Mental Health Training
Debunking the myths
Myths about Mental Health Training
As a mindset trainer, I work with people on building a strong mental health. There is so much information out on the internet on how to be positive and more grateful and happier. However, for so many people this is very overwhelming and confusing. Mental health training is not about being positive all the time. It is not about just thinking happier thoughts and your life will automatically be happier. Mental health training is about finding the cause for what is happening and working on changing the thoughts behind it.
Mental health training is about working on why you are choosing to think the way you are and deciding what it is you really want. The mind is the most powerful tool we have and most of us don’t understand its true power. Our minds can be conditioned and sculptured to think in any way and believe almost anything. If you have never heard of the experiment Pavlov’s Dog, read it here and begin to understand the power of mental training.
Myth #1
Mental Health Training is a quick fix. Unfortunately, many clients who come to me are after a quick, short-term fix but mindset training doesn’t work that way. There are things you can learn to help reduce anxiety in the moment, but if you are after a permanent change then mindset training is a practice. Many of our negative thoughts are on autopilot and have been there for years so expecting to change these thoughts overnight rarely happens. There will be some rapid bursts of improvement here and there, but mental training is no different from physical training: time spent consistently over the long term will yield best results.
The mind just wants to be right, efficient and fast and its ultimate goal is to protect us. To be right – the mind focuses on finding all the evidence that what you choose to focus on is right. To be efficient – the mind wants to use as little energy as possible so always falls back to what it already knows – whether this serves us or not. To be fast – the mind relies on the neural pathways it creates and these often become default thoughts.
Myth #2
Working on training my mind takes too much time. Mindset training does not have to take a lot of time, especially when you have easy techniques and strategies in place. Developing a strong and healthy mindset is about reprogramming any thoughts that no longer serve you. When you understand WHY you are choosing to think a certain way and you decide that you no longer want this – spending a few minutes a day is often all it takes.
Myth #3
If I’m working on my mind, there must be something wrong with me. Mental health training is about understanding your thoughts – which you control – and finding ways to make these thoughts work for you, not against. Everyone should work on their mind but many of us only work on our mindset when we hit rock bottom. Think of mental health training as finally opening up the user manual for your brain and reading all the instructions. We often believe we know what we are doing but if we just read the manual first, we wouldn’t waste so much time guessing what our next move is.
Myth #4
I’m too old to change my ways. This one always makes me laugh. Every day you wake up to thoughts. Every day you make decisions about your life – decisions are just thoughts you control. Every day you go to bed with more thoughts. If you want to understand your thoughts on a deeper level and make changes to your thinking, there is never a better time than today. Age is irrelevant!!
Myth #5
Mindset Training is about thinking positively all the time. This is definitely not true and not realistic. Understanding and accepting negative emotions is just as vital to strong mental health as positive emotions. We have no control over what life will throw our way and there is no way of protecting us from sadness or disappointment. Mental health training teaches the skills to work through these times more easily and accept each and every emotion. Most of us want to think more positively and mental training does this but not at the expense of denying negative emotions.
Love
Linking up with Kylie for #IBOT and Leanne @ DeepFriedFruit
I think number five is what keeps many of us caught in our challenges. This expectation that “happy and well” people stay positive all the time vs the reality that no matter what you do there will be ups and downs and that is ok.
And that is a common misconception – that we are meant to be happy all the time. We cannot experience happiness without understanding what sadness is all about. The two emotions actually compliment each other.
Good post. There’s a lot more to it than people think, and it’s okay to sit with a negative feeling and examine it. #IBOT
Absolutely. If we try to block negative emotions without understanding where it is coming from – it only manifests in other ways.
You are rocking this helping others see what you now know. This is a great post. Thank you Natalie! Denyse x
Ahhh thanks Denyse. I practise what I preach which makes life just so wonderful.
This is such a great post. I especially love number 5 – mental health training for me isn’t about eternal happiness, it’s about mental agility and how to stay strong when times are tough. Training the mind is just as important as training the body – it keeps me healthy!
Yes yes and more yeses… So many people think it is about happiness but when you think about it logically, eternal happiness is not possible. I work on my mind and body every single day. Some days are harder than others but overall – I can handle anything that happens to come my way.
I love the study of positive psychology.
Number 5 is very true. “Sensory acuity” Being able to work around the challenges rather than be completely stopped by them. When faced with a challenge the ability to stop, take stock, adjust and move forward. Great post Natalie
I love this. Working around challenges allows us to keep moving in a good direction. This is why it is so essential to work on ourselves all the time.
Great post Natalie. I agree with all of these points, particularly the part about not waiting to reach breaking point before taking care of your mental health. Also, understanding that strong mental health is not about needing to be positive and happy all of the time, that it’s ok to have worries and negative thoughts sometimes, it’s about how you deal with those challenges.
I have found that is the BIGGEST misconception about working on mental health – being positive all the time. When I teach – I always bring up my angry moments or annoyed moments or disappointed moments so my students understand it is so normal. I teach them how to handle these moments better so they don’t end up on the floor incapable of moving.
I find it difficult to speak about mindset stuff when it comes to mental health because I’ve been in a place where I couldn’t have “mindset-ed” it out if I’ve tried. But then, I live my life in a way to maintain and manages my mental health through mindset. So, short version (which I’ve never been great at!) thank you for sharing this. It gives me some clarity and I’m sure it will for others too.
And that is absolutely OK. I’ve been in a place where my mind was so clouded, I required medication to help me just think. I was struggling with depression and needed to just learn to breathe every day. Mindset training is when you are capable of breathing on your own and want to improve it – and start to make a difference in your life while you can. Thanks for your beautiful honesty
Another great & thought provoking post. I think there’s too much emphasis placed on positivity all the time and being happy all the time. Life is about textures and shades. I think we can all benefit from indset practice – I know I most certainly can…and not just when the overwhelm gets too much. #teamLovinLife
I like to look at mental health like physical health. We bang on about keeping fit and healthy – BUT such an important part of the healthy is our mental health.
They do say “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” and I believe this is not true. Many people are in the mindset that they can’t change their thoughts. I have slowly been working on improving mine and I’m definitely work in progress. Thanks for this post Natalie. #TeamLovinLife
I totally agree with you Kathy. As humans, we are constantly evolving and through this, we change – if we choose to change. Thoughts are a choice and you decide what you want to believe and what you don’t If your beliefs are not making you happy – then change what you think. It takes time but so does anything worth changing.
Such an appropriate topic for me having been doing Mindful in May this month and learning so much about training our minds through mindfulness and meditation. All your points above are spot on but No. 5 in particular because it is impossible to feel positive ALL the time. It’s about training our brain to accept what is and to learn resilience. It’s also very much about self compassion and kindness to ourselves. Then of course there is all the scientific stuff I’ve been learning about like neuroplasticity (the brains capacity to constantly remodel itself) which is very encouraging and positive. I could go on and on when it comes to this topic! 🙂 #TeamLovinLife
I am in the middle of a neuroplasticity course and I love it. I am a science buff and love evidence behind what I teach.