Changing the Conversation on Mental Health | SMart Choice Lifestyle

Mental health is as important as physical health, there’s no doubt in that. Even more so when it seems like mental illness becomes more and more present in young people’s lives. Anxiety, depression and stress disorders have unfortunately become daily occurrences and people need help more than ever.

The easiest, quickest and it seems the more effective form of help is simply to talk about these issues. Starting a conversation about what’s bothering us at a mental level, creating a safe space for these conversations to happen, are the key-points that should interest us in 2017.

Up until now, mental health issues have been a taboo, especially among children and young people, thought to be individuals who possess excellent health all around. Mental illness was mostly associated with elderly people, who were known to have cognitive and emotional issues. That’s what keeping things under covers does to these kind of issues!

“Talking can help heal hidden challenges that we can’t deal with alone [...] two heads are better than one when dealing with a mental health problem” 
(HRH Duchess Catherine of Cambridge, #HeadsTogether campaign briefing, 17/01/2017)

In today’s world, life is so fast paced that it can leave each and every one of us with huge amounts of stress, leading up to anxiety and isolation. We live in an ever-expanding and interconnected society, but people feel more and more alone when dealing with close relationships. Even the ones they already have seem to deteriorate due to the lack of real, empathetic conversation that plagues our century.

Last week, I wrote HERE about how the love of people can save the world. Today I add more: the conversations we have about health and especially about mental health, can help all of us understand each other better and by that have more tolerance in this ever-judging world. Compassion comes from feeling the same as the other, and that can be achieved only if we know and understand what people are going through.

People living with Multiple Sclerosis are also affected by these issues, as an effect of either having the disease or of going through emotional hardship without any or major support / understanding. Here to, talking about emotions and negative thoughts with someone who will truly understand is crucial to well-being and living a better life, even with a chronic illness. Find out more about the topic in the article I wrote HERE.

Mental health needs to be talked about in a safe climate, where individuals feel comfortable with disclosing their problems. The conversation can start in the most familiar contexts we all have: with family, friends and colleagues. Opening up to the people we know and trust the most, helps with feeling supported and understood; it helps soothe the inner emotions or struggles we all have.

(image source - www.royal.uk) 

“It is no exaggeration to say that conversations – simple conversations – can be life-changing: in a workplace, in your kitchen at home, with a friend, family member or colleague.  And that’s what Catherine, Harry and I want to do – we want more people to be having those conversations.”

(HRH Duke of Cambridge, #HeadsTogether campaign briefing, 17/01/2017)

#HeadsTogether is the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon Charity of the Year. “Over 500 people will be running for Heads Together, leading from the front (well perhaps not right at the front!), raising funds for the vital services provided by our Charity Partners. These runners will also be leading by example by starting conversations on mental health with their families, friends and colleagues.” (HRH Prince Harry, #HeadsTogether campaign briefing, 17/01/2017). The Virgin Money London Marathon will take place in April 2017, aiming “to end the stigma and change the conversation on mental health once and for all.”

(image source - Heads Together)

Find out more about the #HeadsTogether campaign briefing HERE.

Find out more about Heads Together HERE.

Become a supporter HERE.

Start the conversation on social media: use the #HeadsTogether hashtag (more HERE).

Mental health is an important part of the 2017 SMart Choice Lifestyle topics, as it is strongly tied with brain health and a healthy lifestyle overall. My focus, as a young person living with MS in Europe, is to start the conversation on issues that impact our health in more ways than one.

Until next time, have a wonderful day!

Denisa

How to Avoid Skin Oversensitization? The Microbiome and Excessive Body Cleaning | SMart Choice Lifestyle

The smell of fresh cut grass and home-baked bread, followed by a delicious breakfast with hot cocoa, raspberry or rose organic jam, a soft boiled egg that was steaming when you opened it and dipped a bit of bread crust into that perfect orange yolk. And then off to play outside for the rest of the day, or until lunch. This was most of my childhood spent at grandma's!

