ONE LIFE BLOG

Mind Food Helen Duyvestyn Mind Food Helen Duyvestyn

How can we do it better?

Our suicide rates continue to climb. Psychiatric hospitals are bursting at the seams, mental health hospitals are understaffed and staff are overwhelmed. It’s difficult unless you are in the most urgent need of care to get psychiatric help.

It’s all a little depressing (no pun intended). So what’s so wrong with what we are doing? And how do we do it better?

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Health and Well-being Helen Duyvestyn Health and Well-being Helen Duyvestyn

Food as 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)

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Health and Well-being Helen Duyvestyn Health and Well-being Helen Duyvestyn

Self-Care 100 Ways

I recently gave myself a little Instagram challenge - “100 ways in 100 days of Self-Care”. I set myself the task of really getting into ‘What is Self-Care?’ Because self-care is often thought of a bubble-bath, a massage or a date night - fantastic short term relaxation or time out.

However, sometimes self-care is a big plate of vegetables and a good hard walk.

The challenge in our life is

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Health and Well-being Helen Duyvestyn Health and Well-being Helen Duyvestyn

Curiosity for Health Sake

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW). Although we may not suffer from mental illness directly - we all have days and times in our life where we are in excellent mental health and well-being and times that - well - we are not. Mental health is on a continuum - at the one side there is mental illness - and at the other side - mental well-being. There is an awful lot of goings on in between.

Sometimes the ‘not so good’ end of the scale can last for a significant amount of time. And although we may not be officially diagnosed as being depressed or anxious - we can get into a bit of a rut - and struggle to find our way out. This may be due to

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Health and Well-being Helen Duyvestyn Health and Well-being Helen Duyvestyn

The case of the Flying Pineapple

Recently I saw a client who was having nightmares. They were a reflection of an event that happened in her past as a child. A recent event had the memories rise to the surface, resulting in reoccurring nightmares.

I gave her one of my favourite tips for dealing with them.

A few weeks later she returned.

'How are the nightmares?' I asked.

'Gone' she said. 'Thanks to a flying pineapple'.

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