October is Mental Health Month, which provides a perfect opportunity to start a conversation about mental health and wellbeing. 1 in 5 Australians will experience a mental illness this year. And sadly, we know that 60% of people with a mental illness will not seek help.

Stress is inevitable, but taking steps to address it can help to ensure that you get a good night sleep so that it doesn’t affect your performance the next day.

Feeling anxious is a normal response to keep us safe from danger - it’s fight or flight in action. But persistent worry or distress can be difficult to control. Up to one-third of women and one-fifth of men will experience anxiety at some point in their lives. Recent research has found that 1 in 10 dental practitioners have reported a current diagnosis of anxiety disorder, and around 20% reported ever having a diagnosis of anxiety disorder.

It is said that fear extinguishes more dreams than failure. Fear of failure will prevent you from seeking out new experiences or taking risks, so it is important to try and embrace and challenge those fears in order to grow and experience new opportunities.

Feeling anxious is a normal response to keep us safe from danger - it’s fight or flight in action, and it’s a feeling we all experience at some time in our lives. But persistent worry or distress can be difficult to control. Anxiety can interfere with how we go about our everyday lives and make it hard to cope with ‘normal ‘challenges. Anxiety disorder is one of the most common mental health issues in Australia, affecting up to one-third of women and one-fifth of men at some point in their lives.

Comparison is the thief of joy. So said Theodore Roosevelt. And he’s got a point. When we compare ourselves to others, using them as a yardstick, it literally steals away the satisfaction we should feel in our own life.