Mental Health Awareness Week

From food, exercise, sunlight, social connection, meditation & psychobiotics there has been a plethora of research that echoes recurring themes to support mental wellbeing. Where do you begin??
 
At The Urban Co-op we are on the journey to help make it easier for the community to find their way in this maze. Providing access to the elements that help build our physical and mental health in ways that are less overwhelming in this busy world is a start. The balance of dopamine and serotonin is a key to our mental health. What can we do to achieve it? Together we can help find a balance and our way to the light.
 
Serotonin, the feel good body chemical, hormone, transmitter, messenger is one of the well-known and researched areas linked with mental health, depression etc. Long term contentment is dependent on us having enough serotonin in our systems. Pharmacological solutions to maintain this nugget in our systems are readily dispensed as a solution to feeling depressed. Indeed, there is a role for this pathway to a solution. However, there are always plenty more options too! (1)
 
Dopamine is another feel good message we enjoy the short term benefits of in our modern lifestyles. Addictive lifestyles (accelerated by our digital connections), high sugar diets and alcohol/recreational drugs etc among other things, all give the dopamine hit we crave at times but have impacted us hugely in terms of our wellbeing. For those short time highs there are many long term lows. Many of us have become hostage to the short term hits that dopamine provides. But it does little to build a state of resilience to manage through the challenges life throws at us daily. (2)
 
Increasingly there is a realisation that the ultra-processed diets we have come to consider our normal have contributed much to our current health state. Plenty of anecdotal cases have emerged of success stories in improvements in mental health by changing the parameters of what we eat from ultra-processed to that of more natural origin that do not fit the current dietary recommendations. Ally is one such case and his interesting story echoes a familiar one for many families struggling today with mental health issues, but also brings a real sense of hope that there are ways to re nourish ourselves to health. (3)
 
Building our serotonin levels is an indirect mission of what we aim to do… here is how we do it!
 
Cook                     COnnect               COntribute                    CoPe
 
Cook: Access to real nourishing food and support for those who bring it to our tables. Home-made food with real ingredients.
 
Connect: Social interaction is important for our sense of belonging. We provide many opportunities to engage and interact with a growing community. The pace allows people to slow down and establish real connections once again. 
 
Contribute: Members are actively contributing to building a better future for us all by consciously consuming this way. Volunteers get many opportunities to experience a working co-operative.
 
Cope: Through a variety of therapy options and social engagements we are building a resilient community of support.

Anne Maher
 
References

1. %09https:/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?filter=years.2001-2022&linkname=pubmed_pubmed&from_uid=18043762
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1054139X21006753
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT2f4lcDq4A