Vince Stevenson

Anxiety Quick Wins Vince Stevenson

ANXIETY QUICK WINS is an essential guide to health and well-being. Anxiety steals your sense of purpose and turns your focus inwards. It shuts down the neocortex, the logical side of your brain, and takes you hostage. Anxiety manifests in many forms, unique in each case. The best medicine is preventative medicine.



Mental health issues now affect 20-25% of the population and with the news that these issues can reduce life expectancy by 15-20 years, it's a major concern for every individual, family and community. But it's also a national crisis. In 2019, the Centre for Mental Health indicated that absenteeism cost the economy £35 billion. In the US, 40 million people, 18% of the population, suffer from anxiety.

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted underlying health issues in socio-economic groups in both the UK and the US. These vulnerable groups bear the brunt of societal inequalities in terms of income, housing, opportunity and occupation.



My suggestion is that whatever group you're from, making yourself bulletproof should begin straightaway. By that, I mean building your physical strength through nutrition and exercise, as well as introducing mindful activities into your daily life and building resilience. If you need a diagnosis and therapeutic assistance, it may be several months away due to the mental health postcode lottery. Delayed diagnosis exacerbates an already fraught situation, particularly in the young.

When the pandemic struck, the first issue in lockdown was making provision for nutrition. The supermarket shelves were emptied day after day. Panic buying left health workers empty-handed and feeling betrayed. For some, this was an assault on their mental health. If you're going through hard times, it's sensible to take precautionary measures now. It's never too late to respect and rebuild your body and begin the healing process that your mental health depends upon.