#onmentalhealth

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The Impact of Coronavirus on Mental Health

Four years in and the pandemic has brought significant attention to mental health concerns worldwide, which are not being addressed. My mental health has been affected. I still struggle, it's why I continue to write about external influences. Also, through the socials, it is clear many other individuals have struggled with anxiety, depression, loneliness and other mental health issues during these challenging times.

While there might have been a surge in published materials addressing mental health through organisations like the World Health Organisation, during the height of the pandemic, the need for ongoing support and resources still remains critical. The world has stopped talking about and dealing with mental health, but I haven't.

The CP Diary offers information, support and guidance

One way to deal with mental health concerns during these challenging times is to seek out existing resources and support networks. Indeed, my own website, The CP Diary, offers information, guidance and tools for coping with stress, anxiety and other mental health challenges, and brings clarity on many topics after 13 years of writing. Give yourself time to read through some of my blogs.

Engage in practices such as mindfulness and exercise

To deal with mental health, you can also choose to engage in self-care practices such as mindfulness, exercise as well as connect with those you trust to maintain mental wellbeing. Therapy or counselling services, either online or in person, can also be valuable resources if you're struggling with mental health issues.

It is important to continue the conversation about mental health. By sharing our own experiences and reaching out for help when we need it, we can support each other, as we continue to work towards better mental health.

For more inspirational, lifestyle blogs, please check out my site https://www.thecpdiary.com

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NDP Demands Ford Gov't Return $335 Million/yr Cut From Mental Health Services

@OntarioNDP Demands Ford Gov't @ONgov Return $335 Million/yr Cut From #MentalHealth Services @kidsmentalhlth @AMHOnt #onpoli @CMHAOntario @MentalHealthCAN @OnMentalHealth @MHCC_ @ECHO_ONMH

QUEEN’S PARK, ON – The NDP is demanding the Ford government reverse its deep cut to Ontario’s already threadbare mental health services.

NDP MPP for Scarborough Southwest Doly Begum made the demand Tuesday during question period at Queen’s Park.

“Last year, Toronto Police responded to over 23,000 mental health disturbance calls,” said Begum. “There were 12,000 children waiting up to 18 months to…

[thecpdiary]

I Need Your Help...

My father once said when he had sciatica and he was laid up in bed for 6 weeks that when you’re ill your pretty much on your own. I don’t want to give up writing. I am struggling with Eagle Syndrome, brain fog has become all too common place and I need your help!

The Writing Industry and Independent Authors

With continual facial pain, it’s getting more and more difficult to concentrate, to write. But the writing industry has changed also, and writers and independent authors are struggling to find their place amongst the wider public. Also, with what has happened in the pandemic, our voices are going unheard. It's the worst time to publish; to be a writer, an independent author writing about mental health.

Your Support Will Help Me Continue To Write

I am not well known, but I am doing my best to keep everything together and I need your help.Your support will give me a reason to continue with my column, with my writing.

My Writing Challenges

With my changing health, and with Eagle Syndrome, writing now has become very much a challenge. But my writing isn’t just for me, anyone can own my topics. My writing column help us to think about our lives, about change, so that we can work on change.

If you want to see and read more of my writing, that can help with your mental and emotional health, please help me to continue to make a difference. Please help by reading and responding on my column.  

As an independent author I rely on goodwill and people kindly spreading the word. Please help support. If you fancy grabbing copies of my books, they are available to purchase on my website https://www.thecpdiary.com/my-books/

For more inspirational, life-changing blogs, please check out my site https://www.thecpdiary.com

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Data: The Office of National Statistics

Writing for The CP Diary for 13 years, I have always waded in on mental health. I deal with mental health. No one is free of mental health issues. It's also no surprise that mental health has always been in decline, simply because we're not dealing with mental health. Now data from the Office of National Statistics reveals rates for depression have doubled since Covid-19 began and highlights a growing mental health crisis in the UK.

Existing Inequalities

What is particularly concerning are those burdened by existing inequalities and who are in more precarious economic positions, including women, young people, clinically vulnerable adults, disabled people and those who live in some of the most deprived areas of England and who have been disproportionately affected.

What the data suggests

The data suggests that inequalities in society have worsened because of the pandemic. Although rates of depression have increased and diagnoses by GP’s have fallen by almost a quarter, the suggestion is access to mental health care is in decline.

