Mental Health…
The Five Pillars of Health
Physical
Mental
Spiritual
Social
Financial
I’m not going to try and deliver a recipe for perfect mental health; rather, I want to reflect on and explore how mental health is our foundational Pillar that ultimately holds up and provides stability to the rest of our self.
“Whoever values peace of mind and the health of the soul will live the best of all possible lives.”
Mental health, in relation to our pillars, can be understood as a culmination of the others. That is to say, if we have good physical, spiritual, social, and financial health our mental health has a stable platform to work from. It is often our challenges in the other Pillars where our mental health is challenged and we are put into distress.
Let’s look at an example.
Jacob owes $1200 on his credit card and just got laid off from his job. He has a job interview across the country. On his way to catch the flight, his car breaks down.
Maybe you’ve been there. It’s not hard to put yourself into his situation and recognize that this would be distressing.
Pause for a moment and reflect on this. Is the financial situation directly impacting his health? No. The impact is from our perception of the events. If the events have a notable negative impact it will harm your mental health.
Let’s finish the story above…
Later that day Jacob finds out that the plane he was scheduled to catch crashed, with no survivors.
How has the situation changed? Do you think Jacob would still be distraught about his financial situation?
When we look at any challenges to our other Pillars of Health each of those can put a dent into the armour of our mental health. If our mental health is well-developed we can tolerate larger blows but none of us are invincible. And as discussed in the previous blog, good spiritual health is a great supporter of our mental health.
In summary, then, we can imagine that strong surrounding Pillars will be conducive to great mental health. Let’s look at each pillar individually:
Financial: If we don’t have financial stressors, there won’t be mental distress (i.e. “load” for system)
Physical: If we have issues with our physical health it will often be a major “dent” in our armour; furthermore, being physically active promotes mental well-being
Social: If we have a great support system we can overcome greater challenges and be more capable to recover from setbacks
Spiritual: Spiritual health can be amazing for buffering our mental health against some of the toughest setbacks life has the offer
But we cannot oversimplify something as complex as mental health. There is a darker side to mental health that drifts into “physical health.” When we look at “mental health” as a system, we cannot ignore that chemical levels can hit a critical point where there is a change in classification: mental illness.
Mental illness is a touchy subject and I will tread lightly. It is worth appreciating that mental health can be better understood as falling on a spectrum. See the image below as one example:
Visit https://delphis.org.uk/mental-health/continuum-mental-health/ for further details.
When we fall too low on the spectrum our Pillars have collapsed and recovery becomes more and more difficult, where external interventions become recommended/necessary.
I think we need to appreciate that there is a pendular nature to our mental health as well.
“It’s Okay To Not Be Okay.”
We don’t feel amazing all the time. And that’s okay, too. We should try and be reflective and see if there are things that we can readily change. Are we dwelling on a conversation from last week? Are we simply getting over the flu? Are you doing the things in your life that support your mental health?
Are you maintaining healthy social connections?
Are you making appropriate decisions with your money? Or are you spending as a way to cover up feelings of anxiety?
Are you keeping yourself physically active and eating well? Are you setting a regular sleep schedule?
Do you give yourself the time to support your spiritual well-being (whatever that means to you)?
Most of us are not fully giving ourselves the opportunity to excel with our mental health; namely, we aren’t developing our other Pillars in ways that best support our mental health.
Our mental health is in constant flux and is not something we can solve or “accomplish.”
“Mental health... is not a destination but a process. It’s about how you drive, not where you’re going ”
We hope you enjoyed exploring our Pillars of Health and that it provided some insight or tools on how you can improve your health. We always appreciate feedback and questions, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment or reach out to us directly.
Cheers,
-Tyler