There are many paths to happiness. Most of us are fortunate enough to have maps to success in many areas of our lives. We can, for example, learn how to cook, clean a car, navigate a city, or get a job. However, very few of us have instruction on emotional mastery, like how to manage stress or negative moods or shifts in mind. So, we get creative. We get distracted. We push through. Ultimately, we hope things improve on their own.
Sometimes, things improve. Other times, they don’t. This is where we can try something else. Most of the time, long term happiness does not come from one habit or one treatment. Long term happiness comes from structural psychiatric care and the regular practice of mindfulness intertwined with each other. One gives us self-help, and the other gives us professional help. Combined, the two strengthen our mind, emotional health, and mental health.
This article will describe both areas in more detail. It will explain where relying on just one leaves gaps, and will give you a starting place to implement both aspects in your life.
Honest Disclosure About the Target
Discussing tools can wait. Let’s be candid about the target. Happiness is not a state of being where you are continuously in a bubbly, lighthearted, and playful disposition. Constant joy is something that is marketed to us. True, lasting happiness is quieter. It is about being in touch with a variety of emotions, and not being completely wrecked by them. It is waking up with a sense of purpose. It is being able to take a punch, shake it off and continue with your life, and be there for those who matter.
This is emotional well-being or psychological flexibility and it is a quality that most of us possess to some degree, however it can vary between individuals. It can also be thought of as a constant state of resilience.
It is also true that we each have an individual baseline for emotional stability that can be shaped by our daily habits, and this baseline can also be influenced by biological factors beyond our control such as brain chemistry, genetics, trauma, and health conditions. It is important to know that emotional disorders, mental illnesses (e.g. Depression, Anxiety Disorders, ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, PTSD) are health conditions that require appropriate evaluation and are not personal flaws.
This explains why taking a one-track approach usually doesn’t work. Meditation can’t fix a chemical imbalance. Instead, it may help bring balance to some thoughts and emotions, but it’s not a cure-all. The combination of the two may work best. There are two sides to happiness and well-being: the habit side and the health side. The habit side is made up of one’s behaviors, and the health side consists of biological elements and a person’s environment. One should practice mindfulness, or an awareness of the present moment, in addition to traditional psychiatric and psychological treatments. This awareness practiced in the context of other existing mental health interventions can be useful.
The Power of Everyday Mindfulness
Most of us already know what mindfulness is, but often do not practice it. It’s important to note that mindfulness is not a meditation. Mindfulness allows an individual to purposely bring their focus to the present moment, without judgment. For decades, researchers have supported that mindfulness is positively correlated to lesser levels of stress and improved emotional regulation, concentration, and quality of sleep.
The main reason mindfulness works is because much of our suffering is due to the mental commentary we perpetuate about events that have already happened or may happen in the future. When people practice mindfulness they interrupt that suffering by simply noticing their thoughts. Eventually, people can learn to treat their thoughts as ever-changing and not as facts they must adhere to.
Everyday mindfulness is very useful. It fits in while performing mundane tasks. You can practice mindfulness while: eating, taking a shower, or driving.
Body check-ins: Pause a few times a day to scan for tension in your shoulders, jaw, or stomach. Simply noticing can help alleviate it.
Mindful walking: Spend 10 minutes outside noticing the sounds and the temperature as you focus on the rhythm of your steps.
Evening reflection: Name one thing that went well today, and one emotion you experienced, without judging either, before bed.
These habits aren’t earth-shattering, and that is the point. Consistency beats intensity. A 5 minute practice everyday does more for your nervous system than a long session every few weeks.
In time, this emotional muscle strengthens and you begin to detect stress earlier. You give yourself more space to respond instead of reacting to the stress. This is where better choices become available.
Where Mindfulness Alone Reaches Its Limits
Mindfulness is very powerful, but there are places where it doesn’t reach. It is crucial to say this because many people have symptoms that continue to get worse while they try out multiple different meditation apps and breathing exercises for months. Eventually they come to the conclusion that they are failing at being mindful. In reality, their symptoms require a different level of care and support.
Consider a few scenarios when self-directed practice may not be sufficient:
- When there are feelings of extreme sadness or emptiness that have lasted for weeks and have impacted your ability to engage at work, school or in your relationships
- When there are anxiety or panic attacks that have impacted your ability to sleep and have disrupted your ability to function in your daily life
- When there are extreme mood swings or periods of high energy that are followed by a “crash”
When there are distractibility and concentration problems, organizational problems or problems with task completion that have been present for many years and have impacted your ability to function or have interfered at school, work, or home
When there are memories or nightmares that have been repeated and/or intrusive thoughts that have been present after a traumatic event
When there are thoughts or feelings of wanting to hurt yourself or if there are feelings of hopelessness and that life is not worth living
When these conditions are present, telling a person to “just be mindful” is as useful as telling a person with a broken leg to simply walk it off. In some cases, the elements contributing to the mental illness may be biological, genetic and/or neurochemical in nature. A thorough evaluation by a medical practitioner, or in this case a qualified psychiatrist may be required.
