Finding Total Health

Without a doubt, mental health matters. Whether you are experiencing challenging life transitions, relationship or family difficulties, or struggling with self-compassion and self-care, finding accessible therapy can be a helpful support. What does accessible therapy look like? Accessible therapy could look like online counselling, a couple’s therapist near you, or a total health clinic that tailors to a broad range of mental health issues.

In today’s world, so many things can pop up and jolt us out of our regular routine. Check out our blog on finding total health to learn some tips and tricks on how to bounce back from difficult life transitions and relationship struggles. These tips really come down to acknowledging what’s going on in your mind and body, practicing acceptance, and reaching out to your support system when you need to.

It is also important to explore what is going on with YOU. Knowing what symptoms are coming up for you can help you understand what issues are going on in your life. This understanding can then help you find helpful solutions so that you don’t have to suffer. Exploring issues common in women and men can be useful in understanding what’s going on for you. Women’s issues and men’s issues … mental health matters.

What is Total Health?

Without a doubt, mental health matters. Whether you are experiencing challenging life transitions, relationship or family difficulties, or struggling with self-compassion and self-care, finding accessible therapy can be a helpful support. What does accessible therapy look like? Accessible therapy could look like online counselling, a couples therapist near you, or a total health clinic that tailors to a broad range of mental health issues.

Life Transitions

What are life transitions?

Life transitions happen whenever our life changes or shifts in some way shape or form. These changes could be exciting, like getting married, moving to a new city, or starting a new job. Some changes could also be stressful and difficult to cope with, like losing a loved one, personal injury, or illness.

Any kind of change can be difficult to be used to. Whether exciting or challenging, life transitions can cause intense thoughts and emotions.

Here are some tips to help cope with life transitions:

1. Accept your emotions when they happen

Joy, sadness, fear, anger, surprise—these are all emotions that can come up during life transitions. Recognizing emotions when they happen, acknowledging them, and accepting their presence can help keep you from feeling guilty about your feelings. This might look like saying “hi” to your emotions and saying their name. Naming your emotion out loud can promote acceptance and self-compassion.

2. Take each day as it comes

It’s easy to make a lot of changes during life transitions. This can be really hard on your body and your mind. It can also put a lot of unnecessary pressure and stress on you. Instead of worrying about getting everything done or making a ton of changes, taking smaller steps one day at a time can help ease the pressure.

3. Have a support system

Make a list of five support systems in your life. This could be a person or a resource in your community, like a support group, a social media community, or a total health clinic. Keep this list close by so you can reach out if you need to talk about the changes in your life.

4. Record your thoughts and feelings in a journal or diary

Writing down your thoughts and feelings can be a helpful way to work through them, especially during life transitions. Notice any negative thoughts that come up. These might look like negative self-talk or negativity about your situation. It you notice a negative thought come up, you can then try to replace it with a more positive thought. You will be amazed with how a small change in your thoughts can make a big change in your life.

Relationships

According to Psychology Today, the top four relationship issues that come are:

1. Getting Tired and Bored in the Relationship—Losing Enthusiasm

2. Working Too Much—Prioritizing Work Over the Relationship

3. Feeling Suffocated—Not Prioritizing Alone Time

4. Character Types—Some Personality Types are Prone to Relationship Issues

One way to insulate or re-ignite relationship sparks is to develop relationship rituals. Relationship rituals are simple changes that you can make in your relationship daily, weekly, or monthly to encourage reconnection. Find out how you can add some relationship rituals to your life here.

Another way to promote healthy relationships is to try counselling. Simply search for “couple’s therapist near me” to find local resources—you can choose from both in-person and online counselling.

Women’s Issues

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, some common health topics for women include:

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Eating disorders

• Perinatal depression

• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder

• Perimenopause-related depression

Some common symptoms that women may experience:

• Mood changes

• Weight loss or weight gain

• Appetite changes

• Disrupted sleep patterns

• Feeling sad or hopeless

• Social isolation

• Fear and worry

• Thoughts or behaviours that start to interfere with work life or personal life

Men’s Issues

Men’s mental health issues look different than women’s mental health issues.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, some common health topics for men include:

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD

• Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder - ADHD

• Autism Spectrum Disorder - ASD

• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – OCD

• Substance Use

Some common symptoms that men may experience:

• Feeling helpless or hopeless

• Not wanting to talk about their symptoms

• Downplaying symptoms

• Anger and aggression

• Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much

• Racing thoughts

• Making big plans

• Engaging in high-risk activities

Helpful Changes

According to Mind.org.uk, some helpful changes could be:

• Finding ways to learn and engage your mind

• Finding ways to be creative

• Finding ways to be in nature

• Finding ways to connect with others

• Finding ways to relax and reduce stress

Where to Go

Finding a total health clinic that covers a full range of struggles and issues allows you to gain access to help and support ASAP. Therapy services that offer a combination of in-person and online counselling is also valuable and gives you more options and flexibility.