World Mental Health Day: Expert advice on how to find light in dark times

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On World Mental Health Day, we complile the best expert advice to help find light in the dark. Photo / Getty Images
October 10 is World Mental Health Day, so we have collected some of the best expert advice, real-life experiences and top tips from our Premium Lifestyle writers. Read on for ways to improve your own mental health or support loved ones going through tough times.
These simple and proven strategies will help you manage stress and find meaning.
Since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a cultural shift in the way we talk about mental health. It’s as if the years of isolation and uncertainty helped us understand how vital our emotional needs were to our overall wellbeing.
Now that we’re paying more attention to our inner lives, it’s also essential that we take action. Fortunately, there are a number of things that everyone can do to nourish their mental health and find moments of joy.
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In the pursuit of happiness, Sarah Pollok returns to university to find out what science says about how to live a more joyful life.
What makes us happy? It’s a question we dedicate our most valuable resources – time, money and mental energy – to answering. Judging from the sheer number of products and services that promise happiness, from the latest Apple gadgets to luxury gym memberships, it’s easy to assume happiness is determined by our lifestyle and what we have.
Research, however, says otherwise.
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A meteorologist stepped away from a live broadcast when he noticed familiar feelings of panic start to arise. We can all learn from how he and his colleagues handled it.
A meteorologist in Australia was delivering a weather report on live television when he started having a panic attack.
Nate Byrne, the news presenter, later explained to BBC News he was heading to the studio’s “weather wall” when he realised he was suddenly out of breath.
“The specific position – in front of the wall – is a trigger for me,” he said. “My body starts tingling. I start sweating. Just everything in my body is screaming: Run. Go. Get out.”
Because he had dealt with on-air panic attacks before, he and his colleagues knew what to do. Byrne explained what was happening to viewers, then quickly tossed to the anchor of the show while he went off camera to recover.
How can you help if a friend, family member or colleague is having a panic attack? We asked experts for tips.
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Wellbeing coach Philly Powell on why we need to establish healthy work boundaries.
It’s undeniable that work can be stressful and the pressure can feel relentless at times.
The latest data on job burnout from Professor Jarrod Haar of Auckland University of Technology provides hard evidence of this with 57% of the New Zealand workforce reporting stress levels that are categorised as “burnt-out”.
I believe this level of burnout is totally unacceptable in today’s workplaces so I’m on a mission to empower people to take back control of their work-life balance. Or even better, aiming for life-work integration – with the emphasis on life first.
It’s a concept that considers work and life as the same, meaning if you are enjoying both they don’t need to be balanced. They support one another – as you increase your life’s overall wellbeing, you’ll also be more effective at work. And the more engaged you are at work, you’ll also improve your overall enjoyment of life and wellbeing. And with the rise of flexible working these days, integration between the two is a lot more achievable.
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Physical activity can brighten your outlook and calm your nerves – if you do it strategically.
We’ve all encountered that person who comes back from the gym or a run seemingly high on life. In fact, scientists say that even a single bout of exercise can alter your neurochemistry in ways that create feelings of hope, calm, connection and a generally better mood.
But for others, a workout just leaves them feeling worn out.
“It’s normal not to find exercise rewarding,” said Daniel Lieberman, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”
While some people are simply more genetically or psychologically inclined to enjoy exercise, recent discoveries have helped experts understand why it can be such a high. And, they say, by making a few changes to your workout, you can train your body and mind to find exercise more pleasurable.
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Meghan Leahy advises a parent whose teen is struggling with his mental health.
Since the coronavirus pandemic, the spike of mental illnesses in teens has wreaked havoc on families’ lives, and it’s important to know that you are not alone. My therapist, psychologist and psychiatrist friends (and my own coaching practice) are all still seeing waves of suffering in teens who just cannot seem to recover. I badly want to give you an answer for what you should do with this complicated young man, but there is no simple solution.
To start, I would suggest sitting with your partner, your co-parent or just yourself and making a list of what has happened so far. Write a short history of your son: When did the symptoms begin? Was there a precipitating event? Is there a family history? When did the symptoms worsen? And, most importantly, what has been your reaction to the behaviours? Be as honest with yourself as humanly possible. This isn’t to shame you; rather, it can help you find the patterns that are either helping or hindering your son’s growth. These notes are also excellent in case you obtain a full neuropsychological exam or go back for another one.
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Having shared her mental health struggles online with her 10 million followers, the sister of Harry Styles has compiled her top tips.
I’ve always been quite an anxious person. I feel it running through my body – clammy hands, a faster heart rate, my lungs so full I can’t catch a breath. I’ve struggled with it since my teens and after gaining an online following [after brother Harry’s success as part of One Direction], I felt like talking about mental health publicly was something I wanted to do. It’s been such a big part of my life. It would have felt untruthful not to mention it. Now at 33, I’m still anxious, but I’ve got a lot better at dealing with it.
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Older people’s mental health is often overlooked. Here’s how one writer is helping her mother cope with her crippling anxiety and low mood
“Old age is not for the fainthearted.” I can still hear my mother chirping this phrase as she wrapped up anecdotes about sore knees and sick friends. It was a phrase she picked up from her own mother, who, armed with enviable stoicism, soldiered on to 98.
Unfortunately, my mother has not had quite the same “heart” for old age. Six months ago, aged 76, she suffered a mental breakdown, resulting in suicidal depression. It seemed to happen so quickly – one minute she was enjoying Christmas with my family, then less than a week later my brother went to stay with her and she could barely get out of bed. There was also the crying, the small voice, the despairing utterances… all familiar signs.
This was not the first time my mother had spiralled into depression. Previously, though, her bouts of the (severe) blues were triggered by calculable events such as birth or bereavement. This time the trigger seems to have been none other than ageing and its attendants: physical diminishment, social isolation and lack of confidence, each feeding the other in perpetuity.
This vicious cycle is a problem for many. A recent report by Age UK examines the link between mental and physical wellbeing in older people: as we decline physically, becoming naturally less dynamic and mobile, we limit the number of events and interactions; this leads to isolation and subsequent loss of confidence, meaning that for older people life can shrink all too rapidly.
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Gwyneth Rees shares the reality of one of the common (and disappointing) side effects of medicating to help mental health.
A few years ago, I found myself struggling with low mood and anxiety. It had come on gradually, triggered by worries over work and relationships. After I’d spent about a year trying deep breathing and cold water swimming, I finally cracked and rang the doctor.
Following a brief chat over the phone, I was prescribed sertraline, a common serotonin reuptake inhibitor known to lift the mood.
Within a few weeks, these magical pills had – despite my scepticism – worked wonders. The negative thoughts had disappeared, I felt calmer and more like my old self. I was very grateful. There was, however, just one problem: I couldn’t orgasm.
First, I would try for five minutes, then 10, then 20. I mean, I was never the quickest to reach climax but this was getting ridiculous. “It must be stress,” I told my weary partner who, God love him, was trying his best. “I must be worried about work, or money … the pet tortoise?”
Even as I puzzlingly put this down to stress, I was still annoyed. My desire and passion were still there. It’s just nothing worked to actually make me orgasm. Try to relax, I would muse.
But the building to a climax just … didn’t build.
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