But what does the red button actually do?

Okay, I have an experiment for you. I didn't invent it but it's something that I've seen before and found really interesting. Grab a piece of paper and pen (or just memorise the words).

1. What is the first thing you think of when you hear 'mental health'?

2. What is the first thing you think of when you hear 'physical health'?

Now look at what you've written. Or ponder over the words you've memorised and make the people around you think you're being really clever.

It is a recurring theme that the first thing people think of when they hear 'mental health' is usually examples of poor mental health (eg. depression, suicide, crazy) whereas generally the first thing people think of when they hear 'physical health' is ways in which you can maintain it (eg. exercise, fruit, not smoking).

I think this experiment perfectly illustrates the difference in how mental and physical health are perceived. Mental health is thought of instantly as a negative term. Physical health is seen as something we have to look after. I've never seen a post on Pinterest about '5 Minute Exercises You Can Do In The Office To Improve Your Mental Health'. There are never columns in magazines dedicated to all the ways you can get your kids interested in mental well-being.

Yes, I've seen a lot of 'positive thinking' articles and we've all seen those annoying accounts on Instagram dedicated to '100 days of happiness'.*

*Annoying only because they generally give up 15-20 days in, leaving their Instagram account abandoned and definitely not happy.

But those articles never relate positive thinking to mental health. Mental health is what crazy people have. Normal people don't need that.

Well, I'm sure it doesn't come as a surprise that we all have a brain. We all have mentality. We all have mental health. Some of us will be lucky enough to never have to worry about the state of their mental health. But most of us will.

The physical health equivalent is a bit like that friend that everyone has who eats everything (and I mean everything) and does no exercise (and I mean NO exercise) but still manages to have an amazingly slim figure, great skin and will probably live to 200. However, most of us will have to think about what we eat and do regular exercise to maintain a healthy weight and lifespan. This is exactly the same as with mental health.

If we don't exercise our brains, and give it the fuel it needs, it will eventually give up.*

*This is excluding genetic mental health disorders.

So here are my tips for exercising and feeding your brain:

Exercise

1. Learn! Never let yourself get to a point where you're not learning something everyday. This doesn't have to be advanced trigonometry, or German grammar rules, just something! It could be learning something about someone you know, learning to cook something you've never known how to make or even learning what every single button on your TV remote actually does.

2. Those 'brain training' apps you can get for your phone. Yes, most of them are either ridiculously easy or impossibly hard but it keeps your brain busy.

3. Create something. This could be a drawing, a song, a dance, a website, a book or even a blog (because I make it sound so fun). It doesn't have to be typically creative things either. It could be a maths puzzle, an acronym to remember chemical elements or an amazing personal statement (I tried to make that sound as fun as possible).

Food

1. Read. Just reading one article in a magazine will feed new words into your subconscious and give you something to think about.

2. Change. Go to a place you've never been before, listen to an artist you'd never usually listen to, or even change the colour of your duvet cover. Little changes force your brain to adjust and take in more information, but also prepare your brain for having to adapt if something big happens. Honestly, the only reason I managed to settle into Bristol after moving was because I used to change my duvet cover and pillowcases once a week.*

*Sarcasm but the rest of it was sincere.

3. Socialising. This sounds cliche but forming new relationships is an essential part of maintaining your mental health. Countless studies have shown that social interaction can prevent chronic mental (and physical) health disorders.

Learn, change, create.

I'm starting to sound like one of those weird life coach people you always see on American TV programmes, sorry. I'm done now.

Be the change you want to see! Okay, I'm actually done now.

So you work well in a team? Get in line.

I actually have something really exciting to announce! I have started blogging for the BMA communities website, about applying to medical school!*

*British Medical Association

Here is the link to where my posts will be published and below is the thing I just posted.

phobia

ˈfəʊbɪə/

noun

noun: phobia; plural noun: phobias

an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something.

I am scared of a lot of things. Injections (yes this is extremely unhelpful when wanting to be a doctor, we'll come to that later), applying to medical school (once again unhelpful but seemingly understandable), spiders (this is definitely not a phobia as it is completely rational), sundried tomatoes (a crime against any tomato anywhere) and technology. No, wait, correction. Technology is scared of me. 

This may seem like an odd thing to talk about on a 'road to medical school' blog forum but I'm going to turn it into a metaphor.*

*Yes, a metaphor! Brace. Yourself. Also, a side note to anyone who hasn't read anything on my main blog and happens to love drawn out and confusing metaphors, check it out. 

I ran into a few technological (that definitely doesn't sound like a word) problems when setting up my account for this. Firstly, my email wasn't being recognised and secondly, I couldn't upload an avatar.*

*Does anyone else find it really hard to separate that word from the memories of watching Avatar for like 4 hours and being completely and utterly confused? No? Just me then.