If you have memories like these, you also remember that the outside world wasn’t our enemy, like it’s often portrayed today. We glorify interiors, houses and running water. Those are fine, trust me! Living without them would be manageable, but certainly not a pleasure. As we have all these comforts, we also develop many products with which we can keep it all clean and sanitary.

As time goes by, we drift further and further from nature, living in aseptic environments that keep us safe from all the germs and bacteria outside. Infections and especially bacterial ones are nasty, even life threatening if left untreated. But there’s another side of the coin that we usually tend to miss: too much cleaning and sanitizing actually could damage us even more.

How’s that?

Our grandmothers and great-grandmothers did not have access to the vast array of personal hygiene and house cleaning items that we do now. I’m not saying that it was an extremely healthy environment in most cases, but the irony is that fewer people got sick or even fewer had allergies from a young age. People were more able to work with their surroundings, instead of against them.

Our bodies are custom made for living in nature. They adapt to the environments we’re in and develop immune tools to keep us safe from illness. That’s their main goal: survival. For ages, humans have been living in synergy with the natural world, taking care of it and reaping its fruits in return. People lived according to what nature provided them and our bodies adapted according to what we had to deal with on a day to day basis.

Bacteria isn’t all bad. Actually, the microbiome as it is called, helps us stay alive. It protects us against germs, breaks down food to release energy, and produces vitamins. It “consists of the 10-100 trillion symbiotic microbial cells harbored by each person, primarily bacteria in the gut”. The human microbiome is in constant exchange  with our environment, human microbes flow freely onto the surfaces we interact with on a daily basis. Microbial communities are constantly being transferred between surfaces, our bodies being constantly adapting to the place we live in.

Thus excessive sensitization via all kinds of disinfectants, antibacterial soaps and personal hygiene products is similar to the effects that antibiotics have inside the body. Too much consumption and that good microbial barrier is disrupted, making way for opportunistic bacteria that can damage the skin or our body’s health.

Our body’s default defense mechanism, called the immune system, has the power to regulate all these little armies of good bacteria and to keep them in tune with the rest of our bodies, while keeping a careful watch on foreign pathogens. When we disinfect to often, our immunity overreacts, and begins to think everything's a threat. Given the fact that our environments are so clean, the simplest nasty bacteria that once had no impact over our body, begins to have one now.

For people living with Multiple Sclerosis, things are even more... sensitive. Given the treatments that we need to take, our immune systems are lowered, already putting the body at risk to infections and other damage that might occur.

I'm not saying that it's a must, but we need to be even more cautious and help our health as best we can. Over-sanitizing or under-sanitizing are neither the best way, as they are extremes. Taking care of your personal hygiene and house cleaning shouldn't go there. Keep it simple, keep it basic.

But first, let's go back to nature...

There are three things that you can do to minimize the impact, all under the same umbrella: progressive desensitization to the natural world. For a person that has been living indoors most of her life, going wild with these tools seems a bit out of place. This is a process, and you should only do what makes you feel comfortable and what suits your lifestyle. But do try the following:

1. Reduce toxic load from your personal hygiene products and house cleaners. The safest way I found to do this is to replace one nasty chemical with a more natural choice. Only a couple of examples: use regular hand soap for your day to day hand wash. Only use antibacterial ones when you’ve worked with other chemicals or if you’ve been to the hospital; the same goes for hand sanitizers: you don’t need them at home, where it’s supposed to be clean); use sodium bicarbonate to get rid of nasty smells in your refrigerator (and try to clean the entire interior once a week, using a solution made of 1 part apple cider vinegar and 3 parts water).
2. Go out in nature more! Walking around in fresh air and being around trees and grass not only is beneficial for your fitness, but also for your mind. It can be a powerful destresser and a good time to relax. Depending on where you live, plan small or large trips to classic destinations like the local park, the nearby forest or a weekend to the mountains. No matter what you choose, nature will always pay back tenfold! Of course you have to protect yourself from falls, bees or other dangers, so make sure you learn a thing or two about how to take care of issues like these if they arise.
3. Take up urban gardening. Depending on where you live, you can create a small or a large one. Either way, it could only be just some pots you have on your balcony, but the goal is to allow yourself time to think and work with your hands. To allow yourself to get back in touch with good bacteria in nature. I personally recommend gardening without any chemicals, letting the plant grow on its own terms, while I tend to its needs and help it on the way. Great activity to bring nature back in the city!

