World Mental Health Day 2019

Reading through your mental health 

​In the week leading up to World Mental Health Day 2019 I wrote a series of Instagram @annielee_coach posts introducing books that had been influential in my own journey managing my mental health as well as clients. ​

https://www.instagram.com/annielee_coach/

 I hope you find some nuggets of gold that you can either use yourself and/or pass onto others.
​

The Art of Being Brilliant by Andy Cope & Andy Whittaker

Andy Cope’s books are definitely some of my favourite books to recommend to people who are looking to change their mind set – WORD OF CAUTION – they are on the sweary side!! ​

Buy This Book

Andy has a PHD in positive psychology & writes very amusing, sometimes hard hitting, easy to read self-help style books.  In this particular book he writes about 6 principles that will lead to a happier life:

1. Choose to be positive
2. Understand your impact
3. Take personal responsibility
4. Have bouncebackability
5. Set HUGE goals
6. Play to your strengths

The book is full of stories and activities which bring the book to life if you utilise the space to write and draw.  My books are filled with my own thoughts and answers to the thought provoking questions & are definitely a go to when I feel like I have lost my way a bit. 
Take a minute to reflect on the following questions from the book:

• Think of someone who inspires you.  What exactly do they do that makes you feel so brilliant? 
• Who are you at your best?
• It’s your 100th birthday and there’s a big family part in your honour.  Someone is going to say a few words about you.  What would you like them to say?

​

Just One Thing by Rick Hanson

One of the most powerful ways to proactively manage your mental health is to form positive daily habits.  There are a number of fantastic books out there on habits like Atomic Habits by James Clear & (my personal favourite) The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg but this one is pocket sized & includes more of practical & holistic view of habits.  It is packed full of simple things you can make routine that will help build resilience and your sense of self worth. ​

Buy This Book

The main aim of the book is to enable you to “use your mind to change your brain”. Hanson splits these brain training practices into the following five categories:

1. Be Good to Yourself
2. Enjoy Life
3. Build Strengths
4. Engage the World
5. Be at Peace

Each practice has a description & includes WHY it is important using easily digestible research that backs the practice & then HOW to implement it.  Training your brain takes sustained effort and repetition therefore the environment you set for yourself including support is crucial to its success.  Also making sure you only focus on one thing at a time helps ensure success – remember the tortoise & the hare or think of ‘marginal gains’ made famous by Dave Brailsford from British Cycling & Team Sky cycling.  Small steps lead to big changes!
​​

The Chimp Paradox by Prof Steve Peters

This popular book is written by a psychiatrist who works with top athletes & sports stars like Victoria Pendleton, Sir Chris Hoy & Ronnie O’Sullivan.  The reason I have included this book in my week of influential reads to mark World Mental Health Day is that I know for a lot of people, myself included, it is important to understand HOW our minds/brains work in order to make sense of our thoughts, feelings & behaviours.  This then puts us in a position whereby we can start to take positive steps to MANAGE our minds & therefore positively impact our lives.

Buy This Book

Prof Peters has come up with a simplified version of the different parts to our brain, which in essence is ridiculously complex!  He uses the following analogies to break it down into:

• The Chimp within – the limbic brain… the part of the brain that deals with emotion.    The chimp acts & reacts purely based on emotion.  It guesses & assumes information to fill the gaps which can include gut instincts that can be bang on OR paranoid feelings or defensive thoughts.  THIS is where the paradox comes in – it can be your best friend & your worst enemy.
• The Human – the frontal brain… this is the part that we live in… it is what we would think of as US.  The human acts rationally based on fact.
• The Computer – the parietal brain… this is the storage part of the brain which automatic reactions use for their source of information.  This is where neuroscience comes in – both the human & the chimp programme the computer with input (beliefs, behaviours etc.) so when we are triggered the human & the chimp automatically scans the computer to see if we have been in this situation before & how we reacted last time.  The computer takes over & we react accordingly!  It is MUCH faster than both the human & the chimp parts of the brain & can execute commands with complete accuracy before the chimp & human has a chance to finish thinking.  The problem is it only works on the information it has available to it… even if it is incorrect.

ANYONE OF THEM CAN TAKE CONTROL AT ANY ONE TIME but they are usually working together.  By understanding more about how your brain works you can start to re-programme the computer, understand & manage the chimp.
The purpose of the book is to help people manage their Chimp & make the most of it when it is working for you & neutralise it when it isn’t! https://chimpmanagement.com/books-by-professor-steve-peters/the-chimp-paradox/
​

Lost Connections by Johann Hari

In my humble opinion I feel this is one of the most interesting books currently out there on the subject of mental health!  Johann Hari is a journalist who brings together research from around the globe to put forward his theory on why there is such an epidemic of mental health issues in the modern world. ​

Buy This Book

He is controversially outspoken on the widespread use of antidepressants & he refers to research throughout the book.  The theory around causes of depression & anxiety are:

• Disconnection with Meaningful Work
• Disconnection with Other People
• Disconnection with Meaningful Values
• Disconnection with Childhood Trauma
• Disconnection with Status & Respect
• Disconnection from the Natural World
• Disconnection from a Hopeful or Secure Future
• The Role of Genes and Brain Changes

He then goes onto talk about how we can reconnect.  Once again there is an element of us taking responsibility for own environment & the environment we create for others.  What really draws me to this book is the links he makes between other primates & also our ancestors.  We have made life so complicated that sometimes we just have to strip life back to our basic needs as social animals to remember what’s important. Simple things like connecting with nature, feeling part of a community, having meaning in our lives and having something to strive for that’s bigger than ourselves.
​

The Little Book of Happiness by Miriam Akhtar

To round it all off this week I am delighted to write about this book especially as I am currently studying Positive Psychology with the author!  ​

Buy This Book

This really does what it says on the tin!! It’s a little book which breaks down the underpinning findings of Positive Psychology and puts them into 12 Happiness Habits.  These are:

1. Learn to Play
2. Express Gratitude
3. Savour the positive
4. Harness your strengths
5. Live with meaning
6. Learn Optimism
7. Value relationships
8. Practise kindness
9. Get physical
10. Turn to nature
11. Practise mindfulness
12. Strive for success

Take your time and read those 12 habits slowly…. If you had to mark yourself out of 10 (10 being smashing it, 1 being errrm not really doing this at all) what mark would you give yourself for each of those habits?  What one action could you take for each habit that would help move you up a point?
What I love about this book is that it is evidence based, it gives you a nice bit of digestible science AND activities for each habit – all of this in a pocket-sized book with beautiful illustrations – what’s not to love!

I hope you have enjoyed this series of book reviews – I am currently working on a FREE positive mind set workbook so keep your eyes peeled and please do share my blog with anyone you feel might benefit.