Mental Health resolutions for 2013

A great way to begin this new year is to resolve to become more mentally healthy. How do you do that? That all depends on your thinking and how much time and effort you're willing to put forth to promote the idea the idea of mental wellness. No one is mentally healthy all the time, wrong thoughts and wrong actions creep in but if we're committed to reviewing our thoughts and our thinking whenever we find they're out of kilter with mental health, we will progress in our efforts to promote mental wellness.

Ideas to consider:
1. Mental health is not mental illness, but is the most important part of overall health. A mentally healthy person will be able to deal with all their health problems wholesomely.

2. The mind is inseparable from the rest of the body. It cannot be treated as if it's an entity outside of the body.

3. Not every little down period or feeling or every little ache needs medication. Pain is a reminder telling us something is not right and the healthiest way is to try find out what causes the pain rather than tossing it aside by medication. Medicine is serious business and professionals should guide its use.

4. Stop blaming heredity for mental problems. Sure, much of mental illness, as well as physical illness is inherited, but if so, learning how to deal with it is the first step in managing it.

PS: more ideas on how to become mentally healthy will be forthcoming. 

Living simply helps keep your mind uncluttered. And an uncluttered mind is more able to function and is far more efficient. More and more this is beginning to take hold of the imaginations of many people who are tired of clutter. They’re tired of clutter in their homes and they’re beginning to see a connection between cluttered home, overstuffed garages to cluttered minds and overstuffed egos. To learn more about how to unclutter your life and where to get more information check out Living Simply, an online site.  

Mental illness and the court system
It’s often heard in courtrooms that a criminal is not mentally ill and is able to stand trial; or as in some cases, the other verdict, they’re mentally ill and will be treated in a hospital. Aren’t all criminals mentally ill to some extent? What’s the difference?

Mental illness is a broad descriptive term that categorizes illnesses and mal-functioning of the brain and nervous system. It runs the gamut from mild to severe, acquired through drugs and environmental conditioning to inherited and those related to aging such as Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

Criminally insane individuals are also mentally ill but they come into the court system because of some crime they’ve committed. Judges, aided by psychiatrists and other professionals must decide if they’re insane or sane. If they’re sane they stand trial for their crime; if insane they’ll be committed to a mentally ill hospital and possibly treated for their illness. They may or may not be released out into the public again; it all depends on how severe the crime and how severe their illness.

The two above explanations are easy to understand but nothing is as simple as one is often led to believe. While the two systems, medicine and the law, have two different ways of dealing with their particular problems, they are actually quite closely related. They depend on each other for answers when they come up with puzzling problems. Despite their ways of determining if a person knows right from wrong, both have guidelines that are often not enough to allow the victim, if found to be insane, to go out again in public.

Where are the loopholes?

Criminals with their cunning minds often fall back on the insanity plea to avoid incarceration for life, or worse still, in states where the option is legal, sentenced to death. The mentally ill, especially those with the ability to think rationally at times, will sometimes attempt to appear mentally healthy by giving the right answers to questions of orientation as to place, time and other relevant questions in order to get out of the hospital. Both of these situations are definitely not what a normal mentally healthy person will do. It depends on the reasoning mind behind the actions.

Inadequate terminology

Perpetrators of hideous crimes, if found sane, must stand trial. They are right in that assessment, they must be convicted and put away; but are they sane? Not according to the mental health side of the picture. No one in their right mind would do such a thing. What then? The lines are drawn between lawyers and doctors.
Courts have adopted sane and insane as a dividing line to decide how to proceed with the trial. If declared insane they are then given over to the psychiatric facilities for evaluation and treatment and if declared sane are tried and if convicted, penalized. This makes law possible and attempts as much as possible to be fair and honest.

Are the criminally sane devoid of mental illness?

Mental illness is a curse of modern life. Drugs and environmental habits and societal fallacies attest to that. Living sanely often goes against societal norms and more than that mental health is measured more by degrees than by precise dividing lines. Of course the criminally insane is not mentally healthy. Their minds runs counter to good mental health and regardless what led them astray they must not be allowed to walk the streets and continue on in their crimes.

