What does “mental health” mean to you?

We hear and see people talking about the importance of your mental health, however, I rarely see someone taking the time to explain the actions that are needed to be taken in order to bring insight and awareness into your mental health.

Yes, of course, they all tell you to go see a specialist, but thats about it.

No one knows your life better than you - no specialist, no doctor, no psychologist, no shaman or guru…

There are extreme situations where you may need to go see one, but let me tell you, you can do a lot of the work yourself.

You just need to know a few skills, the right questions to ask, and how to guide yourself through. Don’t worry, it’s very simple, I will tell you exactly what you need to do to walk yourself through and see where you’re at not just mentally, but also physically, emotionally, spiritually.

You don’t need no diagnosis, all you need is just to know how to apply awareness into your own life. The beauty of this process is that once you do it on yourself, you can also help your friends, family, colleagues, to shine the light internally so it also shines externally.

One for all and all for one.

MENTAL HEALTH QUESTIONS

Asking the right questions will give you insight on your mental wellbeing. You first have to understand and become aware of where you’re at before you can move in the direction of your desired state.

Asking questions, or as I call it mental screening, promotes the benefits of mental health.

These questions will help you:

• Show concern for yourself and or others

• Open a dialogue about your mental state

• Bring awareness into the subconscious (usually where the root of the issue is located)

• Reflect and transform

Almost 90% of problems arise from the subconscious mind. The subconscious is like a memory bank that operates without consent of you conscious mind. This can be events that happened early in your childhood days that you no longer remember consciously, however, certain events might trigger that part of the subconscious which evokes you to react or respond a certain way without you consciously being aware.

Depending on how strong your emotion(s) is, it is always a good start with these type of questions to bring awareness (feel free to tweak some of the questions to make it more relevant to you).

• Have you experienced traumatic or highly intensive occurrences that has impacted you significantly (witnessing a tragedy happen, surviving assault, etc…)?

• Have you experienced a week or longer of lower-than-usual interest in activities that you usually enjoy? Examples might include work, exercise, or hobbies.

• Have you ever experienced an ‘attack’ of fear, anxiety, or panic?

• Do feelings of anxiety or discomfort around others bother you?

These are just a few simple questions primarily concerned with identifying any potential signs of anxiety or mild symptoms of depression.

Lets dive deeper and allow yourself to open up an internal dialogue with the following questions having to do with physical health, wellbeing, choice and control, self-perception, hope and hopelessness, relationships, and activity.

Physical Health

These questions are to see how you are feeling when it comes to agitation, restlessness, becoming aware of any painful areas in the body, sleep, and bringing attention to your breath.

1. During the past month, what is your sleeping habit? Have you had any difficulties sleeping?

2. During the past month, what does your eating habits look like? Has it changed a lot? What kind of foods are you consuming?

3. During the past month, have you experienced any pain in the physical body? Is there any pain that has been lingering longer than usual? (Highly recommend looking at causes of symptoms by Louise Hay).

Wellbeing

Here you look at feelings of anxiety, stress, motivation, and your overall energy levels. Take a look at the questions below and guide yourself through.

1. During the past month, what kind of feelings, emotions, have you been experiencing? (Sadness, joy, stress, anxiety, peacefulness, frustration…)

2. During the past month, did you spend time doing fun activities, hobbies, or doing things that bring you joy, peacefulness? (Feel free to elaborate, why or why not)

Choice and Control

The questions below are regarding aspects of your life such as leadership, authority, and setting healthy boundaries.

1. During the past month, would you say that you had a good control of your moods, your life?

2. During the past month, how did you respond to events and or situations that happened to you unexpectedly?

3. How do you usually respond to stress?

Self Perception

Here, you bring awareness to confidence, self-esteem, and ultimately doing the things that you want to do.

1. During the past month, how confident have you been feeling in your work, hobbies, and your daily activities?

2. During the past month, how satisfied were you with yourself?

Hope and Hopelessness

The questions below will allow you to see what your view of the future is, hope and goals, as well as what actions you are taking moving forward.

1. How often over the past month did you feel like the future was unpromising?

2. During the past month, have you set any goals (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly)? If not, why not?

3. What feelings have you experienced when working towards your goals?

Relationship and Belonging

These questions will help you to see how you feel within society and your own personal relationships.

1. During the past month, how supported did you feel by your family, friends, or any other people you associated with?

2. How do you feel about your relationship with friends, parents, siblings, your significant other?

Activity

At the end of the day, everyone wants to feel fulfilled. Having meaning and purpose in ones life.

1. During the past month, what activities or projects have you been involved with? What kind of emotions and feelings do you get out of it?

2. What kind of things have you been doing that give you a sense of purpose, meaning, fulfillment?

Highest Source of Connection

It is not a secret that the life you live is temporary. What is young becomes old and birth eventually greets death. Understanding that nothing in this life is certain is a high level of maturity. Therefore, you must find ways to connect to God. Whatever way that looks like for you.

No matter what you believe or don’t believe in, there is no denying the fact that ultimately there is a higher source of intelligence. Within humans, animals, plants, earth, and the whole infinite universe itself.

Finding that light and having faith brings out dimensions within you that you simply cannot explain in words. All of a sudden, you simply begin to see reality for what it actually is without projecting your own rubbish. Just like a crying baby that looses a parents touch instantly finds peace knowing that everything is okay when in the arms of mom or dad. The same happens to you when you finally place your faith in God, knowing that everything is happening for the right reasons.

This article is designed to help you become aware of your internal life. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it is truly life transformational when you begin to do internal work. Your inner world is really like a garden that blossoms when it’s taken care of. Otherwise, just like a garden, it will grow weeds and look chaotic if not taken care of. This is the work that no one else can do it for you.

 It is your responsibility.

If you just paid a little attention you will see that your life is merely a reflection of your inner world.

To make things easier for you, I have created a downloadable PDF Thought Performance Worksheet to help you monitor your inner experiences.

This will allow to jot down any situations, experiences, or thoughts that triggered you a certain way. It provides you with simple questions and space to write down your answers. You can also write you answers in a separate notebook using the Thought Performance Worksheet as a guide.

Use it for at least a week to check and monitor yourself, especially if you don’t practice any mindfulness practices. This will allow you to see and become more conscious of your subconscious.

Truth. Consciousness. Bliss

That’s ChitLife!