What does true mental wellbeing look like?

TRU stands for The Real YoU, and that’s what we’re all about, because mental health is not just about survival, or the absence of mental illness; it’s about connecting with who you really are, and living a rich, full life.

That may seem a little ambitious for those who are living with mental illness, or have huge obstacles to overcome, but trust me when I say that it is not only possible, it is the birth right of every single person.

Let’s talk about mental health

Once a taboo subject, people are slowly becoming more comfortable with discussing the topic of mental health. However, much like Alanis Morisette’s 1996 classic ‘Ironic’, there is often a disconnect between the language being used, and what people actually mean.

Posts about ‘mental health’ pop up often across social media platforms, but what they’re really talking about is mental illness. With as many as 1 in 6 of the UK population suffering from some form of mental illness in their lifetime (from anxiety and stress, to more serious conditions like BPD, OCD, and PTSD), it’s clear that this is a subject that needs to be discussed openly. And the recent pandemic, alongside the ongoing repercussions from it, are only exacerbating the issue. 

There is no denying that mental illness needs to be dragged from the shadows and confronted. However, when we talk about ‘mental health’, we should have a more ambitious goal in mind than simply living without mental illness. 

Having a healthy mind

Let’s stop and think about physical health for a moment. When we think about enjoying peak physical health and fitness, we don’t simply imagine feeling ‘not ill’. Feeling physically healthy is to feel full of energy, and powerful, and strong. It’s about feeling as though your body is able to handle and overcome whatever challenges it might face.

Mental health is the same. Enjoying peak mental health is about enjoying a rich and full experience of life. It’s about feeling you can take on any challenge, and embrace every facet of the human experience. It’s about having the resilience to meet and overcome the stresses and challenges that life will inevitably throw at you. 

True mental health is about living excellently. 

Does that mean you can’t ever experience negative emotions?

Absolutely not. If we look at physical health again, a healthy body has mechanisms built in that are important to help it stay healthy. Our senses are there to help us navigate the physical world. When you open a carton of milk that has gone off, you know not to drink it by the smell. We are programmed to recognise certain flavours as potentially dangerous. If you splash boiling water on your skin, you instantly feel it, and instinctively take steps to protect yourself. If one of our senses wasn’t working properly, we would be more susceptible to illness or injury. 

Likewise, it’s necessary to feel the full range of emotions in order to be able to navigate the world around us in a healthy way. Negative emotions like anger and sadness are there to move us forward. Just as you would react to the hot water, it’s important to recognise what these emotions are signalling, and respond accordingly. But, just like you wouldn’t hold your hand in the water for a prolonged period of time, it’s important not to hold those negative emotions in our minds for too long. So feel them, examine them, respond to them, and then let go. 

How do I achieve this level of mental health?

To some people, living this type of life may seem out of reach, but it’s not. Every single one of us has the capacity to live a life of excellence. 

It’s true that some people will have more to overcome than others in order to achieve their full potential, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

The minute we accept that it is both our right and our responsibility to live our lives fully, to embrace everything it means to be ourselves, a whole world of new possibilities opens up to us, and we become capable of making the world better; not only for ourselves, but for those around us.