The Covid-19 impact inquiry found that reduced access to care, is inevitably having implications on mental health, which is putting even more pressure on already struggling health services. (Source: https://www.ons.gov.uk/)

Conclusion

I can resonate with those who deal with mental health, because I deal with mental health, but I am failing to understand why people are reluctant to deal with their mental health. Even with a stigma, I’m not seeing it as an excuse to ignore your mental health. We should all be dealing with mental health.

The World Health Organisation talks about mental health. I talk about mental health. I've never stopped talking about it. When we don't deal with mental health we're inviting illness in and in some cases, it can be fatal. I lost two family members. Both dealt with mental health.

For more inspirational, life-changing blogs, please check out my site https://www.thecpdiary.com

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Building Strong Foundations

I have always bought into the idea that if something helps you, go with it, if it doesn’t find something that can and that thought has never changed. Building strong foundations are the catalyst of good mental health practices and in the pandemic those practices stopped and haven't been picked up again.

Brexit and the cost-of-living-crisis

On the coat tails of Brexit, the UK is dealing with a cost-of-living crisis. It's been a bleak start to 2023, “new research shows that at least 271,000 people are recorded as homeless and including 123,000 children.” (Source: england.shelter.org) That's a lot of mental health to deal with.

Fleeting between good and bad health

We will also fleet between good and bad health. Good health isn't a given, One day we’re well, the next day we may mentally struggle. Where we need to deal with our wellness, it is pretty much being ignored.

Emotional Health Initiatives

We should be promoting health, while working on emotional health initiatives. For those interacting with my blog, they will know what those health initiatives are and should want to act. The WHO talk about mental health. My mental and emotional health initiatives are also out there and are no different to the WHO. I talk about mental health. We both initiate good practices, those, so you can live better lives, initiatives that allow you to stay well.

Building Strong Foundations helps us to live better lives

It is important to build strong foundations, so we can do things better, live better lives and to support. It is because I write from a universal platform that my blogs act as a mirror for each of us.

Since the pandemic hit, the world is changed and while we can't change what's happened in the world, through my writing initiatives and that of the WHO, we can shine a mirror on ourselves so that we can each do better.

For more inspirational, life-changing blogs, please check out my site https://www.thecpdiary.com

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Arnold Schwarzenegger on Mental Health

In his own words:

“Wow. This is a big one. I first want to acknowledge the psychologist that commented asking me to remind my audience that there is nothing wrong with therapy. I agree 100 percent. I talked about this in a previous newsletter, but you should treat your mind no differently than your body. You have to train both. If your knee was holding you back and making you limp everywhere, you’d go see a physical therapist. There is no shame at all in admitting you need help with your mind. None. In fact, if you’re thinking about giving money to some guru who promises to make your life perfect, spend it on a therapist instead. Let’s train those minds.

Mental Health Crisis

So… back to the question. I don’t know what’s going on with men’s mental health. I see articles about a mental health crisis among men. But I also see articles about a mental health crisis among young women and girls. It seems like we might just have a human crisis.

I’m not an expert. You’d be better off asking the psychologist who asked me to make a comment about therapy. But you want my opinion, and so did she. So, I’ll share it.

Social Media and Mental Health

I am simple, so I ask myself what changed. Here is what I see: social media. People spend all day online, and there are a lot of bullshit artists and charlatans and outrage salespeople on the internet; the “influencers” who tell you that you have to wear this or you’re worthless, the people who tell you the world is falling apart even though by most measures it is better than ever, or the shysters who sell you some bogus class about how to be a man. I’ll give you guys a hint: nobody needs a class on that. And nobody who is a real leader goes around calling themselves an “alpha.” It’s absurd. If anybody did that in Gold’s Gym we would have laughed until they stopped.

Building up confidence

Social media has caused a crisis of confidence because people lose their sense of purpose scrolling feeds all day. They’re told to be scared, and they’re told they aren’t good enough. We need to sign off and build up confidence in the real world, which I talked about earlier this week as something you do by taking a small step to do the thing that makes you uncomfortable and then taking a bigger step and on and on. You don’t need to project this crap on the internet. That’s fake confidence. The real kind takes work and constant reps and feeling uncomfortable, and too many people shy away from all of those things. I think people aren’t willing to feel a little out of their comfort zone for even a minute, but life isn’t going to be comfortable all the time, so it throws them out of whack when they hit the crappy parts.