So, my solution to these problems was to send loads of emails. Ever since I turned 16, I've been really into emailing. I know I should be more enthusiastic about Instagram or Twitter but as a 2

1st century child, email is way more indie and retro. Anyway, it was as I was writing these panicky emails that I realised there was some blogging gold in this dilemma. 

The reason I included the (proper Oxford Dictionaries) definition to phobia was because I genuinely believe computers, phones and any sort of internet thing have some sort of irrational vendetta against me. Every single phone I've ever had (except my Nokia but not even I can break a Nokia) has eventually given up and died. This includes turning permanently mute, not letting me find WiFi, and even, in the worst circumstance, my phone deciding that the bottom of half of the screen was unnecessary anyway. 

Can I just clarify that I have had phone cases on all my phones. Like proper, thick, rubber cases that actually give the phone an ability to bounce to heights of 20cm, maybe more. I take all the precautions. Phone cases, firewalls, screen protectors, not installing dodgy virus-ridden apps et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Whatever I do, these phones are determined to break.

Now, we're finally getting to the metaphor. I like to imagine my battles with technology like the battle to get into medical school.

I call it a battle because it is. You wear the armour (grades, voluntary work, work experience), you wield your weapons (grade 8 flute, violin and piano, magical healing abilities) and you have opponents (every single other person who is applying to medical school). It is a battle.*

*Sorry for the unexpected metaphor.

No matter how much protection you wrap around yourself, let it be amazing A2 grades, 52 weeks of work experience or 17 years of voluntary work; or how many anti-failing software programmes you install, let them be compassion, empathy or The Ability To Work In A Team, there will always be obstacles trying to stop you getting there. They could be people telling you 'you're not the sort of person I can imagine being a doctor' or perhaps UCAS forms that make you realise that there is not one single thing you have done that makes you stand out from anyone else. I'm sorry, but your avatar won't load.

I don't know much about applying to medical school. I have no idea whether I'll get in. But whether I do or not, I am determined to learn something from this experience, even if it is just loads of amazing new metaphors.

Overthinking Tumblr

Recently I've kind of felt like a 'bad feminist'.

I put that in apostrophe-things because I know (like in my heart #cringe) that the only way to succeed at being a 'bad feminist' is if you don't actually believe in gender equality. I also know that there is no panel of judges, or governing body, to approve of your worthiness to label yourself as a feminist. Even so, I can't help constantly saying to myself 'I shouldn't think that' or 'A real feminist wouldn't think that'. I'll elaborate because I feel like you've now got this picture of me liking 'Menimist' posts on Facebook and tweeting about how I believe women were created to pleasure a man.

This is going to sound really trivial but the first time I thought this was on tumblr. I follow loads of great blogs (if I'm honest they're all very very similar but hey they repost nice pictures) and a lot of them repost feminist-y things. I love all these posts and agree with them 100% but a lot of the time I don't repost them to avoid my blog becoming too feminist.

Don't shoot me! Don't shoot me! Don't shoot me!

I know that is awful and I'm kind of considering deleting this.*

*I'm just being so brave.

I justified this to myself by saying (to myself, in my head) that I wanted just one form of social media where 'FIERCE BUT NOT AGGRESSIVE FEMINIST' wasn't the first label that people placed on me.

This is relevant to Facebook, Twitter and essentially every single social media.*

*Yes, I'm pretty sure I'm a member of most of them which is of great embarrassment to myself and my family.

This even happens in real life. OMG yes, I said it. Real Life. For example, someone I'm talking to might mention an article they read about how feminists are actually a Top Secret Global Organisation Working Closely With The Government To Brainwash The Brains Of The Nation's Children (or TSGOWCWTGTBTBOTNC for short). And instead of taking that opportunity to remind them that 'feminist' just refers to a person with a belief (that happens to be equality between sexes, lol) and actually feminists are just normal people who, no, don't believe all men should be locked in a dungeon as their primary function is to provide semen to make more humans, hopefully women, I will just make a sarcastic remark and move on as if it didn't happen.

This is all to minimise the number of people who decide it doesn't matter what my name is, what subjects I study, or even whether I'm actually a nice person or not, and instead just refer to me as 'that annoying feminist girl'.

However, I'm pretty sure if I had to have any label, category or neon pink flashing sign above my head it would say feminist. And I am proud of that. I want one of the first things people to know about me to be that I'm a feminist who is not only willing to take that label and own it, but also willing to educate and be educated about the millions of injustices and inequalities around our world.

So, from now on I am making a promise to myself to repost every feminist post I see on my tumblr dashboard, to 'like' every feminist status I see on Facebook, and to take every chance I can to call out inequality and promote equality.*

*Do you now understand my blog title? I got all that from not posting something on tumblr.