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Why You Should Focus On Mental Health in 2022

Mental health involves our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Since the start of the pandemic and over the years, many medical reports indicated the increase in anxiety and depression. If you interacted with people at all in the last two years, you might have noticed the frequency of the intensified bursts of anger, poorer customer service experiences, decreased motivational levels in employees, friends and relatives, lesser amounts of gratitude share, lapses in sound judgement, more apathy, etc. Anywhere you look bad news, fear mongering, and virtue signaling are amplified, getting people into deeper states of stress, anxiety, depression, and

chronic fear-based paralysis. It doesn't appear that the end of this news cycle is near.


Surely, no one wants to feel stressed, ill, and stuck. It has been discussed for a while now in the medical community that stress can lead to many deseases. I also wrote articles throughout the years on the adverse effects of stress on our minds, body, and lives.


Recently, I saw several articles mentioning that “Indiana Life Insurance CEO says deaths are up 40% among people ages 18-64.” These rates are up from pre-pandemic levels among working-age people. This is outright terrifying. Could some of these deaths be due to lack of the preventative care that potentially include major mental health decline? Maybe. I won't speculate. The online stories, although very disturbing, don't give us a conclusive data, due to many cases of disinformation and sensorship of dissenting voices.


I don’t want to sound an alarm since we, as humanity, are already bombarded by a multitude of fear-inducing articles, videos, and commentary on the mainstream media news and social media platforms. Instead, I want to prompt those who are struggling with their well-being to ask for professional help as soon as possible. As far as I know, preventing deseases are a better and cheaper than getting sick and having to use expensive treatments. Even my health insurance provider insists on getting my annual check ups (covering 100% of the visit costs), so they also know that preventative care is not only cheaper but also better at curing ailnments and major illnesses.


Sadly, access to quality mental health care is becoming seemingly limited in some parts of the world. This statement is based on both anecdotal and factual evidence. See one of many reports on the shortages of mental health workers in the state of Virginia https://www.virginiamercury.com/2021/10/27/a-shortage-of-workers-is-hindering-efforts-to-improve-mental-health-care-in-virginia/. As I speak with many folks going through transition or looking to improve their personal circumstances, frequently I am being told that they have trouble finding a therapist or counselor for themselves or their children. The wait times for the appointments with a licensed professional could be extremely long. While being put on the waiting lists, the symptoms are worsening and the quality of life is deteriorating.


Because of the reduced access to mental health care, I am continuing to focus this year on providing certified professional coaching using CBT - Cognitive Behavior Therapy training techniques. It has proven to either alleviate the light to moderate anxiety symptoms or reduce them while a person is waiting to see a licensed counselor. As a full discloser, according to the ICF - International Coaching Federation (my certification governing body), a coach is not a therapist, but when I focus on the whole person’s health, I can deliver results that improve well-being based on the methodologies that drive the identification of cognitive distortions, values, unhelpful beleifs, goal setting techniques, and action-taking empowerment.


In 2022, I want to help even more people with living a productive life without fear and hesitation. Please don't wait and schedule a free consultation. Be kind to yourself.





About the author: Alex Aberle, MSML, CEC is an award-winning career and executive leadeship coach, resume writer, organizational development consultant, and the author of Guide to a Successful Career Transition. In the last 25 years she has been working with the individuals and teams going through transition. She is passionate about building the world with better leadership and improving individuals' emotional well being.

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