As a society, our mental health has been on a steady decline for decades. Stress is at an all time high. Many of you are working yourselves to the bone, scraping to get by. And as a result, levels of depression and anxiety are at near-epidemic proportions.
While this is a far cry from a good thing, I should note that it’s not like we are standing here doing nothing. In fact, over the last decade we have seen many amazing treatments have an incredible impact on mental health. So, without further ado — today we’ll explore six natural and technology-backed to help you with your mental health.
1. Natural Supplements
For thousands of years, herbs and spices owned a place in the medical practices of every civilization across the globe. And with application in every disease under the sun, it should be obvious why. Yet, as we moved into the 21st century, things started to change. We moved towards laboratory-based treatment methods — and these traditional practices fell by the wayside.
Now, I’m not here to knock the advances we have made in the medical space over the last 50 years. It would be ridiculous to do so. But I do think that they should be used with those natural treatments that have lasted over a millennia. In fact, research has shown that many of these ancient compounds can have huge implications for mental health. Many even help treat depression and anxiety.
Some of the most effective natural supplements for mental health include:
• Omega 3 Fatty Acids
• Turmeric
• St John’s Wort
2. Probiotics
Keeping with the ‘natural supplement’ theme, let’s move onto probiotics. Did you know your stomach and digestive tract are overflowing with living bacteria? Well they are — but don’t panic — these guys are meant to be there.
They are known as your microbiota. These little guys help you digest food, fight off any nasty invaders that enter your digestive system, and even make chemicals that help your brain function. Yet, because of how poor the western diet is, it is common for your gut to become overrun with bad bacteria. This bacteria inhibits your microbiotas ability to function — which impairs mental health. This is exactly where probiotics come into play.
Probiotics are a new supplement that provide a powerful dose of living, healthy, bacteria straight into your digestive system. These good bacteria populate your gut, improving the health of your microbiota. As a result, probiotics have a massive impact on every component of mental health.
3. Meditation
ost people hear the word meditation and their mind jumps to hippies and religious zealots. I mean, there is nothing for me here, right? Wrong…
Like natural supplements, there is a good reason why meditation has lasted more than a millennia. Because it reduces stress, improves emotional control, and enhances mental health. In fact, meditation increases self-esteem and happiness, helping treat depression and anxiety in the process.
4. Light Therapy
For the next three points, I am going to be moving into the wonderful world of technology. And the first cab off the rank is light therapy.
Have you ever wondered why you feel so good when you are outside, with the sun shining on your face? Well, it comes down to sunlight. See, when sunlight makes contact with your body, it interacts with your hormonal and nervous systems. As a result, it increases the secretion of “feel good” hormones throughout your body. It is for this reason that getting more sunlight makes you feel better, while helping fight mental illness.
Now, the kicker here is the sun only comes out during the day, when most of us are at work inside… Enter light therapy.
Light therapy is a simple treatment that gets you sitting (or standing) next to a ‘light therapy box’ for around an hour per day (I set mine up at work). The cool thing here is that this box produces light that is exactly the same as sunlight. And like sunlight, it can improve mental health in a big way.
5. TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation)
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS for short) is a mental health treatment that stimulates your brain using magnetic fields. I know — it sounds like something out of a science fiction movie — but that doesn’t mean it’s not real. The way TMS works is not all that complicated or scary.
During a TMS session, they place a magnetic pad on your forehead. This pad sends a magnetic pulse into your brain, stimulating your brain cells. If the pad is placed in the right spot (which it should be), it stimulates those cells that help you control your emotions. These brain cells are then ‘activated’, improving mood and wellbeing. TMS has been used to treat heaps of mental illnesses, including depression and anxiety.
6. ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy)
Last but not least we have electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Unlike some of the other technology-based treatments on our list, this one has been around for quite a while. Although it has only been used for depression and anxiety over the last decade or so. Originally, ECT was used for treating severe psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. However, it has become a popular way to treat even the nastiest cases of depression and anxiety. Now, the thing you need know about ECT is that it is more hardcore than some other depression treatments. This is because ECT is undertaken by a doctor, in an operating theatre, and under general anesthesia.
All of which comes down to the fact that ECT involves an electric shock being shot straight into your brain. This shock causes a small seizure, lasting about a minute. As crazy as this may sound, this seizure resets your brain, restoring its function back to normal — thus improving your mental health.
Take Home Message
Despite mental health issues being on a steady rise, it’s not all doom and gloom. In fact, you can take a number of measures to boost your mental health, keeping depression and anxiety at bay in the process!
