I was humbled to be asked to co-host a radio show last night, The Nutters Club with Mike King. For those who don't know the show, it is a talk-back show that airs from 11pm on a Sunday night and is for people to phone in and discuss mental health issues.
To be honest, I felt a bit lost at times last night simply because of the desperate situations of some of the callers who are suffering from depression and have fallen so deep into a hole that they cannot find a way up from.
To tell someone that they should get more sleep, they should exercise more, and perhaps get out and socialise, falls on deaf ears. Not because they don't want to listen to what you are saying, they do. It's just because of their personal circumstances and how far down they have fallen. Their brain is unable to focus clearly.
There are many techniques that you can use to support personal resilience, or resiliency if you want to use another term. Like everything, you need to start early and you need to make it a regular habit.
Resilience strengthening does work, research clearly shows us this, and it works for the majority of people provided they are 1) willing to make it a regular pattern and 2) are in the right situation/circumstances.
I have suffered from depression, albeit I managed to catch it early. I went and got help from a psychologist, I studied lots on why it happens, I implemented resilience strategies, and I escaped from the clutches of the 'black dog'. I patted him on the head rather than curling up beside him.
Like most of you, I thought that I was indestructible. Guess what, I wasn't. And neither are you. It doesn't always happen to other people and it will happen to you if you don't get the right balance. Your brain will simply shut down if it becomes overloaded just like a computer does when you open too many software programmes.
Over the next week I am going to share with you some techniques that you can use to manage your well-being. They are researched based and they work. Don't leave it until "later on" to start using them because "later on" comes unexpectedly.