Limit your 'social media' presence

If I could tell these men and women anything, it would be to turn off the social media, think about your biggest insecurity, and go start working on it out in the real world. Go outside, exercise, talk to real people. Stop listening to these influencers and what they think you need. They are selling you. And before anyone says I’m “throwing shade” at someone specific, I just learned about all this how to be a man stuff recently when a reporter said to me that I was the antithesis of a few of these shysters I hadn’t heard of, and I couldn’t believe it is happening. But I am happy to be here to provide a positive voice on social media and the internet.

And again, I’m not an expert. If you’re struggling, get help. That takes real strength.” (Source: Medium)

Conclusion

Personally, I've been writing on my 'mental health' blog for 13 years now. In May, I'll be into my 14th year. It's great to see Arnold Schwarzenegger adding his weight to mental health talking about the fact that men, women and children alike, need to be proactive, to deal with their mental health, or perhaps it's less of a discussion, because people are generally slow on the uptake, not much is happening around mental health. If you are struggling to get help that takes strength, but it's well worth the effort.

As the saying goes, "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink." We all have the opportunity to deal with mental health, and while we're not being forced to act on mental health, dealing with mental health staves off illness and untimely deaths, therefore it is important to be proactive. Don’t ignore mental health, talk about it, read the book, act on it, be proactive for mental health. The onus is on you, it's on me, it's on all of us to deal with mental health.

For anyone talking about mental health, we don't get a good press, primarily because we're asking others to think about and become proactive on something they should already be proactive on. But like Arnold Schwarzenegger highlights in his piece, it's important to be proactive, not something we should ignore. Ignoring it is usually at our own cost.

As an independent author I rely on goodwill and people kindly spreading the word. Please help support me. If you are interested in dealing with your mental health and you fancy grabbing copies of my books, they are available to purchase on my website https://www.thecpdiary.com/my-books/

For more inspirational, life-changing blogs, please check out my site https://www.thecpdiary.com

[thecpdiary]

Shine a light on Your Mental Health

Firstly, if you're reading my blog, thank you for reading. I don’t insist my readers follow my advice, or do as I do, but if something I write can make your life better then why wouldn’t you at least try?

Ignoring Mental Health

We've also started 2023, how we ended 2022. We're ignoring mental health. The world is changed. Through Covid-19, simply put governments have created division, bitterness, enmity between individuals, feelings of hostility, and ill will, in some cases serious feuds and long-standing grudges, all of which can affect your mental health.

Covid-19 has created divisions

Where Covid-19 could have brought us together, it has exposed us and our flaws. We should want to improve our relationship with each other because it's good for our mental health and because we need to be together. We should want to be better than we were yesterday, to be proactive with our mental health, and so that we can live better lives.

Mental Health Continues to Decline

On the 17th May 2023, it will be 13 years since I started The CP Diary. The UK did Brexit and in a global pandemic, it's why I write about both on my blog and why the world is continuing to see a heavy decline in mental health. Mental health is literally in its boots and it's mostly being ignored. I talk about it.

Dealing with Mental Health Issues

I personally deal with and write about mental health on my blog The CP Diary, because I deal with a mental and emotional disability. But where you're continuing to ignore mental health, you're continuing to let illness in, so why not use 2023 to open the door on your mental health, or at least try to improve your mental health, how you deal with things?

And let's be honest we could all do with changing the way we deal with things. Also, use 2023 to change how you view mental health. Use 2023 to take charge of your mental health; to control how you deal with your mental health. Use 2023 also to come through mentally and emotionally stronger.

For Your New Year Resolution, why not buy one of my books?

For the price of 2 cappuccinos, you can buy one of my books. If you set yourself a New Year's Resolution why not pick up a copy of one of my books, so that you can deal with your mental health? Sale proceeds go to mental health charities, so you'll be helping those out.

To pick up a copy of my books, which are all deal with mental health, you can order Kindle or paperback copies on Amazon, and through the following link https://linktr.ee/Ilana_Estelle

For more inspirational, life-changing blogs, please check out my site https://www.thecpdiary.com

[thecpdiary]

Early Intervention on Mental Health

According to Brett Hill, at Towergate Health & Protection… ‘It is anticipated that half a million more people may experience mental ill-health because of Covid-19 and combined with those people who were already struggling with existing mental health conditions before the pandemic and brought about through lockdown. (Source: towergatehealthandprotection.co.uk)

Although Brett Hill's comments were written coming into Covid-19, I’m not sure how many people know they're dealing with mental health issues, or accept their mental health has taken a nose-dive through the pandemic, it's not over and we're not out of the woods.

