Dr Michelle O'Driscoll: How to put together a mental health plan

STRUGGLING with your mental health urgently or over a long period of time requires proper assessment and support.

But sometimes our mental health has less serious ups and downs, which we may feel are something we can attempt to manage our selves.

The HSE, in an attempt to better support people in this regard, and in connection with their ‘Sharing the Vision’ mental health implementation plan, recently launched ‘My mental health plan’, a process that gets anybody over the age of 18 to generate their own personal set of actions to take.

This lives on HSE.ie at ‘My Mental Health Plan’ and opens with an invitation to answer four questions about your mental health, with a view to getting advice and tools to improve your mental health and self care. These are:

Think about what your mood has been like in the past two weeks (six options ranging from ‘Always in a good mood’ to ‘Always feel extremely low’). It explains here that mood can change with the ups and downs of life. We all feel sad or low sometimes. This can make you feel less confident, tired, frustrated, angry or hopeless.

Think about any sleep problems in the last two weeks (six options ranging from ‘Always sleep well’ to ‘Always sleep bad and feel ex hausted’). It explains here that we all have nights where it’s hard to fall asleep or we wake up in the night. But you’re probably getting enough sleep if you feel rested when you wake up and do not feel sleepy during the day.

Think about how stressed you feel in the two weeks (six options ranging from ‘Never stressed’ to ‘Extremely stressed’). It explains here that everyone feels stress at times. Stress can affect how you think, feel and behave. For example, feeling overwhelmed or anxious and having problems sleeping.

Think about anxious feelings you’ve had in the past two weeks (six options ranging from ‘Not anxious at all’ to ‘Always anxious’). It explains here that anxiety is a feeling of worry or fear that everyone experiences at times. It is a common reaction to some situations.

Clicking to proceed with your answers to these questions, the system then creates ‘My plan’, a bespoke set of actions to address areas where you might be struggling. It advises that low mood, sleep problems, anxiety and stress are often connected, and provides space to give your email address so the plan can be emailed to you.

In my case, I was given a list of six potential actions: Relax your muscle and mind, Focus on things you can control, do more feelgood things, improve your sleep, challenge unhelpful thoughts, and break down tasks. 

Each of these was accompanied by a little explanation and a link for further information. It also highlighted what each of these actions could benefit.

None of the advice given is rocket science, or anything that we haven’t heard before–but I think what makes it dif ferent is that it’s prescriptive to us and our experience. This makes it feel worth considering, and applying in our own lives. No name is required to be input, and the email address will be used only for that purpose.

Minding our mental health can be challen ging at the best of times. Maybe the prompts within this ‘My Mental Health Plan’ process will be enough to kickstart some new habits and approaches. And, as always, if you’re struggling, make sure to reach out. Mental health supports and services - HSE.ie

ABOUT THE WRITER

Dr Michelle O’Driscoll is a pharmacist, re searcher and founder of InTuition, a health and wellness education company. Her research lies in the area of mental health education, and through InTuition she delivers health promotion workshops to corporate and academic organisations nationally.