The Journey to Emotional Fitness
It was six years ago today that I wrote my first blog, so I felt it was only fitting to write a follow-up to my introduction to mypracticalpsychologist and, in particular, Emotional Fitness. Since that first blog six years ago a lot has happened. I moved from Missouri to Utah, started working with the Utah Department of Corrections and with Therapy Utah, and continued to promote my ideas on Emotional Fitness in a variety of venues. I have provided training for my colleagues within the Utah Department of Corrections. I have become a regular presenter at Brigham Young University’s Education Week held each year in August where I have presented a series on Emotional Fitness. I have spoken to various community groups throughout the Salt Lake Valley. I have presented to students in middle school and in high school. I have spoken to young single adults at the University of Utah. I have spoken to a number of LDS congregations and youth groups. My message continues to be the same—-Your mental health is yours to manage. If you struggle with Depression or Anxiety, you can overcome this and I can teach you how.
The problem in our society is that some ignorant people over the years decided that if someone is depressed or anxious they are weak human beings. This is absolutely not true. I emphasize this principle all the time—-As humans we are all susceptible to colds, flu, anxiety, and depression; welcome to the human condition.
As a child, you were not fully capable of processing information in healthy ways. You may have endured difficult and even abusive experiences in the past that led you to struggle with depression. It is not your fault that a lot of these things happened but it is your responsibility, and I’ll add your privilege, to take charge of your mental health and change things for the better.
Over the past 30 years of my career we have worked hard to destigmatize depression and anxiety by saying, “It’s an illness; it’s not your fault.” By framing it this way, we refute the notion that a person is weak if they struggle with depression or anxiety. However, we create another problem by placing the locus of control outside the individual and placing it with a doctor or other professional who is supposed to fix these disorders. The term “illness” also promotes the notion that depression and anxiety are biologically based and need medicine to be corrected. We can talk a lot about the mind-body connection, which I will do in an upcoming blog, but let me simply say here, there is much more you can and need to do to help yourself with depression or anxiety other than taking some medication.
Several of my previous blogs address principles that will help you take charge of your mental health and move you toward becoming more emotionally fit. I will review some of these principles and teach others as we move forward together.