Mental Health Awareness: Love is an Answer

Every month seems to be This Month or That Month, dedicated to something or another. May happens to be Mental Health Awareness Month in addition to whatever else it is.

When we started going over the medications for mental health in my pharmacology classes, we got the following attention grabber: "Look to your left. Look to your right. One of the three of you will suffer from a mental illness in your lifetime."

The mind and mental health are just as significant (perhaps slightly more than) as the body and physical health. Together the mind, body, and spirit of a person make up their soul. If one of the parts is not right, the whole soul suffers. It is important to take care of all the parts.

Sometimes we disregard mental health or dismiss it with disparaging remarks. "They should just snap out of it. Try thinking happy thoughts. Just overcome your fears." It usually takes a lot more than words to make any other disease state to go away (heart disease, bacterial infection, broken bone). Why would we expect the same for an illness of the mind?
My examples of physical maladies are good for two reasons: not only are they ones to which that we can relate, but they also show how they can come about. Some illnesses come from self-neglect, some from misfortune, and some from a combination. No one chooses specifically to be unhealthy but either bad luck or a series of bad choices can lead to illness. You can't suddenly choose to be healthy either and expect to be so. It takes dedication to be healthy in mind, body, and spirit. But also sometimes bad things happen and that's okay. We don't get to choose everything that happens to us, but we can choose how we will act and react.

The brain (and kind of with it, the psyche) is an organ just like the others. Just like the illnesses and disabilities of the other body organs differ and the treatments for those ailments differ, so does the brain have its own sicknesses (each with unique signs, symptoms, and stages that can vary between individuals with the same diagnosis) and treatments to go with each. Some of those treatments can be drugs, some can be behavioral changes.

As I thought about the ways mental illness has affected my life and the lives of my friends and family, I couldn't help but wonder, "What more could be done for people with these life-altering situations?" I'm a pharmacist by trade and training, but my first thought really isn't to "throw more pills at it".

That isn't to say that medication is unnecessary and can't be part of a treatment plan. Medicine is a tool, just like any other. There's still work to do in other aspects of life to get the job done, but medicine can make the job a little smoother if used correctly. It's like dividing a piece of food. Some people do just fine without any tools. Some might need to use a knife. Depends on the food, depends on the person. And the knife can be used improperly, so it does take some help and guidance. Most tools require proper use to get the proper effect without harming oneself. Same with medicine.

But it often takes more than just the tool to get the job done. It takes the work of a hand and arm to use a knife to cut fruit. It can take TLC (therapeutic lifestyle changes, more on the tender loving care in a minute) to make a difference in achieving healthiness. These changes can be small or large and can vary from individual to individual based on personal needs and ability. They can be anything from diet changes and increased physical activity, introducing coping mechanisms, or having regular activities to give structure and pattern to life's path.
As I thought further on the various mental illnesses plaguing my family and friends, I also drew one more conclusion. No matter what ails the person, each of them needs love. As I recently read this article, Ministering to Latter-day Saints with Mental Disorders, I couldn't help but think that 'love' is one of the best medicines for mental health issues. The article focuses on only a few disorders and doesn't cover some of the other major ones that I have seen affect those around me. But I did kind of see how the article (yes, it is directed at Mormons) pointed the reader toward loving the individual beyond whatever their mental disorder is.
I've seen friends and family struggle with anxiety and depression. I've seen my grandmother suffer from memory loss and cognitive decline (and my grandfather try to battle it). I've seen PTSD and loss of loved ones. I've seen parents trying to raise children with mental disabilities. Every single one of these people needed or still need varying levels of medical care including medication, therapy, and lifestyle/behavioral changes. More than that, each of them needed love and the attention of people who care about them (not just for them). And that is something we all can do.
Mental health is such a heavy topic. I know that some of my biggest fears have to do with losing my own mental capacity and health or having to raise a child or care for a parent with decreased cognitive ability. It's not easy at all. But one thing that I know will get me through if those challenges come to me is that I am loved and that I do and will love those individuals for whom I am responsible. Love is an answer.

Creatures of Habit

• I've been thinking a lot about the things that I do as a habit. In my efforts to become a better me, I've set some goals and tried to make or break habits.
  
  

  It is stupidly difficult!!!

  Making good habits takes a heck of a lot longer than 21 days. Even after months of doing something and failing only occasionally, it is still hard to do it, like it's the first time. Or for stopping a bad habit. Those tendencies, desires, and appetites are still there. Whatever it is, I have to imagine it's worth the effort. Most good things are.
  
  
  Now that I've got that off my chest, I want to talk about accountability. My accountability is usually to myself or to an app on my phone (ironic, when a minor goal is to use my phone less). I will say that it is often better to be accountable to someone else; that feeling of approval (or the fear of disapproval) can be a good motivator. And while I like being accountable to Deity for some goals, it's also really hard to get a report card from God. I usually just give myself an A- and hope I'm right.
  
  When it comes down to it, our accountability to God is all that really matters. He has sent us here to see if we will do the things He wants for us to do. He wants us to become continually better and eventually become like He is. The best thing He did to help us do that is to send His Only Begotten Son to show us the way. 
  
