Social media is often seen as a villain in the mental health battle, but I’d disagree. I’m a great fan of Facebook. I don’t post much on my own timeline but am part of several groups and engage with it that way. All the groups I’m in are “safe spaces,” that is to say, there’s no nastiness. Even when people in the group disagree, there’s respect and appreciation of other points of view. I greatly enjoy my interactions with these groups. I am in a (non-political) group called Larry the Cat for Prime Minister, several card making groups and author appreciation groups.

One such group has been set up by the author herself. She writes charming mystery books featuring the Women’s Institute of a northern village and the cake loving dragons they befriend. The Facebook group isn’t all about dragons, but about some more serious issues too. Yesterday, someone posted, “What improves your mental health?”

The answers were varied and comprehensive and I thought I’d like to share them here.

·       Medication. Several people said this. We are all grateful for the drugs that keep us healthy.

·       Meditation and yoga.

·       Animals, particularly cats, dogs and horses.

·       Good friends and a wide support network, both online and in real life.

·       Sunshine.

·       The sea – looking at it, walking by it and bathing in it.

·       Getting out into nature.

·       Hobbies – crafting; art; photography; golf, geocaching; ballroom dancing; gardening; beachcombing; jigsaws; singing with a choir.

·       Husbands, wives and family – especially grandchildren.

·       Music.

·       Good Books.

·       Having a good laugh.

·       Not watching the news.

·       Volunteering and feeling valued.

·       Retirement.

·       Downsizing and decluttering

·       Acceptance of self.

There were other ones too. One person loves her e-bike as she feels so free when she rides it. Another said that Google Maps has been her saviour, as she is hopeless with directions and paper maps. I assume she must do quite a bit of driving. The prize goes to the person who said that the biggest lift to her mental health was when she finally said, “Screw it,” and started to live life for herself and not for others.

As you read down that list, which would you agree help your mental health? If anything from that list does, are you able to incorporate it into your life? We can’t always have sunshine and not many of us are lucky enough to live by the sea. We can all find a few minutes for meditation, however, and most of us can take up a hobby. Unless we work in the media as a news correspondent, we can probably choose to switch off the news.

It's difficult to deal with those things we would like to have in our life but which we don’t have. I can’t have cats right now, as my daughter, who lives with us, is allergic to fur. I think the biggest one, however, is the last one, acceptance, and that will be the title of next week’s blog.

Mary

A Moodscope member