Let’s Talk About Mental Health
May is Mental Health Awareness month. This is important to me personally and relevant to everyone. We all know that brain health is essential to our well-being, but we are often afraid to talk about it even with a provider. These discussions are welcome in my office. I will always listen, and I can help you find other providers or resources as needed.
Why is a chiropractor talking about mental health? Because you can’t separate mental health from physical health. I’m a specialist in musculoskeletal (MSK) medicine. That means on the most basic level I help people with movement problems and pain. But what we experience as body pain is not solely about joint dysfunction, nerve impingement or tight muscles/fascia - that is outdated reductionist thinking. Modern pain science tells us that pain is always both physical and emotional (did you know that emotions are physical?).
Here’s the part where this post gets personal, and that makes me uncomfortable. But I want to share because it might be important for someone reading to know that I’m doing this work too. I know firsthand how beneficial it can be to get help with your mental health. I had a concussion over a year ago, and that injury aggravated autonomic nervous system (ANS) and brain imbalances (the effects of childhood trauma) that I had been unknowingly managing under the surface for my entire life. During that process, I also learned that I was born with a brain that is neurodivergent- in other words, it is not wired to function like most of the population even without the effects of trauma. I have a lot of tools in my health toolkit, and I was using all of them, but I didn’t start to feel better until I found a mental health practitioner familiar with my specific types of challenges and gifts who taught me better strategies to manage things. I had a lot of learning and healing to do this past year, and I will continue to work on these things for the rest of my life.
I learned the hard way that it is important to find the right practitioner for you and your issue. Do your research and ask for referrals from trusted sources. (You wouldn’t buy the first pair of shoes you saw in a store, so don’t assume that the first name on your insurance company provider list is a person who can help you. If the first person you talk to doesn’t feel like a fit, keep shopping until you find the right one.)
Some of you will benefit from working with a mental health provider, but many of you will not for one reason or another. The end of this post contains mental health self-care strategies that I use regularly. These are useful for anyone experiencing stress (so that’s everyone). I am proud to say that the depth of my understanding of this information and my high level of sensitivity to other people’s emotional states is a result of my neurodiversity and trauma-wired brain. People’s differences and challenges also come with gifts.
One of the most useful things I have learned in therapy has been how to better regulate (balance) my autonomic nervous system (ANS). When your ANS is regulated, you are adaptable to changing conditions and better able to manage stress or injuries. A lot of the regulation tools are things you can do for yourself. But this is a huge topic, and there is so much to learn! If you’re interested, I encourage you to talk with a therapist or feel free to ask me for suggestions about books, podcasts, etc. Here are some ideas that you might try if you are comfortable doing so on your own:
1) Increase Body Awareness- Fun fact, emotions manifest as physical sensations in your body and learning to recognize and feel them can help you to regulate your ANS. If you are too busy or too stressed to be aware of the signals from your body, it can lead to a disconnect that drives dysregulation and pain. Action steps- Guided meditation, Yoga nidra, Non-sleep deep rest (NSDR). (Link- (471) #NSDR (Non-Sleep Deep Rest) with Dr. Andrew Huberman - YouTube, or there are many sources for guided meditations or yoga nidra. I recommend a meditation app called Waking Up, and I also like the guided meditations from Tara Brach’s podcast.)
2) Use Breathing Techniques- As mentioned in previous posts, the physiological sigh is my favorite ((471) Quickest Breathing Pattern To Calm Down | Physiological Sigh | 5 Minutes - YouTube). Another one to try is coherence breathing ((471) Heart Coherence: 5 minute breath exercice (4/6: breathe in during 4s, breathe out during 6s) - YouTube).
3) Sing, Hum, chant, or gargle while exhaling- The vibrations from these activities stimulate the vagus nerve (the main nerve of the rest, digest, and heal part of the NS). Here’s an exercise that I like ((471) Reduce Stress - 2 Minute Voo Technique - Katie Brauer - YouTube)
4) Cold Exposure- Take a cold shower or splash cold water on your face or (if you’re brave) dip your face in ice water. This activates the mammalian dive reflex which stimulates the vagus nerve.
5) Close your eyes and connect inwardly to a loved one or a happy place in your memory or imagination. Try to recall/imagine as many details as possible. This exercise has better efficacy if you also practice the visualization when you are not in an upset or dysregulated state.
6) Movement- Moderate to intense exercise or meditative movement like Tai Chi or yoga are both beneficial.
7) Go outside- Walking outside helps to regulate the NS, and exposure to sunlight has multiple benefits including vitamin D production and regulation of your circadian rhythm essential for sleep.
8) Connect with others - One of the healthy states of the parasympathetic NS is the ventral vagal state (this is part of Polyvagal Theory, look it up if you’re interested). When we feel safety and connection with others, it helps us to be able to shift into a ventral vagal state.
9) Look for opportunities to cultivate awe- Being in a state of awe helps to regulate the NS. Here are links to interviews with a scientist who wrote a book about the science of awe (How Awe and Everyday Wonder Can Shape Our World - Atlas Obscura) and (Awe and the 8 wonders of life - Big Think).
10) Use stretching exercises that stimulate the vagus nerve. Here’s my favorite instructional video ((471) Vagus Nerve Exercises To Rewire Your Brain From Anxiety - YouTube).
11) Get a horse - This is strictly my opinion. But it works for me!