ONE LIFE BLOG
Interviews & Podcasts
It was an absolute pleasure to work with Megan from @vetthrivecollective in this podcast interview.
Megan is a veterinarian who has taken it upon herself to support, promote and care for colleagues in her industry. Unfortunately, vets have a high incidence of poor mental health - including depression and anxiety.
Megan had participated in the Nutrition and Mental Health course and since then we've had a few conversations about how we can improve the mental health of the professionals in her workforce.
Listen to the full podcast for more information and hear what she has done to support the health of the people she works with in her clinic.
The three essential components for Good Mental Health
Getting back to basics!!
This is something I find myself coming back to again and again. We can get so stuck down the rabbit hole of looking for solutions to help to improve the way we feel.
However if we don't have these three basics nailed, it's really challenging to work on improving anything else.
We need sleep, rest relaxation and downtime. We need to have a good solid nutritious diet, and sometimes supplements too. And we need movement in our lives. Movement is associated with improved mental health, physical health and general overall well-being.
It's not always in your head
Recently I have had a few clients who have come to me after feeling that they haven’t made much progress in long term therapy.
They come to me to try a different approach.
They have worked through a lot of their psychological issues and may have made some progress - but still feel there is something holding them back.
I’ve heard on a number of occasions of people who have had months or years of psychological input who - once they try a different approach - find their mood finally lifts. For example, a young male who had over 12 months of psychological therapy added some omega 3 into his regime and within a couple of weeks noticed that he felt less irritable, less aggressive and calmer. (Research on omega-three versus omega 6 ratio’s would agree - omega-three supplement reduces aggression, high processed (trans fatty acid) intake is associated with increased aggression).
Neurotransmitters for Mental Health
The making of neurotransmitters - important chemicals are involved in your mental well-being - require a number of ‘raw materials’ so to speak. These raw materials, work to make neurotransmitters - chemical messages - that ‘speak’ to cells in your brain and other parts of your body (nerves, muscles, glands etc).
Once I understood this - I really began to understand how what we consume has a direct effect on how you feel. How lacking in one or more of these raw materials can contribute to depression.
(Info-graphic)