Future proofing – Mental health awareness week

Mindfulness is all about being in the ‘NOW’ focusing not on the past or the future but on THIS moment

The problem with this is that it might lead some of us to make wrong decisions in our lives or tolerate bad situations.

Women who live within an abusive relationship find it impossible to escape that relationship and cannot see their future beyond , but years later their mental health will probably take a tumble and they’ll start to question their decisions or life choices .

The Covid pandemic has taken a huge toll on our mental well-being . Most of us have looked back on our lives and questioned parts of it mainly criticising ourselves for past mistakes we may have made .

The most we can do to help others is to assist them in seeing a future that is bright and also talking about the impact that a CURRENT situation may have on FUTURE mental health and wellbeing .

All health care professionals should be educated on how to interface this advice into every contact they have with the people they care for . A GP seeing a woman who is depressed and anxious might make a huge positive difference to a woman’s life by broaching the subject of FUTURE mental health protection by helping her to analyse the place she is in right NOW =how this could give her a life of better mental health & wellbeing , rather than just focusing on the moment .

Conversations with friends over the pandemic has led me to realise that we don’t talk about ‘future proofing’ our mental wellbeing quite enough as we should be . When we reflect on our lives do we wish that someone had said to us “think carefully” “take your time” “It’s YOUR life” “put yourself first”

We are often told as children “don’t be selfish” so is putting others before ourselves what could be damaging us emotionally ?

Personally I feel that this “future proofing” approach might help reduce in some small way the long term effects of what we decide when we decide without support and guidance – especially when we are pressurised to conform into what society expects of us at that moment in time instead of fully considering our own long term happiness