You're Overthinking Your Mental Health

These days, there is so much information out there about mental health, it can be overwhelming to think about the amount of work it seems like it will take to just function normally—and daunting to even know where to start. Should I download a mindfulness app or buy a self-help book? And if so, which one? Am I struggling "enough" to justify seeing a therapist or asking my doctor about medication?

Check your gauges when you are depleted.

Source: Photo by Josh Duke on Unsplash

Granted, any one of these options can be good ones—taking action, any action, is most likely better than doing nothing if you are feeling stuck. But none of these places should be where we start.

Imagine your car stops working all of a sudden. You go ask your mechanic what the problem is, and offer your personal hypotheses after doing a quick internet search. I think my battery might be dead, or maybe I have a bad starter motor. It could be a problem with my engine, too... Do you think I should just get a new car? Sometimes, it turns out that you just ran out of gas and need to fill up the tank.

There may not be anything "wrong" with your car, just like there may not be anything "wrong" with your brain. We can forget that our brain needs to refuel or recharge (if you've got a Tesla brain) just like anything else we use that requires energy. It can be hard to recognize when we are running low until it's too late, and even the gauges we rely on to tell us how much we have left in the tank can be inaccurate. Can we accept our natural needs to refuel and natural limitations that prevent us from going on endlessly without pause? We all consume fuel at different intensities and volumes based on our varying levels of activity throughout each day. According to our own personal makes and models, some of us can go longer than others without needing to refuel, but we all eventually run out of gas.

The acronym F-U-E-L can help us remember to check whether our basic needs are accounted for before we reach for more complicated, perhaps unnecessary solutions.

Friends: Higher social integration during childhood and adolescence has been shown to be predictive of lower blood pressure and body mass index when measured in adulthood almost 20 years later.¹ Research has found that friendships can reduce depressive symptoms, particularly in at-risk teenagers.²

Utilities: Did you know there has been a correlation found between increased water intake and lowered levels of depression?³ Utilities refers to those things that our home needs in order to function that our body needs as well: water, energy, trash removal. Ask yourself if you are drinking enough water, getting the right kind and amount of energy through your diet, and keeping your body clean and free of the accumulated debris from daily living.

Exercise: It can be counterintuitive, but there can actually be a reverse correlation between exercise and low energy levels and fatigue.⁴ Said in other words, exercising can re-energize us even if we think it is going to make us more tired and drained.

Leisure: People who engage in more enjoyable leisure activities have been found to have higher levels of positive psychological well-being as well as lowered levels of depressive symptoms and negative affect.⁵ Higher levels of engagement in leisure activities also correlated with physiological factors such as lowered cortisol, decreased blood pressure levels, and perceptions of increased physical function. Leisure allows us to experience increased positive emotions when socializing with good company or doing pleasurable activities for their own sake while simultaneously giving our minds and bodies the chance recover resources spent during a hard day's work.

Trying "FUEL"ing up this week before you jump to the conclusion that something is broken, and see if it makes a difference.