- Hey everybody, today
we're gonna talk about

mental illnesses and whether
they're curable or not.

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

Welcome! I am a licensed therapist

making mental health videos

and I release them on
Monday's and on Thursday's.

So make sure you have your
notifications turned on

so that you don't miss out.

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

Many people with mental
health issues of any kind

want to know if they're
struggle is curable.

And for good reason.

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

that there is an end to what we feel

and that it won't come back, ever.

Now, in order to answer this question,

I first have to describe to you

the difference between mental
health and mental illness

because it's in that differentiation

that we will find the
answer to our question.

Now, mental health is
something that we all have.

Just like we all have a
physical health, right?

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

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

meeting with friends, feeling fulfilled

and just really good.

And overall, just know, that
mental health is defined,

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

Mental health is defined as a
persons condition with regard

to their psychological
and emotional wellbeing.

If we are taking care of
ourselves best we can,

you know, we're taking
breaks when we need them,

making time for the things
that we enjoy, et cetera,

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

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

each and every day and overall feel happy.

Mental illness, on the
other hand, is like,

when we catch a cold.

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

then maybe our nose starts to run

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

you're laid up in bed wishing
you had taken advantage

of all the time you
had when you were well.

That's not just me, right?

I'm constantly feeling like that,

where when I finally am sick

and I just have to lay on the couch,

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

when I was feeling good.

Maybe it's just me though.

Well, anyways, you have caught an illness.

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

all that you need to do.

You have to rest, you
have to take your medicine

and you have to take care of yourself

until you feel better, right?

Mental illness is just the same.

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

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

make us feel a little
different than we normally do,

and finally make it
impossible for us to do

all that we need to each and every day.

And mental illness impairs our ability

to function in our daily life

but with proper treatment
we can manage the symptoms

so that we can go back to living our life.

And again, just like a cold,

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

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

you're more susceptible to catching a cold

and the same goes for our mental health.

If we don't take care of ourselves,

do the things that we need to do

in order for us to feel good,

our mental health can
become a mental illness.

Does that make sense?

If not, in short, mental
illnesses aren't curable

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

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

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

Just like if we're physically sick

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

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

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

And if you wanna know
more about this difference

and how you can care
for your mental health,

pick up my book, it's called,

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

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

I talk all about this.

Now, the last thing that I want to do

is I wanna address neuroplasticity.

Now, if you don't know, neuroplasticity is

the ability of the brain to form

and reorganize synaptic connections,

especially in response to learning

or experience or following an injury.

Which really just means that, yes,

you can teach an old dog new tricks.

And yes, our brains can heal and change.

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

And I wanted to end by
talking about neuroplasticity

because it can offer some hope

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

Research on many
different mental illnesses

from Borderline Personality
Disorder to Depression

show that if we take care
of our mental health,

like, we're taking medication

if it's part of our treatment plan,

and we're working to use all the tools

that we're learning in therapy,

our brain can rearrange the connections

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

Like it slowly moves things over

to accommodate all the new behaviors

and communication skills you're tying out.

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

it's not comfortable
but it does get easier.

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

you may remember how I
talked about the brain

as if it was a balloon filled with sand.

And when our brain sends
a signal to have us react

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

and makes a little divot or rut, right?

And if we keep doing that
same thing over and over,

that divot's gonna get
deeper and deeper and deeper

but if we decide that we
want to do something new,

that marble is gonna
have to work extra hard

to get itself out of that
rut that it's created

into a more new and healthy path.

Does that make sense?

And so if it keeps doing
that new and healthy thing

then that new divot is
gonna get deeper and deeper

and that old rut that we used to have

will get more and more shallow.

Remember, our brain is
moving things around

so that it can assist
us with what we need.

And as a result, all that healthier stuff

is gonna get easier and easier to do

and the bad unhealthy hard stuff,

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

So, overall what I'm really saying is

just stick with it.

Even when it's hard because trust me,

it can and will get better.

I hope you found that helpful

and most importantly, hopeful.

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