The best approach is to attempt to correct their behavior problems while in prison. Many prisons try to salvage their criminals; many do not for whatever reason. The biggest drawback to rehabilitation is time and money and most of all over crowed prisons. Yet, no one knows for sure what a little human kindness can do to a sick mind but many humane wardens believe it’s worth a try.

Mental illnesses

“Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.”

Insanity in the court system

“What happens to a defendant after a judge or jury returns a finding of insanity depends on the crime committed, and on the state in which the trial takes place.”
The importance of knowing the reasoning behind court decisions as well as medical terminology goes a long way in how mentally unhealthy people are treated. While horrendous crimes against society cannot be glossed over, many prisoners sent to prison can be rehabilitated. Society can no longer pretend the mentally ill are those on the other side of the fence; mental illness touches everyone in some capacity or another. Mentally healthy people are aware of this.

Other mental health articles I’ve written on similar subjects: Mental illness and the criminal justice system; and Mental Health: A new way of dealing with crime and mental health and Connection between intelligence and insanity. Other articles can be found on my Helum (About Me) page.

Labor Day 2016
Labor day is in celebration of the workforce, the backbone of our economy, but why then does it have such a uninspiring name? As a writer who writes daily for Helium, words are a great way to get in touch with your thoughts.

Many times I start my writing day a bit grumpy, especially on Monday mornings, much preferring to sleep until ten. Then wow, I survey ideas and writing notions and my outlook changes drastically.

About the word labor. It sets a tone that gives little incentive but if one overlooks its connotations and instead prefers to see the work day as a way to start on a new day, a new adventure with less depressing thoughts, then mental health has inched forward. And good mental health is what living and working is all about. Therefore be joyful about Labor Day and celebrate it joyfully and stop allowing it's bad associations get you down.

PS. The picture? Generally I I upload one of my scribblings of art or some scanned piece of past art, doodle or what not, but this time, it's a picture of my daughter and myself. I have the long blond hair and with my right arm I'm holding my baby. She's grown now, has a family of her own and is the proud owner of her own baby safety business. I'm holding my baby safely and whether or not I'm having more fun as a blond, gray headed old lady, is debatable but that picture popped up when I went searching for an appropriate picture to adorn my Labor Day viewpoints for mental health.

Today, May 25, is graduation day for may high school students around the nation. It's about the most important day of their lives whether they know it or not. That's so for many reasons: They're now assuming their new roles as adults and with this freedom from many rules they've had to obey at school, they're now free to choose. Of course the new school, college, a business school, or straigt to work or to job hunting will have their own rules.

Nothing changes for these students except they now have more say in the decision making that concerns them. And it's hoped that they will decide to stay on the side of mental health and will learn how to begin thinking, acting and living their lives that will keep them on the track toward sane and a healthy future.

A first step will be in learning how to take care of themselves. As the cookbook images above show, away at school or at home, learning how to eat properly, prepare one's own meals is fast becoming a necessity and not an elective course.

Congratulations to 2012 graduates everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When thinking about mental health sometimes it's easy to forget about all those who are mentally sick. We get stuck on thinking about ourselves and forget that but for the grace of God they would be us. Compassion for the sick and finding every means of trying to improve their lot is what cures or relief from mental illness is all about. Yet that is a task for the professionals, all this mini blog has to offer is how to reign in on our less than healthy thoughts and ways of life. More on that later. To be continued:

How not to follow the crowd

Following those who know where they're going is not a bad idea, but following others because everyone else is doing it is a bad idea. Have a good reason for your actions and make sure they're needed ones and not just doing without thinking.

It's not a bad idea to go around in circles if the cirles happens to be a walkway or an exercising walkway, but to go around in cricles and wandering hither and yon just to be up and doing is folly. If one will be truthful with one's self, there's plenty of walking around the house when needed chores are being done. Therefore it's probably not necessary to be going where others go simply because it's something to do that might be interesting.

