Ironically, when we’re feeling low or overwhelmed with life, curling up on the sofa with Netflix and a glass of wine seems so much more appealing than lacing up our runners, and getting moving, yet this is exactly the solution that is likely to help us beat the blues.
The food we put in our mouths really does form the basis of how well our body functions and ultimately drives our overall health and there is now a growing interest in the impact of nutrition on mental health and more research being done in this area.
For much of our history we lived in connection with nature. It is only really in more recent years that we have become disconnected from the natural world. We are spending less and less time in our natural habitat and more and more time in man-made concrete (or weatherboard!) boxes, with artificial lights, heat and air. The evidence tells us this detachment from nature could be impacting our mental health.
The nights have definitely been drawing in as winter approaches. Whilst there’s lots of good things about this time of year, for some the change in seasons can trigger or exacerbate mental health issues, but there are things you can do to help beat the winter blues.
In our infinite search for the perfect life we rarely stop to appreciate what we already have, yet numerous studies have shown that those who count their blessings tend to be happier and suffer less from depression and mental health issues.
Stress has been dubbed the health epidemic of the 21st century by the World Health Organisation. Stress can have a significant impact on our mental health and those suffering with mental health issues are often more susceptible to an overactive stress response and are likely to have lower resilience to be able to deal with stress.