The vital role of mindset for good mental health

Our mental health and attitude are the keys for us being able to live a successful and happy life. If we don’t look after our mental health, everything else goes by the wayside. Mental illness is a widespread issue in Australia, affecting approximately one in five adults aged 16 to 85 each year.

According to Australia’s Black Dog Institute, the most common conditions include anxiety (affecting around 14 per cent of the population), depression (6 per cent) and substance use disorders (5 per cent). These disorders often overlap. For instance, someone experiencing anxiety may also develop depression, or a person struggling with depression might turn to alcohol or drugs as a way to cope. Of those experiencing mental illness in any given year, around 11.5 per cent have a single disorder, while 8.5 per cent face two or more. Over the course of a lifetime, nearly half of Australians will experience some form of mental illness.

Suicide remains a critical concern, with at least nine Australians losing their lives to suicide daily and around 30 more making an attempt. It is the leading cause of death for individuals aged 25 to 44 and the second leading cause for those aged 15 to 24 —making it a more significant threat than skin cancer.

Despite the prevalence of mental health disorders, access to treatment remains a significant challenge. The Black Dog Institute also highlights that more than half of those affected do not seek professional help, often due to difficulties in early detection and diagnosis. The rate of people receiving treatment for mental illness is only half that of those with physical health conditions, highlighting a critical gap in mental health care and support.

Our mental health is made up of our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. It can have a positive or negative effect on our overall mindset, and how we think, feel and act. When we have good mental health, we wake up each morning looking forward to the day ahead and have joy for life. But the opposite is also true —when we have ill mental health, just the very thought of having to leave your bedroom could have you shaking with anxiety.

Taking small steps to a more positive mindset 

A client of mine hadn’t left her home for three weeks and could barely leave her bedroom due to paralysing depression. When we connected, she told me her mind was like a deep dark cave and she was stuck at the very depths of despair, not knowing how to climb out. She had not even been able to clean the house in all that time. At the time, I had only just got into coaching and was only really starting to understand the full impact that depression can have on people and those around them.

A mutual friend had introduced this client to our Play for Your Life cards and tools, and I received a very uplifting email from her a week later. On the back of the tool card for time the action step is, ‘Take one minute to set an intention for what you want the next hour to look like for you’. This client told me that card really resonated with her. The very first thing she did was to vacuum the house. When she finished, she read the card again and did the laundry; when she read the card again, she did the dishes. She lived her life one hour at a time but at that time of her life that was all she had the capacity to focus on. She says she now keeps that one card with her at all times and, when she gets stuck, she reads that one line.

Our mental health and attitude set our sails for the day ahead and have a major impact on the way we experience our life. The good news for most of us is we can choose the attitude that we are going to wake up with each day. The term ‘mental health’ has gained a negative connotation, so I prefer using the word ‘mindset’ when looking at improving how we think, feel and act. Thinking about your mindset also helps you to understand how you can change a negative into a positive.

Think about a habit or limiting belief that may be holding you back, or affecting part of your life or relationships. Maybe you can think of a few; maybe your list is as long as your shopping list, which is where I was many moons ago. The important thing to understand is that if that habit or belief is causing you pain and you want to change, then it is possible. All I want you to do is choose a task or something that you may not be looking forward to today. Instead of thinking, I have to do this today, change your mindset to, I get to do this today.

In Australia, most of us are relatively privileged, and get to do things some people could only dream of. For example, say you’re thinking, I don’t want to go shopping today —imagine how many people in the world can only dream of arriving at a place where food lines the shelves and they can choose anything they want! It would be like arriving at Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory!

You can also look at this from a work perspective. Perhaps you don’t want to pitch for that new client or deal with that annoying staff member. Everything you have done and achieved throughout your life has led you to being in this exact position right now in your life. Think about the blood, sweat and tears to get you to where you are —only for you to now say, ‘I don’t want to’.

Change your perspective because you have the ability to do so. Tell yourself, ‘I get to shop and put food on the table’, ‘I get to pitch to a new client and show them what I’m capable of’, ‘I get to work with so many different people with unique experiences and perspectives’.

Attitude really is a choice, and that choice is yours. The more charged your battery, the better your mental health and attitude will become.

Written by Tim Jack Adams. Have you read?
World’s Best Countries To Visit In Your Lifetime.
World’s Best Countries For Adventure Tourism.
Best Countries To Do Business For Non-European Investors.