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- Hey everybody, today[br]we're gonna talk about

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mental illnesses and whether[br]they're curable or not.

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But before we jump into that,[br]are you new to my channel?

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Welcome! I am a licensed therapist

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making mental health videos

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and I release them on[br]Monday's and on Thursday's.

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So make sure you have your[br]notifications turned on

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so that you don't miss out.

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But now, let's hop into today's topic.

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Many people with mental[br]health issues of any kind

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want to know if they're[br]struggle is curable.

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And for good reason.

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If we feel terrible week after[br]week, we're gonna wanna know

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that there is an end to what we feel

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and that it won't come back, ever.

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Now, in order to answer this question,

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I first have to describe to you

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the difference between mental[br]health and mental illness

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because it's in that differentiation

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that we will find the[br]answer to our question.

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Now, mental health is[br]something that we all have.

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Just like we all have a[br]physical health, right?

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We can have days where we[br]feel on top of the world,

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you know, checking so many[br]things off of our to-do list,

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meeting with friends, feeling fulfilled

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and just really good.

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And overall, just know, that[br]mental health is defined,

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'cause I always like to[br]define terms first, right?

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Mental health is defined as a[br]persons condition with regard

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to their psychological[br]and emotional wellbeing.

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If we are taking care of[br]ourselves best we can,

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you know, we're taking[br]breaks when we need them,

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making time for the things[br]that we enjoy, et cetera,

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et cetera, we should have a[br]pretty good mental health.

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We should feel pretty good, be[br]able to manage all we need to

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each and every day and overall feel happy.

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Mental illness, on the[br]other hand, is like,

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when we catch a cold.

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You know, first you can start[br]to feel a little extra tired,

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then maybe our nose starts to run

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and then maybe we get a[br]cough and before you know it,

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you're laid up in bed wishing[br]you had taken advantage

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of all the time you[br]had when you were well.

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That's not just me, right?

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I'm constantly feeling like that,

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where when I finally am sick

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and I just have to lay on the couch,

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I'm like, man, I should[br]have got so much done

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when I was feeling good.

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Maybe it's just me though.

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Well, anyways, you have caught an illness.

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It is taking over your body[br]and you aren't able to do

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all that you need to do.

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You have to rest, you[br]have to take your medicine

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and you have to take care of yourself

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until you feel better, right?

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Mental illness is just the same.

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I mean, no, you aren't gonna[br]catch it from someone else,

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don't get any ideas, but[br]it does creep in slowly,

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make us feel a little[br]different than we normally do,

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and finally make it[br]impossible for us to do

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all that we need to each and every day.

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And mental illness impairs our ability

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to function in our daily life

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but with proper treatment[br]we can manage the symptoms

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so that we can go back to living our life.

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And again, just like a cold,

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if we don't take care[br]of ourselves, you know,

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when you aren't sleeping[br]enough, you're working too much,

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you're more susceptible to catching a cold

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and the same goes for our mental health.

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If we don't take care of ourselves,

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do the things that we need to do

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in order for us to feel good,

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our mental health can[br]become a mental illness.

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Does that make sense?

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If not, in short, mental[br]illnesses aren't curable

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but we can take steps to keep[br]our mental health in check

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so that the bad way we[br]feel doesn't come back.

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Or at least won't stay as[br]long as it did last time.

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Just like if we're physically sick

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and we take some days off, we[br]sleep a lot, we drink water,

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and give our body time to heal,[br]we won't stay sick as long

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as we would if we kept pushing[br]our body to do more and more.

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And if you wanna know[br]more about this difference

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and how you can care[br]for your mental health,

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pick up my book, it's called,

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Are U Ok?: A Guide to Caring[br]for Your Mental Health

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and it's available now through[br]the link in the description.

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I talk all about this.

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Now, the last thing that I want to do

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is I wanna address neuroplasticity.

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Now, if you don't know, neuroplasticity is

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the ability of the brain to form

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and reorganize synaptic connections,

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especially in response to learning

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or experience or following an injury.

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Which really just means that, yes,

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you can teach an old dog new tricks.

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And yes, our brains can heal and change.

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And it's really the whole[br]reason that therapy works.

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And I wanted to end by[br]talking about neuroplasticity

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because it can offer some hope

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when we can feel like it's[br]never gonna get better.

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Research on many[br]different mental illnesses

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from Borderline Personality[br]Disorder to Depression

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show that if we take care[br]of our mental health,

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like, we're taking medication

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if it's part of our treatment plan,

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and we're working to use all the tools

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that we're learning in therapy,

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our brain can rearrange the connections

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so that we no longer have the[br]mental illness we had before.

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Like it slowly moves things over

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to accommodate all the new behaviors

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and communication skills you're tying out.

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Sure, it's hard at first because it's new,

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it's not comfortable[br]but it does get easier.

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And if you've been watching[br]me for a long time,

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you may remember how I[br]talked about the brain

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as if it was a balloon filled with sand.

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And when our brain sends[br]a signal to have us react

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or act in a certain way, it[br]rolls a marble over that sand

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and makes a little divot or rut, right?

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And if we keep doing that[br]same thing over and over,

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that divot's gonna get[br]deeper and deeper and deeper

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but if we decide that we[br]want to do something new,

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that marble is gonna[br]have to work extra hard

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to get itself out of that[br]rut that it's created

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into a more new and healthy path.

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Does that make sense?

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And so if it keeps doing[br]that new and healthy thing

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then that new divot is[br]gonna get deeper and deeper

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and that old rut that we used to have

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will get more and more shallow.

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Remember, our brain is[br]moving things around

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so that it can assist[br]us with what we need.

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And as a result, all that healthier stuff

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is gonna get easier and easier to do

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and the bad unhealthy hard stuff,

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it's gonna be easy to stay out of it.

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So, overall what I'm really saying is

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just stick with it.

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Even when it's hard because trust me,

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it can and will get better.

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I hope you found that helpful

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and most importantly, hopeful.

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Have a wonderful week and I[br]will see you next time, bye.