Our mental health system is screwed.
YBA team is amazed at how well our clients have managed COVID. Our YBA team, has stayed the course. Those in the YBA team with children at home whom they have cared for while working are my unique hero’s – in my mind, they have redefined the term “grace under pressure”.
All the pressure and difficulties everyone has faced and the stress it caused doesn’t necessarily go away once a task, a job or a day is finished. It can build up, resulting in it affecting your decisions, work, output and health.
Stress can be cumulative and build up in your body.
Let’s compare that to what else can build up in your body.
Metals and minerals can build up in your body. Some of them are so important that we can’t live without them. Each one plays a role in hundreds of body functions. It may take just a very small quantity of mineral. Having too much, or too little can upset a delicate balance in the body (something like stress).
Calcium builds bones and teeth; chromium helps maintain normal blood sugar levels and allows cells to draw energy from blood sugar. Copper assists with metabolizing fuel, making red blood cells, regulating neurotransmitters, and mopping up free radicals – and many more, you get the picture.
Some minerals building in the body can be toxic and cause harmful effects.
We know a lot about the harmful ones, such as asbestos, silica mercury and lead. The most common diseases caused by toxic minerals are cancer and neurological disorders
Ongoing, chronic stress, however, can cause or exacerbate many serious health problems, including Mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and personality disorders. Cardiovascular disease, including heart disease, high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms, heart attacks, and stroke.
That’s not pretty.
To live a productive life, the pressures of business, even the stress, allow you to produce something of value. But even positive outputs are still outputs, and they drain your energy accordingly.
See your body as a bucket when it comes to stress, you drain it with stress and pressure, but you must also fill it.
In your day-to-day life, some things fill your bucket up. These are inputs like sleep, nutrition, meditation, stretching, laughter, and other forms of recovery. These are short-term fixes. Planning and having holidays and needed lifestyle adjustments are also essential longer term fixes, as well consulting your doctor if things feel really bad.
The forces that drain your bucket aren’t all negative, of course. For our productive life, it can be essential to have things flowing out of the bucket. Working hard can allows you to produce something of value. But even positive outputs are still outputs, and they drain your energy accordingly.
