My learning about the words ‘mental health’?

When you hear the words ‘mental health’, what springs to mind?  When I started my career in marketing those words were very rarely mentioned, except in mental hospitals or TV dramas. 

Over the recent years the national focus on mental health has accelerated on a big scale with the evolution of medication and technology, more media stories about mental health, the national trauma with the COVID pandemic and the current strikes.

The catalyst for my learning was very specific: in July 2017 I was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. 

I was running my own business and was cycling in London to go to a meeting to pitch to Google for a big project.  Suddenly, I fell off my bike.  I had been cycling for over 20 years in London and never had that problem.  Thankfully, I was helped to the side of the road by drivers and pedestrians.  I went to hospital for a 5 minute scan on my shoulder and I was told I was ok, so I went back to work.

However, my fall kick started headaches.  I ignored my headaches because I ‘had to’ put my work, my young family and my busy diary first.  It took another 3 weeks for me to seek help when I had severe headaches and a loss of memory.  This time I went to Winchester Hospital’s A&E.  I expected to have a ‘normal’ 5 minutes CT scan and then an ‘all clear’ report.  This time it was different.  No one came to see us until 40 mins later, when 3 nurses and 1 junior doctor asked us to follow them to an empty ward.  They sat down around my mother and the junior doctor told me that they had found a tumour on my left temporal lobe of my brain.   I had to stay in the hospital for more CT and MRI scans, and for me to find the relevant medical for my next steps.  Whilst I was in the hospital, I discovered the full picture about my feelings and why I had fallen off my bike – I had a seizure.  This was due to a tumour: 4.7cm, malignant, stage 4 and mutated glioblastoma.

Fast forwarding 5 years after neuro-surgery, radiotherapy and chemo, I am extremely grateful to be in remission.  That journey is another story but I want to share this side to explain why I now work as a mental health practitioner and learning about mental health.  

I learned that minds are unique.  They are built by our own nature and nurture experiences, including through the major traumas with brain cancer.  Other factors include our genetics, background, social experience, cultural environment and work experiences.

The phrase ‘mental health’ has come to the fore in recent years, but how well do we understand its meaning?  Those who misconstrue the true meaning of the words ‘mental health’ run the risk of creating stigmas, misunderstandings and unhelpful thoughts and behaviours.

One of the MMS goals is to normalise the understanding of the words associated with mental health. 

Try this simple task: answer the question: ‘Are the words ‘mental health’ a 1) positive statement, 2) neutral statement or 3) negative statement?’

The website https://www.mentalhealth.gov/ offers a clear definition:

“Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act”. 

This is a “neutral” statement; despite any feelings this might provoke!  Once we understand these words, we can acknowledge the meaning of the other phrases: ‘Positive’ means ‘healthy’, and ‘negative’ means ‘ill’.   Normalising the phrase ‘mental health’ is one of the first steps forward to finding suitable approaches to self-care.   I learned how my mind could interrupt and also help my wellbeing.  I had to understand and acknowledge that my physical cancer experience also had an impact on my mental health.  The impact was not a one off but on a continual basis – minute by minute – both directly and indirectly.  I also had to focus on the positive connection between brain cancer and mental health! 

MMS focuses on ways to find the positive connection and supports companies to do this.

Wishing you a good rest of your day.