Have a purpose to your actions and see that not only are you exercising your muscles by going whereever you need to go, but you are accomplishing something other than walking and yes talking, needlessly.

You don't have to be perfect to enjoy life

Competitive sports are good but what about the fun and excitement of sports without having to win every game? The idea is to be as creative as you need be to become the person that is you. While it's true many professions and careers have to be near perfect, or at least knowledgeable,to keep in business, the extra-curricular activities that you engage in on your off time can be enjoyable even when you aren't particularly adept. Keeping busy has its own rewards.

In fact, the title You don't have to be perfect to enjoy life, is actually a little silly. Doesn't every one know that? They should, but believe it or not competition is a way of live with a great many people.
The fact is, no matter how good you are at something, there's probably plenty of people much more adept and could beat you at it. That's okay, you're probably good at something they know nothing about.

That's beside the point. The only person you really should be competing with is yourself. Strive to do a little better tomorrow than you did today. An illustration of that is the image on this page. I did it for no other reason than to try and use computerized art software to entertain myself. It had no other purpose than to occupy me for a half an hour or so.

As you can see, I was playing with straight lines on a black background. When I was thus occupied, I had nothing in mind, but today as the viewer, I'm quite impressed. I see a bullfrog playing a fiddle and a person, a stick figure dancing. That's probably not far from the truth about what was happening when that piece of art (?) was created. (Or should I have said, scribbled?)

Dealing with the Unknown

Dealing with the unknown is a little hard to take, but since it's a way of life, most of us have learned how to manage to get through the day without worrying too much about it. And that's the way it should be. What would we do if we knew what was in store for us each day? Live the moment to the best of our ability and rest assured if we do the best we can do, everything will turn out as it should. Or, at least it will turn out as it turns out and there'e nothing worrying about it ahead of time would've helped.

It's the unknown that brings surprises and delights and keeps life interesting. Where mental health is concerned, it's far healthier to accept what is and not to worry and fret over what will be. Rest assured the Creator of us all, has our future in His hands and that should make us quite content. And most of the little irritations and annoyances that we have to deal with, soon pass away.

Being who you are, no matter where you are

Being yourself is all you can do and still be true to yourself. That sounds easy but in truth it will probably be the hardest thing you'll ever have to do. All the time you'll be tempted to shed, as if you can, yourself and be like another.

Why is being yourself hard to do? The world will be different and will take on various attitudes, or the world of people will do that, and they will look askance at your old habits, your differing thought patterns and will, in essence pass you by. How do you manage to hold on to your integrity among all the charades and play acting going on?

Be truthful and admit that you don't know something when you truly don't know,but also admit when you do know something, or at least believe until you've learned better, and you'll have no trouble internally by being yourself. Yet, if you fail to be happy with yourself and take on the facade of others, forsaking your own God given talents, you will find nothing but guilt and worry over trying to keep up pretenses.

Thus, it's far better to be yourself, for better or worse and learn how to live peacefully with yourself. Try it and see how happier you'll be.

Make time for yourself

Life is so busy and so programmed in these days where everything good being done for our health, our enjoyment of life,ls forever being flashed before our eyes. Not that that's particularly bad, but there's only 24 hours in a day and something must give. All too often that something is your time to sit quietly and reflect on how great life is.

Peace and quiet is not something we rush forward toward, it's something we must carry within ourselves if we ever hope to find it. Those are not necessarily words of wisdom because its assumed everyone knows that, but do they? Take that minute or two whenever its available whether its on the jog around the block, the ride on the bus, or plane, or if it is while alone in the bathroom. Just close your eyes, take a deep breath or two and thank your creator for having allowed you to be who you are.

In making Him your partner you'll never again have to carry the whole world on your shoulders, he's there to give you a break now and then. He's there to tell you not to take yourself too seriously, you're only here for a little while and it'll all be over. What's all the rush for anyway, you must stop and ask yourself when life seems too busy for you to keep up with. The simple knowledge that you're taking yourself far too seriously may be the first step in lightening your load.