1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,160
Happy Monday and welcome to your
mental health mini. 

2
00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:04,960
Today we have a solo episode 
with yours truly and we are 

3
00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:08,160
talking optimism. 
Being optimistic, you're almost 

4
00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:10,640
tricking your brain into 
believing you have more control,

5
00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:14,280
you have more autonomy, you have
more of an ability to change 

6
00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:16,040
your life. 
In fact, non depressed 

7
00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:18,760
individuals tend to overestimate
the control they have on their 

8
00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,800
lives, whereas depressed 
individuals tend to accurately 

9
00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:25,000
estimate their control. 
This is a delusion working to 

10
00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:26,680
your benefit. 
We've all seen on TikTok, like 

11
00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:30,600
in my Telulu era, like what 
makes you believe that illusion?

12
00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,320
Being really optimistic allows 
you to feel like you have more 

13
00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:36,640
control and feel like you have 
more hope. 

14
00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,480
And so many people with 
depression and anxiety feel like

15
00:00:39,480 --> 00:00:41,320
they don't have control. 
They don't have control over 

16
00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:42,720
their moods. 
They don't have control over 

17
00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:44,040
their thoughts. 
They don't have control over 

18
00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:45,800
their behaviors. 
It's almost like their mind is 

19
00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,240
running wild and their emotions 
are running wild without their 

20
00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,000
consent. 
And that lack of control is 

21
00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,960
incredibly distressing and 
incredibly overwhelming. 

22
00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:58,880
And I think understanding how a 
mindset of optimism, even if you

23
00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:01,000
like artificially introduce and 
you're like, I'm going to be 

24
00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,519
optimistic from now on can help 
counteract that and kind of 

25
00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:07,120
being anecdote to those really 
distressing feelings of being 

26
00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,240
out of control. 
There's also something that 

27
00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:13,320
happens in the mind of the 
pessimists and, and people that 

28
00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:15,920
have negative moods and people 
that struggle with their mental 

29
00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,120
health, which is that when bad 
things happen, you think it's a 

30
00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,160
shortcoming of you, You think 
it's your fault if you do bad on

31
00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:25,240
a test, it's because you're a 
bad student, It's because you're

32
00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:27,680
stupid, It's because you are not
good enough. 

33
00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,720
The healthy way to interpret 
that and the optimistic way to 

34
00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,480
interpret that is that you say I
wasn't accurately prepared. 

35
00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,200
I could have studied more. 
I wasn't prepared for those 

36
00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:40,040
questions on the test. 
I didn't understand the 

37
00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:41,680
material. 
And you can kind of understand 

38
00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,680
the difference of like I did 
something versus I am. 

39
00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,200
And if you're struggling with 
yourself esteem and you were 

40
00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:50,520
experiencing a lot of shame, you
are probably also doing that. 

41
00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,400
You're attributing these things 
to yourself and your character 

42
00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:56,840
and you as a person rather the 
environment or behaviors you 

43
00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:59,440
have chosen to make your 
thoughts, your emotions and your

44
00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,040
behaviors, they're not you. 
They are things you experience. 

45
00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,080
And having that separation and 
having that cognitive dissonance

46
00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:10,199
from your emotions in your mind 
can be really helpful, 

47
00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,360
especially with depression. 
And I think that is something to

48
00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,160
be really aware of and that 
enforcing yourself into those 

49
00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,440
self-serving biases and rewiring
those thought patterns. 

50
00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:21,160
I am to. 
I did. 

51
00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:25,600
This is incredibly powerful for 
yourself, esteem and your mental

52
00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:27,720
health. 
So we talked about optimism. 

53
00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:29,760
It has a lot of benefits. 
It makes us feel like we're more

54
00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:31,160
in control. 
It helps us with the 

55
00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:33,760
self-serving bias. 
It helps us have better moods. 

56
00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,880
But how do we become optimistic?
One way that you can start that 

57
00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,440
process and start reframing your
thought process is beginning to 

58
00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:44,520
perceive the world is 
fundamentally good. 

59
00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,120
And I've noticed that since I've
been in recovery and left 

60
00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,320
treatment and continue to 
maintain my mental health, I've 

61
00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:54,680
noticed a mindset shift to 
really having the belief of 

62
00:02:54,920 --> 00:02:57,640
what's meant to happen will 
happen and things work out for 

63
00:02:57,640 --> 00:02:59,720
the best. 
And kind of like lucky girl 

64
00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:02,640
syndrome, I really do believe 
that things will work out for 

65
00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:04,120
the best. 
If they don't work out the way 

66
00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:06,160
you want them to, it's because 
it wasn't meant to be. 

67
00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,240
It wasn't meant to happen and 
that you are moving in the right

68
00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:11,520
direction, you are on your 
journey and things are happening

69
00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:14,840
for a reason and that people are
inherently kind and 

70
00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:16,960
compassionate and that the world
is a good place. 

71
00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,880
I think having that mindset is 
not used to be really 

72
00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:21,760
pessimistic. 
What causes people to be 

73
00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:24,280
optimistic? 
It's when they're in situations 

74
00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,440
that they believe to be positive
and that they have a natural 

75
00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:30,840
tendency to heal and flourish 
and improve. 

76
00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:35,000
And so if you are approaching 
your mental health as a 

77
00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,600
situation where you are going to
heal, you are going to feel 

78
00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,720
better, you are going to improve
your ability to regulate your 

79
00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,240
emotions and cope with things 
and have healthy relationships, 

80
00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,960
you become more optimistic. 
So how can we perceive our 

81
00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:52,560
environments as positive and as 
a container for us to heal 

82
00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:54,680
Fluorescent improve, It requires
two things. 

83
00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:57,320
It requires believing that you 
are capable of changing your 

84
00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,040
life and perceiving your life as
variable. 

85
00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,080
You not only have to have the 
skill set and have the 

86
00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:05,760
confidence in yourself that that
skill set exists, and that 

87
00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,080
happens when you continuously 
build that muscle of changing 

88
00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,640
your life, but also truly and 
genuinely believing that the 

89
00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,279
world and the environment you're
living in is improving and 

90
00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:18,800
believing that it has the 
potential to change in a 

91
00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:20,600
positive way. 
If you believe the world is 

92
00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:22,600
completely fixed and that no 
matter what you deed, nothing 

93
00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:24,920
will change, you're not able to 
move forward and you don't have 

94
00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:26,240
that belief that you can change 
your life. 

95
00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,280
And similarly, when you believe 
the world is improvable and has 

96
00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:33,280
the capacity for positive 
change, but you don't see 

97
00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:36,160
yourself as having the skills to
do so, you're at an impasse. 

98
00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:40,160
When you have the self efficacy 
and the confidence in your skill

99
00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,760
set and you perceive the world 
as improvable and with potential

100
00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,160
for positive change, that is 
when you can make changes and 

101
00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:47,680
improve your life.