Managing your Mental Health and Developing Resilience

ITBA held a Webinar on Managing your Mental Health and Developing Resilience as part of the Ask The Expert Series. The webinar recording is available to watch back, email hmarks@itba.ie.

Resilience is having the capacity to change your behaviour in response to stress before the change becomes obvious or difficult. You can identify the stressors before then can affect you.

There are three general responses to stress –

• You can thrive on stress, working right up to the end of a deadline and work well under pressure
• You can get anxious. This is a very common response and are unsure you can get nervous and anxious
• Some people can also find stress very traumatic and it can really impact their mental health

Resilience is having the capacity to change before the change becomes obvious. You can identify the stressors before then can affect you.

Strategies to improve resilience

Name It to Tame It is a technique that involves noticing and labelling emotions as they’re happening. Identifying an intense emotion (‘naming’) decreases stress and anxiety (‘taming’) in the brain and the body that that emotion is causing. Vocabulary is important eg “I am feeling anxious/nervous/scared …” versus “I am …”). You are feeling something, you are not all that emotion at that particular time.

It can provide in the moment relief as naming our emotional states re-activates the prefrontal cortex. It brings back that higher-level processing and regulate emotions, allowing you to feel more in control. This allows you to acknowledge that feelings are temporary and can change.

This is a good tool to use when struggling with emotional control, whether feeling overwhelmed or frustrated etc.

The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique

This is a technique to help you stay in the present moment. You can’t affect the past and you can’t predict the future, all you can control is the present moment. It is good to ease your state of mind in stressful moments.

• Acknowledge 5 things that can see around you
• Acknowledge 4 things that you can touch or feel around you
• Acknowledge 3 things that you can hear around you
• Acknowledge 2 things that you can smell around you
• Acknowledge 1 thing that you can taste around you

This can be nice to link with a few deep breaths to help ground you in the present moment. You are present to what is going on, reducing positive and negative thoughts and focusing on what is now. This is a really good method to reset and recalibrate yourself.

Circle of Control

If things don’t go your way it is easy to get caught in a cycle of negative thoughts. You give energy and power to things outside your control. This technique allows you to focus on what is within your circle of control. Ask yourself ‘what is worrying me?’, ‘what is in my control’, ‘what matters most to me and what can I do about it’. This helps direct your energy and thoughts into positive, practical and actionable emotions.

It can be tempting to spend a large amount of time worrying over things that you cannot fix or solve. It can be hard but easily practiced.

Focus on what you can control and plan ahead – thoughts, emotions, actions. Something you cannot control but you can manage your emotions and how you respond in that situation. You also have the ability to influence those around you.

Self-Care

Taking time out for self-care can seem counterintuitive at first but it really boosts productivity in the long run. Rest and relaxation help restore energy, creativity and focus. When you are physically and mentally refreshed you’re more likely to be efficient and effective in your job. It also fosters long-term well-being and can prevent burn-out.

Set some time aside to recharge yourself, either through sedentary or active activities. What FIVE things can you do everyday that can help yourself?

• Free / Cost, Long / Short, Indoors / Outdoors, Together / Along, Equipment / None
• Eg Go for a walk, read a book, play with your pets, take a few deep breaths, coffee

What you think makes you productive may not actually make you productive. It isn’t always hard work and more isn’t always a good thing. Resting and recharging are needed just as much.

 

Get help if you need it

If you are struggling and you need help there are a number of options available, you don’t have to figure it out on your own

• Mindfulness (meditating, crafting, anything that brings you into the moment)
• Exercising
• Relaxation
• Reading
• Fun Random Activities
• Psychological Support
• Your own physiological and medical care: looking after yourself
• mind.org.uk has wonderful and simple ideas to help relax
• Smiling Mind app with mindfulness exercises (free)
• Industry Assistance Programme is a free and confidential 24hour helpline

 

Sleep and Rest

Sleep has become the enemy of capitalism. We can’t consume (yet!) in our sleep. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings recently declared that Netflix’s main competitor wasn’t Amazon or any other streaming service. It was sleep (Haig, 2018).

It is very easy to binge-watch and keep scrolling.

You want to make sure you are getting enough good sleep. Be aware of your sleep hygiene – remove screens an hour before you go to sleep to reduce blue light. Blue light reduces melatonin production and can affect sleep quality.

 

Mentors and Support Team

One of the things to think about are your own mentors and support team. You are responsible for your own feelings ad actions but not anyone else’s. Set up your support team, the people you can go to to help guide you on decisions and you can speak to them as your ‘real’ self.

Build at least three communities of friends, inside work and outside work.

 

Developing your coping strategies

You are in responsible for managing your own thinking and emotions. Thinking usefully in difficult times is a sign of a strong mental resilience. Resilience isn’t not experiencing the difficult times or feeling, it is choosing to be disciplined with how we view what has happened.

