Mental Wellbeing - Providing Hope and Resilience
As a growing mental crisis continues to spiral
out of control, and support organisations are unable to cope (e.g. CAMHS), the need to address root causes has never been more important. We need to renew 'Hope', and as over 2000 years of psychology and philosophy both highlight, having meaning/purpose in our lives, and doing good for others, communities and the environment is critical to this ... and is why the Foundation is doing what it is going ...
A recent article referred to a landmark study published in the British Medical journal (BMJ) highlighting that 'depression' is not medically linked to levels of Serotonin in the body and that drugs currently have little more than a placebo effect. The study highlighted that the only benefit appeared to be from the 'hope' they provide to people that they can/will get better. There are a few forms of 'alternative help' available (e.g. 'social prescribing') which work well. These are effective in terms of outcome, albeit limited in scope, availability and capability, hence the Good Turns Foundation is starting to help further in this regard. The key to addressing depression is not drugs ... but creating 'hope and opportunity'! 'Hopelessness' is predominantly what drives anxiety, depression and worse (e.g. suicidal ideation / suicide), and as the main author of the study said, it's 'hope' the drugs have been providing, depression is not a medical condition, its's a psychological condition ... an emotional reaction to the environment individual's 'see'.
On this day, World Mental Health Day, we look back in order to look forward into the future ... thousands of years of both psychology and philosophy highlight how well-being can be broken down into two main areas; hedonistic well-being and psychological well-being (Eudaimonia). The former involves seeking pleasure for oneself and creates short-term happiness (e.g. eating cake). The latter focuses on leading a meaningful/purposeful life, for instance by doing good for others, communities and the planet. As social animals this connects directly with our inner-self and our intrinsic desire to do good for others and is well known to lead to a fulfilling life and, paradoxically, to long-term happiness too. And the above is, for instance, why 'social prescribing' works so well ... i.e. putting meaning/purpose back into people's lives and "giving people hope".
The Good Turns Foundation directly focuses on improving psychological well-being, by recognising and rewarding the good people do for others, for communities and the environment. The Good Turns Foundation has the following Purpose ... Providing hope and opportunity - continuously improving well-being ™
The Good Turns Foundation is at the frontier of a new movement in Well-being, and is focused upon uniquely recognising (and rewarding) the good people voluntarily do for others, for communities and the environment ... all of which add meaning/purpose to people's lives. To do this the Foundation is introducing a new measure of good, called Good Points®, with many unique and meaningful sub-categories. For instance:
- Climate Points® - e.g. planting trees / walking to school
- Environment Points® - e.g. cleaning rivers / canals / beaches
- Community Points® - e.g. helping local communities
- Volunteer Points® - e.g. helping voluntary groups / organisations
- Charity Points® - e.g. helping local / national / international charities
- Mentoring Points® - e.g. mentoring young people
- Coaching Points® - e.g. sports / exercise coaching
- Tutoring Points® - e.g. academic training / tutoring
History and philosophy highlight the power/importance of stories, and by introducing Good Points® people start to create their own unique and meaningful story! They also allow people to shout-out-loud about their thousands of good points too! The Foundation provides detailed/objective references for all the good they do too, something forward looking enterprises so desperately look for and yet is so difficult to find (many try to find this out by looking to see what people do in their spare time)! Psychology also points to the fact that the most important story of all is the one our mind tells itself every single day, and this story by itself has the unique power to transform a person’s well-being and increase their opportunity to thrive.
In one of the most motivating speeches ever given, US Navy Seals Admiral William H. McRaven profoundly stated … "If you want to change the world, measure people by the size of their 'heart', not by the size of their 'flippers' … " where 'flippers' is synonymous with things like 'academic ability', 'physical ability', 'wallet' ... and with its clear mission of "creating a world where good is valued", the Foundation new measure of value, Good Points®, is a unique and meaningful measure of a person's 'heart', i.e. a measure of the good one voluntarily does for others, for communities and the planet.
Recent reports also highlight the importance of many more areas looking into the future too; including the growing importance of character/skills, volunteering and connecting with communities, unleashing untapped talent and nurturing creativity too. These also align very well with what the Foundation has planned (e.g. Finding You®, The Creative Crew®) and in addition to the above points people also now earn wider Character/Personality Points® too. For instance:
- Leadership Points® - e.g. leading activities / events
- Teamwork Points® - e.g. being a helpful member of a team
- Resilience Points® - e.g. facing adversity / challenges
- Resourcefulness Points® - e.g. gathering / connecting resources
- Creative Points® - e.g. creativity / entrepreneurship
- Health Points® - e.g. healthy activities for the mind / body
- Wellbeing Points® - e.g. meditation / mindfulness
- Spiritual Points® - e.g. spiritual / religious activities
- Exercise Points® - e.g. exercise / sporting events
- Nutrition Points® - e.g. healthy eating
The Good Turns Foundation is uniquely positioned to transform well-being, nuture key characteristics/skills and to help people and communities to thrive ... the Foundation recently submitted the above into the Government's 'Call for Evidence: Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan' ... in order to help shape mental health and well-being provision into the future, and to provide hope and opportunity and continously improve well-being ... and today on World Mental Health Day, we signed the UK government petition to bring education about mental wellbeing and suicide ideation into schools in a safe and age-appropriate way in order to build resilience and to help young people, who feel they can no longer cope with life, to learn how to better deal with the many challenges we face in life and how to seek help from the many thousands of amazing and passionate people out there who are there to help ... who are there out of kindness, personal experiences and a natural desire to help ...
In the future the Good Turns Foundation plans to help a lot more, for instance by recognizing/rewarding all the support people provide alongside activities which boost people's wellbeing (e.g. Volunteer Points®, Charity Points® and Wellbeing Points®) ...
... and on this poignant day we thank everyone seeking to help those in crisis from the bottom of our hearts ... and here's a link to the petition in you want to sign it too ...
David Clift, Founder of the Good Turns Foundation
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© Good Turns Foundation 2022
