Mental health

​If you think you might be suffering from a common mental health disorder such as depression or anxiety, consider this before hitting the pills.

Mental and physical health are inseparable. Similarly, the 5 pillars in the diagram are inseparable. Daylight, activity, sleep, purpose and food are human essentials although, because they are ubiquitous we fail to recognise them as such. A deficiency in one will lead to a deficiency in the others. Improve one, and it will positively impact the others. It’s a vicious or virtuous circle. The choice as to which way we spin it is ours.  

Daylight – It sets our body clock, our circadian rhythm, which governs everything bodily including physical and mental recovery, digestion, hormonal response, metabolism and mood. Exposure to daylight sets and regulates all our operating systems so getting outside for 30 mins per day minimum even if the sun isn’t shining is vital, better still take exercise outside because…

Activity – Humans have not evolved to be sedentary or spend most of their time sitting down inside. To be physically and mental well we need to build and use muscle and be aerobically fit.  The NHS recommends a minimum of 2.5 hours of exercise per week and there is a stack of clinical evidence on the efficacy of physical exercise on health.  The combination of activity in daylight means you’ll get to…

Sleep - Ask yourself why we spend a third of our lives doing it, it’s vital for  creativity, trauma processing, brain cleaning, mood regulation and a myriad of other things. No animal, despite its potential survival advantages, has evolved the ability to do without sleep. Less than 7 hours per night sleep and you’re deprived, go without it for a month or more and you’ll die. It’s that critical but, like daylight, it’s ubiquitous so we don’t give it the prominence it deserves. Of course, creativity, problem solving and better mood regulation means we’re more likely to develop…

Purpose – There is a deep seated human need to be useful and to have a strong identity. Just ‘being’ isn’t enough for us. Cast aside the desire to be ‘happy’ – that’s the 2 minutes of emotion you get when the car passes its MOT. Aim for fulfilment, satisfaction and contentment, for that we need to understand who we are, what we stand for and what we have achieved. Doing something that leaves a legacy means we’re less likely to reach for life's harmful addictions, in particular…     
 
Food – The modern diet is laced with additive substances and chemicals that have cause the obesity crisis, notably added sugar, processed carbohydrate and Ultra Processed Food. 70% of the stuff sold in supermarkets, even bread, is made from ingredients you would not find in the home kitchen. The UN recognises the food industry is the new tobacco industry. A natural, varied diet with whole foods is essential to support the other pillars and promote, you guessed it, health and wellbeing.  
​
The closer we get to these pillars, the closer we are to living to a point we have evolved too. It’s the best chance we have achieving mental and physical wellbeing without reaching for the pills because, as a wise man once said, ‘the drugs don’t work’.   

---

Not content with telling people how they should ride a bike, Rich Smith is now dabbling in mental health counselling as part of his MSc Psychology studies. Flush with meagre academic success, it seems he's now expanding his remit to tell people how to live their lives. No good can come of this.