The benefit of self-help books

Since I can remember, I have loved reading, however, once I had children, this went away for some time due to lack of time and the fact that other things had become a priority in my life. However, as I had started to suffer from some health issues, both mental and physical, I turned to many avenues for support and guidance. Books, in particular, proved helpful and were weirdly supportive at a time of difficulty.

Through my journey of working on my mental and physical health, one of the first books I discovered that was of great help was Dr Chatterjee’s book 'The 4 Pillar Plan'. The book is a simple and effective look at how we can all help ourselves in simple ways in four areas of our life - relaxation, what we eat, how we move, and how we sleep. More research is showing the link between our mental state and our lifestyles which, as expected, would include these four areas.

His book gives each area a bit of research as to why he is looking at this area, and then tips and techniques that can be easily incorporated into a busy life like I had (and still have). The book is an easy read and is pleasant to look at in relation to the texture and colours.

Among the techniques that work for me to achieve goals concerning healthy eating and exercise is the 'office workout'. I will do this while I’m cooking my food; it takes five minutes, if that, and meets my requirements of getting my muscle training in - which believe me when you have kids, you need. I also like the rainbow chart, and this helps me to do my shop as I refer back to it when I want to make sure I have a variety of coloured foods in my diet for the week (as a colourful plate is a healthy plate).

What also makes the information more likely to be taken on board is how he personalises it, by how he also uses the tips he states.

I have myself seen how adopting a holistic approach to my well-being in a wide variety of ways has helped me reach a positive level of not just mental but also physical health. The link he states between the anti-inflammatory diet and health issues like depression and anxiety are classic examples of how my issues, which started as inflammatory, were also there when I had depression and anxiety. However, once I started to eat healthier, adopt a healthy lifestyle, and do therapy for my mental health, it was like a jigsaw - everything started to fall into place.

When I do therapy with you, we can look at the areas that Dr Chatterjee has stated, if you'd like to. I will look at it alongside your mental health or after, as what is happening in the physical body can have an impact on our mental health, so if we work on both we get better prevention of mental health in the future rather than just focusing on one area.

Books can be supportive guides for us that we can turn back to at any time, so if you think this book may be of interest to you, buy it and see.