How To Stay Sane In A Crazy World

Understanding Mental Health - Page 6 of the book - 'How To Stay Sane In A Crazy World'

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Holistic Mental Health explains the relationships between the needs of our physical body, how disconnection and trauma influences our thinking, and the role of purpose in mental and emotional well-being. This course develops personal insights into current personal and community mental health issues, understanding their possible causes and exploring strategies for dealing with our own health and that of our families, friends, colleagues and workmates.

Human mental health is best understood 'holistically' as having three components: Body, Mind & Spirit - A Healthy Brain, a Clear Conscience and a 'Reason To Live'

"If I had been taught these things when I was young, I would not have had my 'mental meltdown' which resulted in my involuntary admission to a psychiatric institution" - Trevor Boulton

Maslow's Order of Human Needs - Page 8 of the book - 'How To Stay Sane In A Crazy World'

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Maslow's Order of Basic Human Needs is a motivational theory in psychology dating back more than 70 years, comprising a five tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid. 

The foundational level, Physiological Needs includes survival needs and deals with our need for food, water and sleep to survive and reproduce. If unmet, the human body struggles to function and all other needs become secondary until these needs are reasonably met.

Boundaries - Page 9 of the book - 'How To Stay Sane In A Crazy World'

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Boundaries are essential to establishing good routines and sleep patterns. It is advisable to take some time to create boundaries around the type of food we will generally eat. How often will we allow 'sometimes' foods or 'treats'? What are our preferred meal times? Which drinks will we consume? When and how often will we use 'sometimes' drinks? What are our own sleep times? Our children's sleep times and routines? Involve the whole family in these discussions so everyone is on the same page.

Boundaries are an essential part of helping us and a child feel safe and cared for. Boundaries establish guidelines which assist a child to learn how to care for and to protect themselves. When working to set boundaries, start young and begin with something small and simple. Establishing boundaries early in life and continuing to set them as children grow means that during the teenage years, we can still have input and a great relationship with our children.

The Human Body - Page 10 of the book - 'How To Stay Sane In A Crazy World'

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A Ferrari and a Human Body are both Amazing Machines

A vehicle is an amazing piece of engineering, both body and engine. Finely tuned, it can perform well. However, the human body is of THE most amazing design, balance and it is surprisingly resilient and flexible. Each cell comprises mainly water and functions harmoniously with all the others. 

The human bodily organs function in perfect harmony, seemingly automatically.  We continuously breathe to oxygenate our entire body. Our heart beats rhythmically pumping our life's blood around our body. We eat, drink and make waste. We perspire to cool our body and have goosebumps when we feel cold. Our muscles and skeleton hold our body together and upright. Our chemistry and immune system keep us well and functioning.

"I am totally amazed at the complexity and design of our human body. But the most amazing thing is that all of the genetic information and blueprints for all of our body construction, body chemistry and brain design function is encoded in the first (single) cell of what divides and divides to becomes a human embryo"

The Human Brain - Page 11 of the book - 'How To Stay Sane In A Crazy World'

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THE HUMAN BRAIN - More Powerful than 200 Million Desktop Computers

The average human brain weighs about 1.5kg (3lb) and looks like a big, grey, wrinkly sponge about the size of your two fists put together. It is comprised of 78% water. If the water was removed, 60% of dried brain weight is fat.

While we are awake, our brain generates up to 25 watts of power:  enough to illuminate a light bulb. Our brain has the thinking capacity of more than 200 million iPads. Our brain's hardware has amazing potential. The software, however, is often sadly lacking.

The brain is basically the headquarters of the human body. Electrical currents pass throughout the entire brain to perform an incredible number of tasks. It controls body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and breathing. It handles physical movement such as walking, standing or sitting. It accepts a flood of information about the world around us from our various senses - seeing, hearing, smelling, touch and taste. It thinks, dreams, reasons and experiences emotions. All this, even when we are sleeping, is coordinated, controlled and regulated by our brain.

Water Sustains Life - Page 14 of the book - 'How To Stay Sane In A Crazy World'

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Water is stored all over us, in our brain and our body, in our liver, kidneys, stomach, bladder, spinal fluids: everywhere! However, more than half is actually inside our cells. As a car engine must have water to function, so every single cell in the human body is dependent on water. Humans can only survive a few days without water.

The body needs water to transport water-soluble nutrients to organs in the body, to transport toxins and waste products out of the body via urine, and to send electrical messages between cells. For example, water allows organs to function, muscles to contract and relax, and for eyes to focus on images. Water also controls our body temperature, it is necessary to digest food and drink, to lubricate our joints and to keep our tissues healthy and pliable.

Only 1% dehydration is a key factor in the cause of headaches, loss of focus, fatigue and poor mood. Thirst is a poor, early sign of dehydration. By the time we feel thirsty, we may already be dehydrated and thirst can be quenched before the necessary body fluids have been replaced. Even slight dehydration impacts brain function, mood and energy; and can produce symptoms of memory loss, mental confusion and dissociation.

