Advice from VSA in recognition of mental health Awareness week

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Week, OGV Energy caught up with VSA’s Director of Adult and Community Services, Jen Ewen, to discuss how we can take better care of our mental health. Jen said, “A mental health illness can affect anyone regardless of their background. One in three people are diagnosed with a mental health illness in Scotland each year, and, with the increased pressure faced by the energy industry in recent years, it is more important than ever to take action to look after your mental wellbeing.”

Here’s VSA’s top 5 tips to stay mentally healthy:

1. Be grateful right now. Gratitude is an emotion that keeps us connected with life. Being thankful for who we are right now, for the things we have or have taken for granted. For our bodies, our friends, the air we breathe, our internal organs, for having a bed where to sleep; the more you think about things you have, the better you feel about life.

2. Stay positive. Thinking and living positively can be challenging in a world that is full of negativity around and bad news on TV, radio, and social media. However, giving ourselves the chance to think either neutral or positive will provide us with a better chance to live with a purpose, even if that purpose is to be happy - that will be enough.

3. Accept your imperfections. We are not perfect. Perfectionism is the lowest of all standards when it comes to success in life. Whatever success means to you. Accepting ourselves with our flaws and imperfections with compassion is the first step to start making those changes to create the life we want for ourselves. 

4. Stop seeking others approval or acceptance. When we accept ourselves for who we are and spent that time working on our growth and development as human beings, we avoid wasting that precious time seeking the acceptance of others which it will be impossible to make all them happy. Spending time thinking and worrying about what others may think of us most of the times are stories that we tell ourselves that may never happen. 

5. Stay active. Staying active is very important. As one of my mentors, Tony Robbins, says, "Emotions come from motion." Go for a walk, take fresh air, move your joints, your legs, make your heart pumping fast, feel alive again. Give your body that treats of movement and lubrication of joints and make your muscles move again. Look after your body as it carries with you everywhere. We were born to move, not to watch TV. 

VSA is on a mission to transform mental health care in Aberdeen by building a £3.2m facility in the heart of the city. To support VSA’s Changing Lives Campaign, and help them to build a new, state-of-the-art mental wellbeing facility.