Hi everyone. I’m really struggling and honestly, even though it’s past 10PM, I haven’t even completely decided on a topic for my letter O post in the #AtoZChallenge. I did a quick Google search for personal growth topics and the only one with an O I found, didn’t even have an O as its main first letter. It was “Overcoming fear and anxiety”. Then I realized that “obstacle” starts with an O so if we’re rebranding it as “Overcoming obstacles to mental health”, the main word does start with an O. Let’s go!
The topic of overcoming negative emotions and moods that are obstacles to mental health, ties in with many other general self-help topics. After all, many things that help people overcome mild to moderate symptoms of anxiety and depression, also help people feel better overall. These things include:
- Mindfulness: being aware of your thoughts, feelings and actions without judgment.
- Gratitude: focusing on the things you do have rather than the things you don’t.
- Physical activity, including something as simple as a walk, but also running and other more intense exercise.
- Healthy and balanced eating habits (yes, that includes the occasional treat!).
- Making sure you get enough proper quality sleep.
- Spiritual or religious practices, such as prayer, spells or meditation.
- Contributing to your community.
- Distracting yourself by engaging in a hobby, such as reading or crafts.
More specific practices that could help according to some are sitting with feelings, putting your problems into perspective by thinking that it could be worse, and forcing yourself to smile. Yes, I seriously got these from a handout in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a therapy approach applied to an increasing number of mental health issues. You’d be right if you thought I don’t think highly of these ideas. That is, I either focused on the wrong aspect of the teaching and the bigger picture was different, or these people are indeed horribly invalidating.
One thing that I did get from DBT that might make a tiny little bit of sense, is opposite acting (hey, another O). This means that you do the opposite of the immediate impulse your feelings and thoughts trigger. For example, if you are feeling depressed and your impulse is to lie in bed and isolate, DBT instructs you to actually go out and meet people. This is probably where the forcing yourself to smile comes in. Facing your fears is also a way of acting opposite to the emotion and this is, when done gradually, actually effective in treating mild to moderate anxiety.
A Multitude of Musings 
Overcoming negative emotions is for so many of us easier said then done it takes time and patience and some effort to do so, we all fake a smile and say we are doing fine while hearing our own negative self talk in our heads.
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Agree. And for me, that’s one reason I don’t like the idea of forcing yourself to smile. It is one thing to wallow in self-pity, but that doesn’t mean the other extreme of denying your actual feelings is helpful.
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I have told myself that I will not do force a smile but end up doing it anyway
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Yeah, me too.
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neutralizing barriers while building strengths help them fade naturally
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Thanks. That’s an interesting take on this topic.
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You’re welcome, and thank you.
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This can definitely be a challenge.
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Inddeed.
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I’ve tried that opposite thinking when I was feeling particularly blue. It does work, but it’s not a solution, just a bandaid.
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Agree. I mean, pushing through your feelings may help you create space to work on solutions, but that doesn’t mean faking it is the solution.
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Good post on overcoming obstacles to mental health, Astrid! I do a lot of these including distraction techniques, trying to eat a balanced diet, exercise, and mindfulness. X
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Me too. Thanks so much for commenting.
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I don’t see that these could help if the cause of depression is real things that are happening in your life. Sometimes you have to work on the problem.
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Agree. Sometimes life just plain sucks and it’s rather illogical to not be depressed.
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My main go to is gratitude lists. I too don’t agree with the forced smile route. It is just a mask and avoids the problem. A good O post!
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Thank you. Yes, I love gratitude lists too.
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You’re welcome.
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