0:00:04.656,0:00:09.110
So efficient and hushed are[br]our brains in their day to day operations,

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we are apt to miss

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what an extraordinary[br]and complicated achievement it is

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to feel mentally well.

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A mind in a healthy state is,[br]in the background,

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continually performing [br]a near-miraculous set of manoeuvres

0:00:23.101,0:00:26.572
that underpin our moods [br]of clear-sightedness and purpose.

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To appreciate what mental health might be,

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and therefore what its opposite involves,

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we might take a moment to consider

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some of what will be going on in the folds[br]of an optimally-functioning mind.

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First and foremost,[br]a healthy mind is an editing mind,

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an organ that manages to sieve

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from thousands of stray, dramatic, [br]disconcerting, or horrifying thoughts

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those particular ideas and sensations[br]that actively need to be entertained

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in order for us to direct[br]our lives effectively.

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Partly, this means keeping at bay[br]punitive and critical judgements

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that might want to tell us repeatedly[br]how disgraceful and appalling we are,

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long after harshness has ceased [br]to serve any useful purpose.

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When we are interviewing for a new job[br]or taking someone on a date,

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a healthy mind doesn’t force us[br]to listen to inner voices

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that insist on our unworthiness.

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It allows us to talk to ourselves [br]as we would to a friend.

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At the same time, a healthy mind [br]resists the pull of unfair comparisons.

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It doesn’t constantly allow

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the achievements and successes[br]of others to throw us off course,

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and reduce us to a state[br]of bitter inadequacy.

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It doesn’t torture us

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by continually comparing [br]our condition to that of people

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who have, in reality, had very different[br]upbringings and trajectories through life,

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A well-functioning mind

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recognizes the futility and cruelty [br]of constantly finding fault

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with its own nature.

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Along the way, a healthy mind keeps [br]a judicious grip on the faucet of fear.

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It knows that, in theory,

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there is an endless number of things[br]that we could worry about:

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a blood vessel might fail,

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a scandal might erupt,

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the planes' engines could[br]sheer from their wings…

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but it has a good sense of the distinction

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between what could conceivably happen

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and what is, in fact, likely to happen.

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And it is able to leave us in peace

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as regards the wilder[br]eventualities of fate,

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confident that awful things [br]will either not unfold

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or could be dealt with ably enough

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if ever they did so.

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A healthy mind avoids [br]catastrophic imaginings.

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It knows that there are[br]broad and stable stone steps -

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not a steep and slippery incline -

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between itself and disaster.

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A healthy mind has compartments[br]with heavy doors that shut securely.

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It can compartmentalise[br]where it needs to -

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not all thoughts belong at all moments.

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While talking to a grandmother,

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the mind prevents the emergence of[br]images of last night's erotic fantasies.

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While looking after a child,

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it can repress its more cynical[br]and misanthropic insights.

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Aberrant thoughts[br]about jumping on a train line

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or harming oneself with a sharp knife

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can remain brief peculiar flashes,

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rather than repetitive fixations.

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A healthy mind has mastered [br]the techniques of censorship.

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A healthy mind can quieten [br]its own buzzing preoccupations

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in order, at times,[br]to focus on the world beyond itself.

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It can be present and engaged[br]with what and who is immediately around.

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Not everything it could feel[br]has to be felt at every moment.

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It can be a good listener.

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A healthy mind combines[br]an appropriate suspicion of certain people

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with a fundamental trust in humanity.

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It can take[br]an intelligent risk with a stranger.

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It doesn’t extrapolate[br]from life’s worst moments

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in order to destroy the possibility[br]of anything good emerging

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with a new acquaintance.

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A healthy mind knows how to hope.

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It identifies,[br]and then hangs on tenaciously

0:04:04.144,0:04:06.509
to a few reasons to keep going.

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Grounds for despair, anger[br]and sadness are, of course, all around.

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But the healthy mind knows

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how to bracket negativity [br]in the name of endurance.

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It clings to evidence[br]of what is still beautiful and kind.

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It remembers to appreciate.

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It can, despite everything, [br]still look forward to a hot bath,

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some dried fruit, or dark chocolate,

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a chat with a friend,

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or a satisfying day of work.

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It refuses to let itself be silenced

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by all the many sensible arguments

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in favor of rage and despondency.

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Outlining some of the features[br]of a healthy mind

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helps us to identify what can go awry

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when we fall ill.

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We should acknowledge the extent

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to which mental illness is ultimately[br]as common and as essentially unshameful,

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as its bodily counterpart.

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True mental health

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involves a frank acceptance of[br]how much ill health there will have to be

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in even the most ostensibly [br]competent and meaningful life.

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And we should be[br]no more reluctant to seek help

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than we are when we develop [br]a chest infection or a sore knee,

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and should consider ourselves [br]no less worthy of love and sympathy.

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Our online shop has[br]a range of books and gifts

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that address the most important[br]and often neglected areas of life.

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Click now to learn more.

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Subtitles by Carol Wang