  Though the life of Jesus Christ as a whole shows us a lot of what we should do, it can be very easily summed up in a simple verse that describes all of His childhood/adolescence/young adulthood:
  
  

  And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. - Luke 2:52

  Mentally. Physically. Spiritually. Socially. These four pillars are key to building a well-balanced life. Here are a few of the things I've been doing to improve myself in these four areas. 
  
  
  
  
  
  

  • I've been doing a low carb diet since February of last year. Turning 29 hit hard and I was feeling a little more adult-y than I had since turning 18. I needed to turn my body into something more than "potato" and start a path of preventing diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and other cardiovascular risks/events. Now that I'm 30, I'm in pretty decent shape just from eating better. But my GOODNESS, are some people hard to be low carb around! Every party and event, every cookout, church meal... carbs, carbs, carbs. I don't need to stay as low as I thought I did, but I am trying to keep it a part of my lifestyle with as few binges as possible. Along with diet goes exercise. This I'm not so good at. You're not going to get me into a gym. I just won't go. I'm not gonna pay money to be shamed or ogled and to do things I'd much rather do in the comfort of my own home, thank you very much. I have made some improvements though. With my Fitbit, I know how much I am (or am not) moving each day. Most of my good days are when I'm a slave to the ER, but I still get a good number of steps in. I also downloaded an app that gives me set exercises and tells me in that oh so super sexy (sarcasm) robotic Google Girl voice, "Congratulations!", when I complete a day. I'm probably not going to get "Six Pack in 30 Days", but it is a step (haha, get it?) in the right direction. I try to play sports more often, too. I'm probably going to go into an arrhythmia or cardiac arrest playing basketball any longer, but I do enjoy tossing a frisbee or hitting a ball over a net (tennis or volleyball).

  

  Here's a screenshot of that "Six Pack in 30 Days" app. I actually completed 30 days in 29 because I didn't know clicking on a rest day would automatically count it. But I did all of that. I'm on to the next 30 days in May.

  
  

  • Now that I'm done (**fingers crossed** haha, yeah, I'm probably gonna end up back in school in the next decade, just you watch me.) with my academic career, I still want to keep my mind active. I do have to keep up a professional license with Continuing Education hours, but I can never restrict myself to only learning about pharmacy for the rest of my life.  I've starting learning Spanish (while trying to keep my Russian up). I use Duolingo, which in some ways is too slow, in others too fast, but it is helping. I am also reading whenever and however (audiobooks) I can. I read mostly fiction but I try to find interesting articles on Facebook or Reddit in science and politics and whatever else catches my eye. Don't get too angry if I end up sharing a lot of things I find interesting.

  

  
  

  

  I completed a streak of 30 days (and it's still going) with Duolingo. Some days it's super easy and I probably don't learn anything. Some days I feel like I'm really improving. But it's the perseverence I feel that really counts.

  
  

  • Socially is probably where I'm always going to struggle. I'm an introvert, through and through. I have my flashes in the pan of extroversion, but it really takes a lot out of me. Does social media count as being social? To get out of my shell I've been striving to go to Church activities even if I don't want to always be part of the crowd. Also other group outings and events because I need to broaden my horizons. Dating has been a challenge since I'm pretty terrible at it and have a not so friendly schedule, but I enjoy good company and I don't think I'm that terrible at being part of a conversation. 

  • I've had my ups and downs in the spiritual side of things. I'm not perfect at saying my prayers or reading my scriptures, but I try. I recently finished reading the Book of Mormon, start to finish, for the who knows how many-eth time. Since I didn't want to do that again, I'm reading the scriptures by topic. I started reading it in Spanish, too, because double dipping is totally allowed. I have my temple goal (one session for every baseball game I attend). To keep the Spirit with me on Sundays I only listen to hymns and other uplifting music in addition to going to extra meetings or choir practice/performances. I need to get better at doing my hom-... ministering.

  
  

  Here are some oddball things that I'm working on. I don't know if they fit specifically into one of the pillars, but I try to keep them up for the sake of improvement.

  • I'm trying to write more. I haven't been keeping a good habit of writing in this blog. Haha, yeah, kind of missed in April. Gotta do better. I also want to follow some of the writing prompts I've saved over time. One day I'll get a whole novel or at least a novella, but you gotta start somewhere.
  • Since getting my piano for Christmas, I want to play it with regularity. Going to practice at least an hour a week. Hymns primarily, but I want to pick back up some of the classical pieces and movie music I have. Additionally, I want to find some baseball rally music (all the things you hear the organist play during the game) so that one day I can embarrass my kids at their ballgames.

  That's probably enough. If any readers have made it this far, congratulations! You don't win anything, just my respect and gratitude. But I do appreciate it. 

  
  

  Keep me accountable for the goals and habits I've mentioned. Ask me about other ones. Tell me how I can help you with yours. We're all in this life together so we might as well be on the same team.
  
  
  I leave you with a familiar quote:

  We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.  - Aristotle