Why the 3rd rung gives way! 🪜 Master the first steps first.
We have been writing about our Building Blocks for Good Mental Health Model for some time now and have not yet shared a visual representation of it. So far, we’ve covered the first 3 foundational building blocks and will come to the higher-level blocks soon. As we’ve developed this model, it has taken some changes.
So here is our model. We liken it to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, where the foundational Building Block 1: Nutrition and Bodily Ingestion must be largely mastered first.
This is then overlaid with improving Building Block 2: Environment, across the 3 sub-areas of:
i) toxicological environment
ii) physical environment (work and home)
iii) social environment (connection and relationships)
We have redefined Building Block 3: ‘Toolkit and Skills’ to encompass ‘Psychology & Mental State’ as a whole, which is underpinned by our toolkit and skills approach.
The higher-level Building Blocks are Building Block 4: Belief Systems, which includes hope, trust and spirituality, and Building Block 5: Pursuit or action. These are not always achieved and are the pinnacle of mental health optimisation.
In a similar way to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, people will struggle to achieve Building Blocks 4 and 5 without largely conquering the first 3 Foundational Building Blocks. This is why we say you can’t get on the Mental Health Building Blocks Model ladder at the 3rd rung; you must master the first steps first!
Mental Health Building Blocks Model
We will later discuss Building Block 4: Belief Systems and Building Block 5: Pursuit.
This schematic is useful to see how terribly difficult it is to achieve good mental health when we attempt to address issues at the Building Block 3 level, Psychology and Mental State, without mastering Building Blocks 1 and 2 first.
This is why talking therapy, as we discussed here, is not completely effective for many. Our toolkit and skills are especially effective at this level 3 as they help us conquer our psychology and mental state, but again, require Blocks 1 and 2 to be mastered first.
We hope this schematic is a useful visual aid for understanding mental health better. We believe it highlights why Mental Health Getaway is different from other approaches to mental health support.
Until next time, when we will have some exciting news…
Well wishes,
Andie. x
Image: Arkinasi from Freepik