These were my three ideas on how you can begin to bring your body back from the aseptic world and right into the natural one. Bit by bit, you’ll adapt. It’s a process. You have to have patience! But more about that in another article.

Liked this post? Subscribe HERE, to be sure we stay connected. Let me know if you’d want me to write a more extensive piece on this topic, or on smaller topics from it. Would love to hear your opinion on this! Leave your comments down below.

Sincerely yours,

Denisa

December 2015 - MS Health Review & Tips - #HealthyThursday

This Thursday I talk about how my MS has been acting in December and share some health and lifestyle tips with you guys. MS being a possible progressive illness, I believe it’s important to have at least a monthly assessment of your condition, so that you are up to date with what’s going on with your life. Let’s get to it!

MS STATUS

Compared to November, I had little to no symptoms. Just some tingling in my arms and “sand” in my right eye. Most of the weirdness this month was due to hormonal issues caused by the delay of the menstrual cycle. The reason of why that happened it’s still unclear to me, as it was the first time to do so in more than a year.

Now, I’ve been injecting Copaxone for almost a year, and on the prospect they mention that glatiramer may cause disturbances of this kind. But I don’t really know if that’s the case here. Will inquire with a specialist when I redo my blood work for this year. Did any of you guys happen to have that while on Copaxone? Let me know in the comments below.

BODY

On a physical level, since December is always a busy, almost hectic time of year, my sleep had to take one for the team and get a little chaotic. I usually sleep 7-8 hours a night, wake up at 7 am and do my morning routine. This month I went to sleep late, woke up at 8 - 9 am-ish, and the inner clock got confused.

How can you tell if that’s happening to you? Simple! You wake up not feeling rested, you’re groggy and tend to be moody, irritable and have a hard time concentrating on your tasks (and I don’t even say how worse your fatigue can be if you add this to it!). Last month I wrote here about fatigue. Hope it helps!

My advice is to try to stick to your routine and schedule, don’t compromise, don’t say that it’s just this time, because with all the things that can stop you from getting a good night’s rest, not sticking to schedule is the easy part. What if you get to bed at say… 11pm and your brain can’t stop rambling (even after you’ve meditated?)? Then what?

So, as I’ve been there, I encourage you to train into sticking to certain bed and wake hours. Set up alarms on your mobile, turn off any screens at least an hour before bed, go get a warm shower when your bedtime alarm goes off. Then try to get as comfy as you can, close your eyes and stand still (adjust as needed and according to your own MS issues).

MIND

Mental clarity is also important to have. Make time to unplugg and get some rest. This was the case for me this December, as I took 3 weeks off from work and just focused on recharging my energy supplies, preparing for the holidays and spending quality time with friends and family.

There’s no reason to force it, especially when you are living with MS. Of course, everyone is different, but try to relax after a hard day, or limit your actions only to the essential tasks that need to be done, get help, plan. Reflect on your year, wins and losses, blessings and missfortunes. Realign with your vision and your purpose. Quiet the mind. Journal. Meditate.

EMOTIONS

On an emotional level, try to find balance between positive and negative feelings. Every emotion is a wave that provokes a certain reaction throughout your body. Aknowledge it and let it go. Stop. Breathe. Be calm: it saves you from burnouts. Don’t blame or backlash at others for your bad mood (like I did! Sorry!). Analyze the reason why you feel the way you do, talk to someone about it or write it down, record your voice, whatever helps and it’s available to your condition.

Last but not least, we all are the result of our daily choices. We can always change things for the better. Just ACT! Moderation and self discipline are key to being successful. One day at a time, we can rebuild our life the way we dreamed it.

This was all for this week’s #HealthyThursday! Thanks for being here!

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Love,

Alexis