With Men’s Health Week coming to an end, we asked one of our staff to share his experience of managing mental health.
I joined Connection Support just over 4 months ago as a Programme Manager working with other charities across Oxfordshire. We also work with all the Councils across Oxfordshire as part of a new collaborative approach to end rough sleeping and to help improve the lives of people experiencing homelessness.
I decided to write this short blog to share my perspective on how important it is to look after your health, get the right nutrition in your body and prioritise your wellbeing.
I first started to struggle with my own mental health back in my early 20’s. Where I grew up, little was promoted in terms of looking after your health and wellbeing. I mean, I played loads of sports as a kid, but nutrition was never a priority or something that I fully understood. The home of the battered Mars bar and fried pizza says it all. Way less information was available in regards to understanding your emotions, talking therapies and using fitness as a tool.
Fast forward 20 years and one of the most self-reliant, sustainable wellbeing tools that I possess is having the space every morning to process my thoughts, go to the gym with loud music and push myself to put in hard work. Some days are better than others, some days it’s just about turning up; on the odd occasion I can’t be bothered, but the discipline helps me get the job done. I do notice a huge difference when I’m getting the right nutrition in my body in terms of energy, performance, recovery, focus and concentration. After years of trying numerous medications which never actually helped to address some of the underlying issues, I found something that I enjoy. It’s a part of my structure and routine, and on a deeper level, I am consciously living a clean and healthy life that makes me feel good about myself.
As much as I enjoy it, there’s also a bit of science that backs it and I try to do all the things that release natural chemicals that make me feel better. Dopamine is released when you listen to music and when you are proactive, completing those to-do lists. I get my daily fix in the gym and ticking off all those work lists. Oxytocin is released in the brain after acts of kindness and acts of selflessness when doing things for others without expecting anything in return. Working for a charity definitely helps with that. Endorphins are a natural painkiller that can be released through exercise and laughing; that’s why I don’t like working from home all the time and like to socialize as all humans are, to some extent, social beings. Serotonin plays several roles in your body, including influencing learning, memory and happiness and can be released through walks and getting that illusive sunshine and vitamin D. So, I try to get outside and get those steps in.
