Mental Health Awareness Month

May is considered as Mental Health Awareness Month. To support this topic I would like to dedicate several articles to mental health this month. In this article, you can read about the rhythm of life and how it affects us and our mental health.

Those Ukrainian women who found the strength to rise above the German bureaucracy became patient and accepted the fact that they probably came particularly to Germany during the war in Ukraine for a reason, were able to see many advantages and realize simple truths that we often forgot. I had conversations with girls and women from Ukraine whom I knew before and with whom I cooperated/worked in one way or another. Without agreeing and without knowing what was in the head and heart of the other, we talked about the same thing "When you rise above the German bureaucracy and just accept everything as it is, you will be able to see very important things." And these important things are not free and one of the best medical systems in the world, or total safety in everything, or the legal aspect of the country. It is primarily about RHYTHM of life, here in Germany it is completely different. And these Ukrainian women, including me, despite the pain, suffering, and agony, were able to simply LIVE peacefully here, not working on 100-500 projects simultaneously, turning ourselves into a zombie robots, not competing with everyone, not trying to prove how cool you are doing a job that should be done by at least ten people because you can, you are strong and like Atlantean you will carry everything on your shoulders. Here, everything is calm and a person has time for himself/herself and can simply live his/her life, and not only work on projects 24/7, each time exceeding the expectations of the employer/customer / or his/her expectations.

I was born in Kyiv and lived there all the time, I love my country and my city very much, but the rhythm of this city is crazy, you are constantly running and you cannot stop for a minute, because as soon as you stop, it means your death both as a professional and as a person. And this pace is getting faster and faster every year. And the most painful thing is that no one ever asks the question what is the price??? What is the price of having so many creative and innovative projects? What is the price of having so many global and cool projects and implemented ideas by large corporations and international businesses? What is the price of having such a variety of everything? What is the price of organizing so many events non-stop? What is the price...? And it is good if the price is only financial, but as a rule, this price is also measured by the time spent on all these things and by people's health. And to make a full-scale event in four days, someone should not sleep at night. For guests to have the opportunity to try new cookies, desserts, or pastries every day when they visit their favorite cafes, pastry shops, or boulangeries, someone also should not sleep at night. To print postcards from today to today, and at the same time to prepare a layout, someone should work in a robot mode.... Everyone can add their story or the story of their friends, colleagues.... But we never wonder what is the price for everything we have in our country. We always want more and constantly want to increase the degree of our coolness proving that now we have surpassed ourselves. And it's very attractive and super cool to be so creative, so efficient, so hardworking, like superhumans who never get tired and never get sick. But is it true???

The first time I watched "Suits" in English sometime between 2012 and 2014, I was shocked by the rhythm of their work and life in general, but pre-war Kyiv closely approached this rhythm. And in "Suits" I first heard the term "panic attack", because the main hero, the main "Suit", had severe panic attacks. To be honest, at that time I could not understand what was happening to him and why. But now there is a clear awareness that such a crazy and frantic rhythm of life (both in the professional, private, and social spheres) leads to mental imbalances: burnout, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, etc. And the problem is that before the war, in Ukrainian society, it was not possible to talk about it frankly, because people could not only laugh at you publicly and thus destroy you as a person or stop communicating with you, but also you could be fired from your job. In Ukraine before the war, few people consciously and openly took care of their mental health, sorry, but going to a fitness club is not about mental health, but could only be one probable component of it. Why probable? Because grueling sessions with a trainer to lose weight, and pump up your breasts and buttocks to fit some ephemeral image of beauty and athleticism are about distorted perception, but not about taking care of yourself. Another problem is that a huge number of people who experienced anxiety disorders, depression, burnout, or panic attacks before the war even did not know about it, they just somehow continued to live with it and adapted to such conditions. And those who nevertheless dared to tell themselves that something was wrong with them, went to the doctor, but did it very quietly, so that no one knew or even guessed. I remember how my colleague once found out that another colleague went to a psychologist: "How can she even work? She's sick!" That was the average level of consciousness of the vast majority of people and their standard reaction to a visit to a psychologist by another person.

This frenetic rhythm concerns many professions, businesses, and fields, but for some reason, it happened that in corporate business it is considered that the most exhausting job is in sales. I was always outraged by this. Why sales? Why not marketing, PR, communications, graphic design, IT or HR, technical sphere, etc.? Why do we still attribute sales to some higher league? Yes, I am well aware that sales have difficult and responsible job. But what about others? To be honest, in my professional career, I have seen very few salespeople with depression, panic attacks, or burnout. But I saw a lot of women (that's right women) from communications, PR, and marketing exhausted, without strength and energy, tired and apathetic, completely burned out and confused, with depression, anxiety disorders, and panic attacks. BECAUSE of this frenetic rhythm in business. And as a rule, no one knew about it, because there were no loud posts and announcements, it was not possible to talk about it loudly, making coming outs, so they just kind of lived with it, because they were strong and for some reason must constantly inspire and motivate everyone. Or they just disappeared for a while from all radars, and quietly and silently somehow coped with it, restored themselves, and collected their pieces of themselves all together. And after some time, you realize that they have changed their profession, to at least slow down the pace a little, but not much, because the big city will not allow it. While others somehow have found the strength to radically change their lives, because they can no longer do it in the old way, and most importantly, they don't want to. So they have learned to live with their rhythm, regardless of the rhythm of the city. But it is difficult, there are few such people, and, as a rule, only difficult life circumstances lead to such changes, and not one's own choice.

Life in a frantic rhythm without normal sleep and quality rest, work and availability 24/7, and the image of a "magic fairy" who can do everything and even more, with a permanent smile on their face and constantly burning eyes, overflowing with energy, strength, inspiration, ideas, and motivation, is an illusion. Because no one can live in such a rhythm and with such indicators constantly, throughout life. Everything has its price and time to be stopped.

Slowing down the pace or rhythm of life in all areas is the first step to balanced mental health from a psychological point of view, and the first step to yourself from a spiritual point of view. Slowing down does not mean a complete stop, because such a process can lead to involution and degradation, although in critical situations it is necessary to stop completely.

Slowing down allows you not only to rest and switch, but it makes the mind sharper and the consciousness clear. And that's when it becomes obvious that many things in your life are superfluous and you don't need them, they are important to someone else, but not to you, they are no anymore interesting to you, they are destructive and inhibit your evolution.

Take care of yourself and your mental health and don't be afraid to talk about it, it's normal.

* This article is a reflection of my vision and understanding, my experience, and my observations, and is not scientific.

** If you want to learn more about Mental Health Awareness Month, you can read about the history of its creation here MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH -May 2023 - National Today

May 13, 2023.