Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month!
How many times have you heard the expression “men don’t cry?” This seemingly harmless sentence can do so much damage to our young children. So often, young men are brought up in this way to suppress our emotions, don’t ask for help, or we don’t talk about our feelings with our loved ones. This can be detrimental to the young men as they grow into adulthood. It can cause an unhealthy outlook on life. It causes us to “bottle-up” our feelings and emotions, which is very unhealthy. It can cause increased feelings of anxiousness in everyday activities. Can cause the need to be a perfectionist. Can cause feelings of stress. And causes us to feel afraid to ask others for help.
Have you ever bottled up your feelings for so long, that you can’t possibly hold it all in anymore and you end up lashing out at a loved one? Then immediately after, you feel a sense of relief. Until you look at the person you love and realize how much they were hurt by your outburst. This is a result of never allowing yourself to seek help, or to just talk about how you’re feeling. When we bottle-up and suppress these feelings, after months and years of doing this, it can all come out at once and leave you and your loved ones hurt in the process. Just simply talking about how we feel can be a great place to start. As afraid as you may feel to talk about these feelings, to allow yourself to be vulnerable, it can bring a sense of relief and safety afterwards. Whether this conversation is with a loved one, a friend, a partner, or a mental health professional, talking can be a great place to start!
How can unregulated mental health exhibit itself to others around us? As stated above, it can cause us to lash out on people. It can cause tension in the body leaving us feeling pain, muscle soreness, head aches, and ear pain. It can also present itself as an illness such as: constipation, diarrhea, IBS, migraines, cough and sore throat, high blood pressure, and so much more! It can also present itself as avoidance and/or procrastination on simple tasks of life. It can leave you feeling stressed over minor things. It can make you feel anxious about life, your job, your finances, your home, your children, etc… And it can make you feel like you’re in a funk that you can’t get out of.
How does chiropractic care help with regulating mental health? I’m sure a lot of us hate the idea of being put on yet, another medication. Taking a pill everyday to help regulate out mental health doesn’t always sound like a good time. While it can be very helpful to some, not all of us want to go down that route! So, regular chiropractic care can help in a similar way that taking those pills could. Studies have shown that chiropractic care can help with improving focus, mental clarity, mental/emotional state, stress and anxiety, quality of life and improves enjoyment of life (Marino & Phillippa ). Chiropractic care also helps balance and regulate the nervous system, which is important for regulating the hormones that are unbalanced in the brain.
If you or a loved one is struggling with mental health, please seek out a mental health professional. If you or a loved one is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please call 988 to talk with someone today! We, here at Bloom and Flourish Family Chiropractic would love to talk with you and form a wellness plan to help with an alternative care plan for improving your mental health today!
Marino, M. j, & Phillippa , L. M. (n.d.). A longitudinal assessment of chiropractic care using a survey of self-rated Health Wellness & Quality of Life: A Preliminary Study. Vertebral Subluxation Research. https://vertebralsubluxationresearch.com/2017/09/10/a-longitudinal-assessment-of-chiropractic-care-using-a-survey-of-self-rated-health-wellness-quality-of-life-a-preliminary-study/
