10/10/2023
- International Day of Mental Health 10.10-
At age of 21, I worked as an Occupational Therapist in a Mental Health acute unit along with a team of psychiatrists, social workers, physiotherapists, phycologists and nurses.
I got the experience of how important it is to take care of our MENTAL HEALTH, and the consequences in the long run of STRESS among other factors.
I listened to many stories of how a mental health diagnoses affected them in their daily life. It was definitely an eye opening for my professional career and personal path.
Since then, I have been wanting to make an impact at the PREVENTION level. I saw successful and young professionals from lawyers and accountants to actors and sales representatives with a mental health diagnosis and therefore a chronic condition for the rest of their lives. No-one is safe to develop a mental health illness, prevention is KEY.
As I dived deeper into the stories of my users, I found out that some have been exposed for a long period of time to stress, that in some cases started first in anxiety, then to severe depression or bipolar disorder (as an example, it is not that all stress can develop in that way). I learnt the importance of giving the value of each story and put it into its context and most importantly, it gave me the inspiration to work directly at workplaces in order to prevent those scenarios.
Something in my mind clicked:
"How can I make an impact at the prevention level by offering programs and strategies that people can apply before they develop a mental health condition?
Today for the International Day of Mental Health you can start to try these three simple strategies at work that will help you to manage stress.
1. Take active and often break
2. Go for a short walk at lunch break
3. If overwhelmed, close your eyes, place your right hand on your belly and take three conscious breaths, in the nose, out the mouth.
Share with someone that might need to read it.
From my heart,
Vico
