
According to the Black Dog Institute one in five (20%) Australians aged 16-85 experience a mental illness in any year and on any given day, 6 Australians will commit suicide. Sobering facts when you consider the wealth and lifestyle that has become the signature of our nation.
The most common mental health problem is Anxiety, with a capital A. I don't know about you, but when I was a kid there was no such thing as Anxiety Disorder and sadly, it is the younger people who are suffering most. It's hardly surprising when you consider the numerous culprits that all feed into one big nerve-quaking mess of a generation: Social anxiety fuelled by social media, political anxiety, work insecurity, the costs of living spiralling against the fact that we are working for less and even for free, in so many cases. You just have to look around the web to find just about anything you care to want to learn, just to discover that it's on offer for free. The very fact that so much is available; the overload of choices, the infinite knowledge, talks, podcasts, reports and information well, sends most of us into a continuous state of anxious overwhelm.
It's no wonder we have a host of health and wellness companies bound for our rescue, and I'm proud to say I am representing some of them. The 2017 wellness stage is set with businesses designed to reinstate calm, balance and wellbeing into our lives. Where a trip to the doctor once used to be a one-stop-fix-it cure, we are now challenging the boundaries of treatment, seeking out alternatives, holistic rituals, ancient medicine and natural therapies.
During the past 5-10 years, meditation has stolen centre stage as a global movement as has it's close partner, Yoga. It is so heartening to see progressive workplaces providing options with the intention of motivating staff as well as keeping them healthy, while gyms are heaving after work and the supermarket aisles are being ever more scrutinised. You could say we are at the beginning of a wellness revolution, where we are measuring status by the condition of our health, both mental and physical, rather than the car we drive or the handbags we carry.
Remember, beauty and health are the same, both feed into each other. Beauty cannot exist without good health first.