Air-conditioning, coffee, alcohol, caffeinated drinks, cigarettes and energy stimulating foods all dehydrate our bodies. Blood loss, vomiting and diarrhea, fever, shock, burns, hypothermia, excessive use of drugs and stimulants, over-consumption of alcohol, infectious disease, malnutrition and diabetes can also cause dehydration. Dehydration can lead to weight gain, while hydration is essential to weight loss.

Fuel Quality Impacts Performance - Page 16 of the book - 'How To Stay Sane In A Crazy World'

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A car’s performance is optimal with the right fuel. Regardless of how good the car looks or its engine size, it won't work without the right fuel. If you were to put diesel in a petrol car, the engine would be in need of a full overhaul.

Nutrition

Our brain is a mere 2% of our body weight, but it uses 20% of our energy resources. When our stomach sends a hunger message to our brain, our stomach isn’t interested in nutrition. Its interest is in satisfying the hunger message. Performance is not high on its agenda. Yet, nutrition is fundamental to good energy supply, brain function, health and well-being. Nutrition is often overlooked when people have mental health concerns. Yet, the first signs of malnutrition are generally psychological.

Food is necessary to life. Our body can only survive for about 6 weeks without it. Yet, rather than performance, we find a variety of reasons to eat, besides indulging our appetite. We do eat when we are hungry, but we also eat for taste, for enjoyment and for energy. We eat at social occasions and celebrations. We eat when we are tired, thirsty, bored, for comfort, and the list goes on. Rarely does our brain decide what we require for performance. Rather, our nose and tongue generally dictate the type of food we eat.

The right nutrients maximise our potential, as nutrition directly affects IQ, learning, concentration, sleep and behaviour. Poor food choices or a lack of food can cause us to become sluggish, sad, irritable or anxious to mention just a few symptoms.

Sleep Is Brain Maintenance - Page 20 of the book - 'How To Stay Sane In A Crazy World

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Sleep impacts our health in every area but researchers have recently found sleep's greatest benefit to be physical: cleansing. Our body has a great system for flushing out waste, the lymphatic system, but it does not extend to our brain. As the brain tightly regulates everything, it is kept highly secure behind the blood-brain barrier to avoid contamination, but it does have waste to get rid of.

The brain has its own disposal system, the Glymphatic System which pumps cerebral spinal fluid, CSF, through brain tissue to remove waste. The waste is then flushed into our circulatory system, then into our lymphatic system where it is flushed out of our body with all other waste. The Glymphatic System requires a lot of energy and seems to be about 10 times more active during sleep. This is why our brain uses as much energy when we are asleep as it does when we are awake. Brain cells also shrink up to 60% during sleep so CSF can wash through faster. Waste build up has links to serious brain diseases like Alzheimer's. If we don’t sleep every night, our brain can't cleanse itself of toxins properly.

Missing sleep can interfere with attention, awareness, ability to process information, reasoning and problem solving skills. When tired we are more easily distracted, less able to implement new strategies, less able to confront new situations, far more reliant on habit (doing what we have always done) and less able to control our mood and performance. When tired, emotional capacity is diminished which may result in an inability to handle stress, less control of our moods and performance, being easily upset over trivial things, moodiness or mood swings, increased depressive feelings and burnout, decreased empathy, being more likely to pick a fight, relationship troubles, agitation, decreased libido, irritability or aggression, anxiety, sadness, slumps in attention, thinking and focus, sluggish behaviour, hunger, zoning in and out, and mood swings.

Physiological Performance Dashboard - Page 25 of the book - 'How To Stay Sane In A Crazy World'

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These 3 simple feedback loops empower us to manage our health, both physically and mentally. This is the best way to spot changes that could eventually be detrimental to our mental health.

This is our early warning system where a change in sleep patterns could indicate a lack of safety or an issue that could be shameful.

A change in bowel habits or hydration indicates an impending change in moods and behaviour. Small adjustment here can ensure  "A Healthy Brain"

Safety and Security - Page 28 of the book - 'How To Stay Sane In A Crazy World'

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Family and Community Connections

Whilst shelter is essential to safety, in this book, we are  predominantly concerned with feeling safe.  Safety Needs include our natural desire for our world to be ordered, predictable and within our control. 

Today, feeling safe would include feeling safe and secure with the people within our home, at school and in the workplace, as well as feeling secure in our job, finances and even our health.

"When we feel unsafe, we are continually on edge. Our brain chemistry is swamped with stress hormones to the point where we cannot think, learn or socialize normally. Safety feelings can be negatively impacted by marriage problems, workplace insecurity and financial worries. If these issues are not resolved we cannot move up the Maslow scale to a state of well-being."