How Well is Your Being? Are Your Spirits Thriving or Flagging? Our Test Will Tell If It is Time to Call in the Troops for Help

THE words “mental health” mean different things to different people – some automatically think of mental illness – such as depression or schizophrenia – but, as with physical health, mental health can be defined positively. It can be described as that very personal quality we all have in the way we feel about ourselves, our experiences, our confidence, our resilience, our wellbeing and sense of control over our lives.

Why is it important to be mentally healthy? Because it impacts on every aspect of our lives and affects the way we think, act and behave towards others, it’s crucial for how we learn and how we use our talents, and vital to how we relate as parents, family members, friends, colleagues and neighbours.

Daily life has many stresses and strains. The secret to maintaining positive mental health and wellbeing is how well you cope with these. Try this short questionnaire to see how well you’re doing.

1. You would describe yourself as:

a. Quite a happy and contented person who can cope with the usual ups and downs. b. Rather a serious person who is a bit of a worrier but relatively contented. c. Agitated or miserable most of the time.

2. You feel that generally:

a. Good things happen to you and you’re hopeful for the future. b. You find yourself worrying quite a lot about the future. c. You feel that you have few choices in how you live and that things are more likely to get worse than better.

3. How best would you describe yourself?

a. I’m sociable, confident and have lots of good friends. b. I sometimes struggle to talk to my friends when times are difficult. c. I don’t have many friends who are really close to me and I sometimes don’t know where to turn.

4. Generally I would cry:

a. If something happened to make me really sad. b. Relatively easily; I’m a little sensitive at times. c. Very easily, and often I cry without knowing why.

5. Mostly I find that my sleep is:

a. Good and I awaken relatively refreshed. b. Quite good, but occasionally I have trouble getting to sleep or find myself wakening up early. c. Disturbed because either: I just don’t sleep well enough for long enough, or, I sleep all of the time. I don’t want to get out of bed in the morning. I just want to pull the covers over my head and stay there.

6. When I have a lot going on in my life:

a. I try to keep a balance and do things for myself, such as seeing friends and doing other activities I enjoy. b. My friendships and social activities suffer. c. I hide myself away.

Mostly As Life throws all sorts of different things at us all the time and you sound as if you cope well with troubles. Any upsets for you are likely to be normal reactions to difficult situations and you adjust well.

Mostly Bs Sometimes you find yourself in situations where you’re getting the warning signs that your mental health might be beginning to suffer. At times like this, you need to take a bit more care of yourself and perhaps explore new ways of dealing with your problems.

Mostly Cs Maybe you need to look after yourself a bit better. It sounds like things are quite hard going for you just now. Don’t be alone with this; support is never far away. It might be a good idea to visit your doctor for a chat.

Breathing Space is an impartial listening service aimed at people who are feeling sad or depressed and is open every day from 6pm – 2am on 0800 83 85 87 (Minicom: 0800 31 71 60) www. breathingspacescotland. co. uk Compiled by Dr Cynthia McVey, Chartered Health Psychologist and Dr Fiona Biggam, Chartered Clinical and Chartered Forensic Psychologist, lecturers, Glasgow Caledonian University This questionnaire first appeared in Well? the magazine of the Scottish Executive’s national programme for improving mental health and wellbeing. You can register to receive a free copy by e-mailing your contact details to well@scotland. gsi. gov. uk