We are all changed people

There are stats on behaviour traits in Covid-19 that prove we are all changed people through the pandemic and mental health is significantly being ignored. I am seeing first-hand just how much we have been affected by the pandemic.

Mental health is taking its toll

There is no doubt Covid-19 is taking its toll on mental health through new pressures and in a new world. A world that looks and feels different to pre-Covid days. A world in which we still have the virus to contend with and we have changed.

Let's face it, we have all become susceptible to mental health issues. Those with existing mental health conditions, will have experienced more serious issues with prolonged difficulties. Through google analytics I have seen a significant decline.

I have it in my family. My mother died of lung cancer and she wasn't a smoker, my father died of cancer and my twin also has cancer, all who have been affected by mental health issues.

Early intervention is needed

Early intervention is needed, if you are to avoid diseases like cancer. Dis-ease (ill at ease, spells disease). No one is free of mental health issues and we all need support with mental health. My website The CP Diary and books can give you support. If you need extra help, you can also speak to a professional.

Early intervention around mental health is important. Not many of us take the hint. Others may know, but still they choose to ignore the warning signs.

If you're interested in grabbing copies of my first two books, Cerebral Palsy: 'A Story' or Spirituality, Healing and Me,' you can order Kindle or paperback copies on Amazon, and through the following link https://linktr.ee/Ilana_Estelle

For more inspirational lifestyle blogs, please check out my site https://www.thecpdiary.com

[thecpdiary]

Covid-19 shines a light on Mental Health

If the pandemic has shown us one thing it’s that we should be thinking about and dealing with mental health, and we’re not.

Mental health is usually for someone else. We’re too busy ‘getting on with life’ to think about our emotions, or how we feel. We’re too busy making ‘things,’ a priority without thinking about the foundations that prop our mental health up.

But none of us are free of mental health issues. And although you may not be in ‘flight or fight’ mode all the time and may only associate ‘flight or fight’ with mental health, there will be times when the spotlight shines on you.

The pandemic has raised issues around mental health and for the most part, it’s being ignored. It’s an inconvenience, it’s something for someone else, ‘I’m too busy’, or ‘I’ll think about it tomorrow,’ or ‘it’s an inconvenience,’ or ‘I don’t have issues, or ‘I’m alright Jack…’ but that’s not true, we all have something.

Although I never initially saw myself as the type to have mental health issues, or what those meant. It was only in my forties that I began to think about or equate what I had been through, and with a diagnosis and for the first time I started to do something about it.

But the list of excuses will continue to go on around mental health, until you choose to deal with your ‘mental health,’ really deal with it. No one is free of mental health issues. Mental health is part of the human condition, which needs to be continually addressed, if we are to obtain and have optimal wellness.

Losing a loved one too early to lung cancer who was a non-smoker, but struggled with emotional health, I have seen it. In the pandemic, Mental health needs to be addressed by each of us, even more so now because we’re further away from anything resembling ‘normal.’ There is no ‘normal’ anymore.

You’re navigating a life around a virus that you can’t see, that strike at any time and with precautionary measures lifted completely, you are more at risk and can still get caught out. Mental health needs to be your priority.

What’s it going to take for you to deal with your mental health?

All book proceeds are going to charity, so if you fancy grabbing your copy, so charities may benefit, please go to the following link https://linktr.ee/Ilana_Estelle

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Statement from MPP Michael Gravelle Re: Temporary Leave

StatementFrom MPP @MichaelGravelle Re: TemporaryLeave @OntarioMNDM @BillMauroMPP @ONgov @CMHATBay #Depression @CMHAOntario @OnMentalHealth @ONThealth @PublicHealthON

MPP Michael Gravelle, Thunder Bay-Superior North Over the past months I have been struggling with a feeling of uneasiness that I have not been able to shake. My doctor diagnosed me with depression last year. Since then, I have been grappling with this disease privately while maintaining, to the best of my ability, the work that I love to do as Minister of Northern Development and Mines and Member…