What is mental health? Obviously the health of the mental state, but I think a lot of people overlook mental health as being a diagnosed condition of some sort and continue scrolling to the next meme or article. Mental health includes everyone. It refers to our cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being – it is all about how we think, feel, and behave. So, on a scale from 1-10, where does your mental health lie? It changes day to day, month to month, even year to year. It depends on life circumstances, hormones, the weather, etc. Statistics show that our, as a society, mental health is declining. In general more and more people are unhappy, stressed, overwhelmed, anxiety-ridden and are getting very good at hiding it on social media platforms with pictures of an amazing life, perma grins at work and friend and family gatherings, but when at home there can be alcohol and substance abuse, depression, anger, hours binge-watching TV, lashing out on social media, crying, yelling at the kids, dogs, etc. It’s a weird time we live in. I see things on Facebook, etc., that mental states such as depression and suicidal thoughts are normal and for people to seek help and not be ashamed. Is depression normal, or is it simply all too common? Another thing you see on social media recently is telling others to recognize when friends, family, the guy in line at the store, are in a depressed state and to reach out, lend a helping hand or an ear. I think so many are in a state of their own chaos, just trying to keep it together, that lending a hand or an ear to someone else is not exactly in the wheelhouse. Society is so self-absorbed in their own personal issues and concerns that taking on another’s issues is not something they can handle. After a day of dealing with the office, spouse, kids, taking on the neighbor’s issues as well becomes a little overwhelming. Life issues are nothing new. Work, family, repeat. My grandmother who was born in 1918 was brought up in a coal miners boarding house in West Virginia that her mother ran after her father was killed in a hunting accident. Talk about hard times. My grandma had 2 of her 4 children pass on before she died at the age of 98 and was still full of love and faith. She was Baptist, so she had her faith in Jesus Christ, but it wasn’t just that. It was a faith that love was the answer, the world works itself out, and that everything was going to be okay.
We are definitely different people living in a different time from my grandma. But, what is happening? I don’t know if it’s all about the snowflake era, I’m sure there’s more to it than that. I can sit and draw conclusions, assumptions, and conspiracy theories, but I don’t know what good it will do. Again, I think of my great-grandmother who handled losing her husband in the early 1920s, 3 young kids, no real assistance from the outside world, and today people can’t handle someone cutting them off in traffic, can’t get out of bed or past the couch. There are many fingers being pointed at social media, big pharma, the educational system, etc. etc. The only thing that really matters, is that people are losing it and most do not ask for help. They turn to self-medication that over time may lead to deep depression and a hole that can be very difficult to climb out of.
Let me throw out some disturbing stats,(mind you pre-COVID numbers!!) not to create more anxiety for anyone, but to just take a closer look at what’s going on. You can draw your own thoughts as to what is really happening here.
– Mental illness has become an epidemic striking one out of every four people in the world today.
– Over 44 million American adults have a mental health condition, with 1 in 5, or 9 million who report as having had their needs unmet, or their treatment simply not doing the job that they were seeking.
– Our children as of 2015 – Mental health disorders are the most common diseases of childhood. Of the 74.5 million children in the United States, an estimated 17.1 million have or have had a psychiatric disorder – more than the number of children with cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined.
– Psychiatric drug use and abuse are surging worldwide: More than 100 million prescriptions for antidepressants alone were written in 2002 at a cost of $19.5 billion and an unbelievable $2.4 TRILLION in 2013 spent in the U.S. alone on mental health!! Again that was 2013!! This does not include lost wages from people who could not get out of bed and make it to work. That’s another loss of $200 million or so a year.
In spite of record spending, we now face escalating levels of child abuse, suicide, drug abuse, violence, and crime—very real problems for which the psychiatric industry can’t identify causes or solutions. Obviously though, throwing money at the problem and handing out drugs is not helping. How much funding needs to go into programs and drug therapy before the numbers start to decrease?
For more depressing (pun intended) stats you can go to https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers
So what can In One’s Element do? How can we play a role in our community? I can read the stats, get mad, draw conclusions, have a beer and sit on the couch, OR I can offer Reiki. Reiki has been known to help with a wide variety of ailments, many of which coincidence with mental health and include:
Relaxation
Pain management
Reduce anxiety
Reduce depression
Improve sleep
Enhanced well-being
Stronger self-esteem
Greater self-awareness
Reduce symptoms of fatigue
Heighten intuition
Balance chakras
Ease migraines/headaches
In studies of Reiki and mental health, the top reasons for people seeking treatment were stress and pain. With stressed patients, Reiki treatments showing both immediate and long-term improvements in depression, stress, and hopelessness. According to Psychology Today ‘ Patients who received hands-on or distant Reiki treatments experienced significant and equivalent improvements in depressed mood and stress, which were sustained one year after treatment was terminated.’
Pain- another biggie that takes its toll on mental health. Pain often causes depression and anxiety. Reducing difficult-to-treat chronic pain can have a substantial effect on psychological well-being. Some studies have found Reiki to be very effective for pain along with the anxiety and depression that comes with it.
We here at In One’s Element are here to help, not just through Reiki but through the many services we offer that include Reiki, hypnotherapy, yoga, massage as well as teaching YOU energy medicine. A life changing tool that you will always have in your kiddy. We offer packages that can include a little of this and a little of that, or packages on one single service. If you are in a mental struggle, diagnosed or not, reach out to us. Give what we offer a chance to work for you and to bring your mental health to an optimum level that will enhance your happiness and productivity in your daily life.
Lots of reading on mental health…