Richard Hogan: 'You don't need to wake up and take an ice bath to increase your mental health'

Irish Examiner

2 days ago

Tricksters and scam artists have always been among us.
The guy standing on a soap box in the 'wild west', proclaiming that he had the cure to whatever ailment was common always gathered a crowd.
The dodgy herbalist with a unique collection of samples, proclaiming a panacea for the grim reaper's malintent, invariably found an eager bunch of customers.
The outrageous schemes and machinations of these wily characters have never failed to attract public attention.
We are drawn to them, to the Iagos and Edmunds of Shakespearian drama.
These characters are so confident in their ruse that we almost admire them.
They are self-proclaimed shamans, alchemists, false princesses, sorceresses, and political imposters.
In equal measure they have intrigued and duped us.
Mary Carleton, in 1635, was a crafty woman who posed as a German princess to seduce men in order to relieve them of their wealth.
She was a grifter and a bigamist.
Alfredo Bowman, better known to the stars as Dr Sebi, became a global phenomenon when he declared that he could cure Aids, cancer, and lupus with his herbal remedies.
Bowman had no medical training, despite the 'Dr' honorific. A civil suit taken against him by the New York assistant attorney general prohibited him from making therapeutic claims for his products.
Michael Jackson and John Travolta were among his famous clients.
So, we have always been intrigued by the big personality, selling the big lie.
We love the quick fix. The idea? Someone, somehow has the answer that medical science doesn't.
Even though our judgement knows better, it's the chance, the just maybe, that there's truth in a claim that appeals to the gambler in us all, that loves the idea of the grift.
We have never been more exposed to these charlatans than in modern times. Social media, has, quite literally, brought them into our bedrooms, and right into the view of our children.
A recent investigation by the Guardian newspaper found that half of all the top trending videos that offer mental health advice on TikTok contain misinformation. Shock horror. We live in the age of instantaneous information and abbreviated communication.
People want the quick fix, and they want it now! Social media influencers know this and so they sell ridiculous ideas of how to achieve great mental strength and success in life.
I talk in schools a lot, and I often show the students different videos from different, self-proclaimed mental health advocates. One, in particular, always gets a good laugh.
The guy is talking about how he is successful, and he explains that he breaks his day down in to three, six-hour 'days'. So he has three days, where the rest of us mere mortals are foolishly living one day.
He goes on to state that, 'I'm not crazy, you're crazy thinking it takes 24 hours, just like some dude in a cave did 300 hundred years ago'.
This is the point where I pause the video and ask the students, 'Anything problematic about this statement?' A guffaw of laughter generally ensues, because they get the point.
This guy thinks we were all living in caves 300 hundred years ago, which means Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in a cave 425 years ago. Not too shabby.
I always end by saying that perhaps we should not be taking advice from someone who doesn't have any concept of humans' journey on this planet.
I also say that if you did live like this guy suggests, not only wouldn't you be successful, you'd probably end up in a psychiatric unit from a mental break down.
We need rest. We need to replenish the wellspring of our imagination and cognition. These mental health advocates, putting themselves forward as healers and experts, have little to no understanding of psychology or health.
I hear them talking about resilience like it can be bought, or an easy fix in a child. True resilience comes from a child's sense of their community, their place in it, and their connection to others. You can't monetise that advice, and it takes time.
The carbohydrate in the noughties got all the bad press; now, idleness is being presented as the antithesis to success. Rubbish. We must rest, but, once again, you can't monetise that advice, because anyone can rest and anyone can advocate it.
But drinking turmeric upside down while chanting some Buddhist phrase, now that I can get behind.
My advice is always very straight forward and simple. What do you do that helps you feel better?
A jog, meeting friends, a sea swim? Do more of that. What do you do when you are feeling low that doesn't help? Scrolling your phone, engaging in an inert lifestyle, and isolating?
Do less of that. Simple. You don't need to wake up and take an ice bath, while reading some obscure Roman poet.
Just do more of what helps to increase your mental health, and avoid charlatans on your feed who tell you they have quick answers.
There are no quick answers. Physical and mental health require intentionality and some nice practices. It is an ongoing process.
We all have inexplicable bad days and we all have better days. Figure out what makes the better days, and do more of that.