Our minds are busy and chaotic but always remember you have a choice in how you think and feel. Sometimes you can’t stop the negative thoughts, but they don’t control how you act or take all of your energy.

Resilience is NOT about positive thinking, it is recognising that there is always an alternative way to view a situation, or practical thinking.

 

Gratitude Practice

How it works: Focus on gratitude helps shift attention from stress and negative thoughts to positive experiences. This fosters a mindset of appreciation.

This is a good tool to use during times of stress, disappointment or frustration to help counter negative thoughts patterns.

It is useful to use at the start or the end of each day, and you can list three things you are grateful for. It can be helpful to write these down.

 

Remember – It is ok not to be ok, BUT it doesn’t have to stay that way. You are in control of your wellness, don’t wait. Work on managing your emotions, focus on things you can control. Don’t make the hard times and full stop in your life. Find a way to see even the hardest times as a comma, not a full stop in your life.

 

Cultivating a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is where people believe that the most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. The love of learning and developing resilience is essential for great accomplishment.

You can switch between a Fixed Mindset and a Growth Mindset based on that challenge at that time. Understanding the difference between these mindsets can make you more aware of what mindset you’re in.

From a young age we develop assumptions about our strengths and weaknesses.

Fixed Mindset	Growth Mindset
I give up easily My potential is predetermined Failure is the limit of my abilities My intelligence is static I avoid challenges I stick to what I know Feedback and criticism is personal I will never improve I am either good at it or I am not There is no point in trying it	I like to try new things I can learn to do what I want Failures offer opportunity and growth My intelligence can be developed I embrace challenges I learn from feedback I keep trying and never give up I am inspired by other people’s success My mistakes help me grow I know this will help me even though it is difficult

 

How to cultivate a growth mindset:

• What other areas of your life need attention
• What learning opportunities are available for your career/ personal development / career planning
• Learn and reflect from challenging experiences. How did you manage if before?

What does this mean: showing up, get help when we need it, and just get through it, we can grow from even major stressors.

Be aware of your thoughts and belief. You can adapt and choose your mindset. Adapt and move out of your comfort zone and make huge changes.

• Acknowledge your effort – tried, made mistakes
• Be careful of your language – the power of YET… ‘I can’t do that YET’. You give yourself the power to develop.
• Everyday role models – imagine scientists around the world gave up because fighting a pandemic is too difficult. Made mistakes to make a vaccine – but each time they did they were a little closer to the result.

The skill is within you to develop a Growth Mindset

• Know you have overcome previous challenges and reflect on them
• Focus on actions and process
• Learn from adversity, setbacks and failure, they are just springboards for the next thing
• Flexible and adaptable mindset
• Good self awareness and managing your emotions ‘Naming it to tame it’
• Use your psychological strengths. Magnify your strengths and coping skills

 

Habits	Aware	Challenge	Home
Avoid phrases ‘I am always like this’ or ‘I am always doing this’ for encouraging a growth mindset. Make it a habit to talk about the things that are going well in your life	Be aware of your thoughts and beliefs   Use questions to rephrase your thinking ‘Is this a useful or helpful thought now’	Put yourself in situations that challenge you, you have no other choice that to rise to the occasion and upgrade your mindset	Home is a safe place to try different things

 

The brain gets stronger with exercise. Learning things helps our neurons grow. A formula for growing your brain: effort + good strategies + help from others

 

Adaptation: The Competitive Advantage

We struggle when things are enforced on us or things are not going the way we feel they should. Practice being mentally flexible, trying something new that you wouldn’t ever normally do or don’t do something that you usually do.

Change is inevitable. Growth is optional

 

Growth Mindset Toolbox – Know what helps to build this skill

• Adapt to change
• Laughing at small frustrations
• Asking more questions
• Count on friends and your team-mates
• Like yourself
• Control the controllables
• Go for it!!
• Reaching out for additional support
• Using positive self talk
• Setting and re-setting goals
• Talking to your colleagues, mentors and your support group

Developing that mindset and resilience is ongoing

When it gets tough it is important to not give up. Bounce forward. Fail and fail forward. Everyone has the will to win, very few have the will to prepare to win. That is what makes the difference.

 

There is a big difference between failing and being a failure.

Failing	Being a Failure
Temporary A setback/disappointment Shows you are stretching yourself and pushing limits Part of the journey Opportunity to learn and grow	Permanent A mindset Shows you have given up End of the journey Turning your back on learning and growth

 

Developing a positive mindset and resilience is ongoing. When it gets tough it is important to not give up. Fail and fail forward. Everyone has the will to win, very few have the will to prepare to win. That is what makes the difference. The above are useful skills to help deal with stress and develop a positive mindset. If you are struggling and you need help there are a number of options available, you don’t have to figure it out on your own.

 

Useful resources

www.mind.org.uk for free ideas to help relax

Smiling Mind App with free mindfulness exercises

Horse Racing Ireland Industry Assistance Programme available via https://www.equuip.ie/industry-assistance-programme