Mental Health week and being defined by what we do

My guests today are Sarah Carman from Sponge Education, a tutor and mentor for young people going through HSC and their parents and Jason Prior from Turramurra Chiropractic who is also a presenter on Body Brain and Mind on Tuesdays on TripleHfm as well as a trained nurse. As it is the start of Mental Health Awareness Week we spoke about the connection of self care in the body and its effect on the mind. The correlation of mental and physical stress and stress and physical ill-health. We cover HSC stress as well as life skills around anxiety and how to build a way of living that supports you when you most need it. We also talk about Supermoons and their affect on our bodies.

Our Atar score does not define you and
​there are other ways to get into the courses you want to do
check out what Sarah has to say about studying medicine - it is very inspiring.

The statistics for mens' mental health is very serious, and something we must speak about honestly about why we have a culture that does not encourage men to talk about their feelings. When we look at the statistics for male mental health and suicide against the percentage who access support the statistics clearly skew the wrong way with an appealingly high suicide rate and concerningly low number engaging with support for depression and other poor mental health conditions

Jason has found the focus is predominantly outward and on achieving and doing. The outward focus pays, looking inward we can challenge but Jason is a big fan of the benefits of looking inward paying dividends in physical and mental health and its' onward affect on productivity.

When our body is under great stress such as in extreme health situations such as palliative care a great honesty comes in about what is important in life.
​
​The shift to choose change is the stop needed to break the cycle.

Is your level of normal truly normal or are you living with a level on anxiety
that has become normal but is having a detrimental effect
on your physical and mental wellbeing?

Just a few of the top tips-

• Choose what you enjoy to do and be aware of the things you do because you feel you have to or others expect of you. Make a choice to either do it or not do it because how you approach your choices have an effect on your approach to other things you do.
• Jason has been studying at University for the last 10 years and can see that after all this time he is finding studying easier because he is enjoying what he is studying. 
• If you mask your feelings it builds up underneath. Accepting and talking about what you are feeling helps to build an intelligence about how you feel and what are the consequences to how you feel when you either mask it or express it.
• Walking your talk - switch off your connection to the online world at appropriate moments! Jason sees it in practice that some clients still don't focus on themselves even when in a consolation.

Resources

• Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Womens Shelter - West Pymble House and Garden Stall - a fundraiser in Kendal Street Mall on the 17th October from 8am to 4pm
• KYDS - Parents forum - Dr Philip Tan "Online Gaming & The internet: When to unplug" very pertinent to the conversation we have been having today. This event is on Tuesday 26th October 6.30pm at Ku-ring-gai Council Chambers. Please book on youth@kmc.nsw.gov.au
• John Lee Scholarship Program for students in the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai area - call the station manager for applications to this opportunity to join the TripleH team. Email station manager@triplehfm.com.au for details.
• StreetWork Glam and Grunge Night - Friday October 23rd. Mitchell Anderson will be singing live, John Mangos as Master of ceremonies, many great auction items. Held in a warehouse in Brookvale. For bookings check out the street work website www.streetwork.org.au
• You can hear our very own Sarah Carman present - A parents Guide to HSC - Sponge Education talk at All Saints Anglican Church October 22nd at 7.30pm - perfect for year 11 parents as they start their HSC journey.
• Jason Prior, presenter on Body, Brain and Mind. Tuesdays 10am TripleHfm

Resources

http://earthsky.org/tonight/august-29-supermoon-first-of-three-supermoons#when
http://hornsbykuringgaiwomensshelter.com.au/blog/
http://northshorebusiness.com.au
http://www.streetwork.org.au/our-services/
http://kyds.org.au/kyds-term-3-newsletter/
http://www.turrachiro.com.au/about-us/jason-prior/
http://spongeeducation.com 
​http://triplehfm.com.au/programs?body-brain-mind

With thanks to

With thanks to Triple H Fm for use of their airwaves for the live broadcast of this show, to Sarah Carman and Jason Prior for being my guests and to Glorious Music for the use of their music in my show and podcast.

Self care is equal to any study we do