Why I’m no longer talking about mental health

May 4

Mental health has always been a huge part of my business, especially for the past 5 years since Covid when the world began recognizing and talking more openly about the importance of mental health.

In fact, I would even suggest that it was talked about SO much at certain points in time that all of the buzz became a bit like white noise and the conversations stopped having the same impact.

I've become aware of a collective shift that's happening around the idea of mental health and how people want to hear and talk about it.

The conversation is changing.

In the past we’ve focused on "mental health", which comes from the perspective of coping: already being burned out or in crisis or at a breaking point.

Now there's a desire to shift the conversation to "mental well-being", from the perspective of resilience: where we are actively taking steps to support and strengthen our mental state of being each and every day.

It might seem a bit silly and like semantics, but the change in wording represents a shift from feeling like the victim of our situations or the state of our mind, to feeling empowered and being open to the possibility of being able to work with and influence our state of being.

Mental well-being also takes a more holistic approach, acknowledging the influence of social and environmental factors.

Mental health isn’t just about the mind.

There are so many big picture areas of our life that can either improve our mental well-being or detract from it.

Each week this month we’re going to hone in on one of those areas and how we can support our mental well-being through that area:

1. Types of stress (yes, there are some that are actually good for your mental well-being)
2. Sleep + rest (they are definitely not the same thing)
3. Community + connection (and the other side of that coin: loneliness)
4. Fun (also known as pleasure + play)

(Important Note: We all have moments or times in our lives when our mental health struggles and in those moments please make sure you reach out and get the professional support you need.)

For today, I want you to pause and think of one thing you are celebrating yourself for this week.

It doesn’t have to be big.
Just think of the first thing that comes to mind... and if you’d like, share it in the comments below.

Have other areas in addition to the ones listed above that you’d like to hear more about in relation to mental well-being? Share that in the comments as well.

Wishing you peace of mind this day and all days.