on the edge. And how do we look after the MHFA’s? – Is their training thorough enough? – Who supports and supervises them? – Don’t they need an appropriate background to deal with mental health? – What happens if they get called outside of working hours? – What happens if their conversations turn into counselling, where does the professional liability lie then? And what responsibility does the organization have? – If your MHFA is put into a situation where they need to support someone who is struggling what can they realistically do? If an employee is really struggling they’re often going to need more than signposting. ‘Why would we wait until this critical point’? …why wait until someone is struggling when we know right now what actions and interventions can help individuals? Why wouldn’t we put in place a programme where the employee takes responsibility for their own mental health and wellbeing and can follow a programme proven to support them and keep them well. This is available right now. Small changes make a really big difference. The research shows us...