Sometimes when people are in a really bad mental state it may be extremely difficult for them to practice mindfulness. A person with high anxiety may find that if they practice sitting still, that it may actually make their anxiety worse. Someone who is extremely depressed may not have the will to do anything, including starting a normal routine.
If you are experiencing an emergency or have thoughts of suicide, please contact your local emergency services. You are not alone and reaching out is brave.
What Is Structured Psychiatric Care?
Structured psychiatric care can mean many things, but at its core, it is an approach to the practice of psychiatry that incorporates a careful and thoughtful consideration of the entirety of the patient. There are various levels of structured psychiatric care, from the extremely low (a pill and a dismissal) to the high (vigilant management and care, then reassessment of symptoms, goals, treatment plan, etc.). To be effective, mental health treatment requires ongoing, long-term, goal-directed care (treatment plan). Scheduled visits and healthcare professionals that assist a patient in achieving and measuring progress towards mental health goals are invaluable.
Structured psychiatric care often begins with gathering a great deal of information, collateral, and detail, and distilling it into a management plan or approach. Often, numerous factors may be affecting a patient’s mental state, and thyroid problems, inadequate nutrition, and certain medications can mimic or worsen psychiatric symptoms. Many practices of psychiatric medicine often rely on yearly or infrequent assessment and treatment. However, for effective mental health treatment, continuous, routine assessment and treatment are vital.
Psychiatric care often differs from other branches of medicine in that the focus is on the whole patient and person as opposed to any particular symptom. More integrative care practices and approaches are rising, and it has gained popularity, partially due to the pandemic as mental health needs become more visible and articulated. Effective, long term care of the person focuses on the whole, and includes all aspects of a person’s life (work, family, play, etc.), and often produces lasting changes, as opposed to just addressing symptoms.
Structured care provides something else that is just as valuable, if not more so: accountability and relief. Knowing someone who has training in psychiatry or psychology can explain to you what is going on in your mind can give you peace of mind. For a lot of people, it brings great relief to discover that their problems have an explanation, a cause, and an approach for treatment.
The Two Together
Now we touch on the most important part. There is absolutely no competition between mindfulness and psychiatric care. In fact, they support and strengthen each other.
Psychiatric care works to stabilize you, and mindfulness helps to maintain it. Treatment and/or therapy can help alleviate your symptoms, and help you think more clearly and function better. Then, mindfulness helps you identify those symptoms before they spiral you into a depressive episode or anxiety attack, and gives you the skills and tools to handle stress in a healthy and productive way.
Mindfulness helps you improve and enrich your treatment experience and outcomes. When you become more attuned to your mind and body, you can communicate to your clinician your changing moods, emotions and triggers, which can better help them make informed decisions about your treatment.
When used together, you will find that they dramatically reduce your risk for relapse. A lot of mental health conditions are cyclical, and by combining self-care practices with professional care, people are often better prepared to recognize a relapse, and a potentially rough patch before it gets worse.
They touch on the same problem at different layers. Happiness is where those layers meet.
Visualize your mental health as a garden. Psychiatric care is soil testing and treating. Simply put, good soil is not enough. It needs daily care to thrive. Just like a garden needs good soil and consistent daily care to grow and thrive.
Building Your Own Partnership
You do not have to change your entire life immediately. You can start small, then progressively larger.
There are many ways to start practicing mindfulness. A common and simple way to practice mindfulness is to use your commute time or morning coffee to practice breath work.
Mindfulness, for some, can feel like an intangible skill. One of the easiest ways to integrate mindfulness into your day is to spend two minutes at the beginning or end of your day simply writing how you feel.
Honesty is essential for determining when to reach out for help. Most people can determine if they have been symptomatic for more than a couple weeks. Honesty is also essential in determining if your symptoms are interfering with your daily life and if they are lasting for an extended period of time.
Preparing to reach out for help can feel intimidating for some. One of the best ways to prepare for this is to practice mindfulness. This can be done by writing or speaking with your health care providers to explain your observations, or by combining the two in order to increase your awareness and actively involve yourself in your health care decisions.
Finding the right type of treatment for you can feel lengthy and challenging, as mindfulness, itself, is a challenging and lengthy practice.
No one can determine your needs for you. If it feels right for you, reaching out for help is an indicator of your personal dedication to your well being.
Conclusion
Life satisfaction can’t be achieved solely with willpower, and it can’t be prescribed. It takes a combination of the right practices. Everyday mindfulness is the practice of training your attention and emotional steadiness. It helps you engage more fully in your everyday moments. Mind Align Psychiatry provides expert diagnosis and a plan when your mind needs support beyond the edges of everyday life. When integrated, they make each other stronger.
If you’ve been attempting to manage everything on your own, consider this your permission slip to stop doing it alone. Make a small mindfulness practice part of your everyday routine, and if your concerns feel heavier than a routine can alleviate, reach out to a licensed psychiatric care professional this week. Share your truth, get support, and learn how to build the foundation for a life that’s fulfilling, and brings you true and lasting happiness.