In our regular spot on the site where we chat about mental health and wellbeing, a few thoughts on looking after our physical health too.
Hello and welcome to the spot on the site where we like to have a little natter about wellbeing, about mental health, about simply being human. There’s nothing massively radical to the conversations we’re having. It really is as simple as humans wanting other humans to be okay. And acknowledging that sometimes, it really is okay not to be okay. Not every article we write in this series is going to be of use to everyone, but our aim is that over the series, there’s one that helps you.
This week, just a few words on physical health.
Lots of our articles are about mental health, and this still ties in. But it’s a little piece about those moments where something just doesn’t feel right in our bodies. Not the big things, because we instinctively know I think that something feels dramatically wrong. But the little niggling pain that keeps coming back. The twinge in the head. The pains you can’t put a finger on. The ones that we have a habit of ignoring.
Some people – not me – are brilliant at dealing with stuff like this. They have a take no chance sapproach, and get whatever it is checked out. I didn’t used to do that, in truth. I was one of those who wouldn’t go near a doctor unless my leg was hanging off.
And then I started losing people around me. People who felt that somebody had been a little off, but don’t worry about it. They didn’t want to cause any trouble. It was bound to be nothing, right?
I think most of us have that kind of internal monologue going on when things feel just a little off. And we’re very good at talking ourselves out of just getting something checked. That, or the most we do is check out Dr Google, and discover that we’re at death’s door as a result. Google is very good at this: it delivers the worst case scenario for you with a nice big bow on it.
Thing is, it’s worth checking. It can be a bit of hassle, and at a time when the NHS is stretched so much, it’s easy to talk yourself out of. Your GP might not be much good, in your view. There are always obstacles. For me, though, since I started losing people – ahead of their time in one or two cases – I don’t take the chance.
That’s why I ended up – in the interests of putting my actions where my mouth is – in A&E towards the end of last year. Something felt wrong. I thus picked up a book and a bottle of water, and walked in. It took time, but I got checked out. Something – nothing horrible – was picked up, and it explained what had been causing the problem I’d had.
Ten years ago, I’d never have done that. I may, in truth, have been a bit too scared too. And whilst I’ve had more fun Friday evenings, it felt an important thing to do. I’m glad I did it. If you’re feeling a little off yourself, I do recommend you do the same. Try not to regret not going earlier. Just get it checked. And the very best to you.
Thanks, as always, for reading. This column will return next week.
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