What a great invitation from Hangar South, to talk about mental health with my osteopathic angle! My name is Julie Richard, I am an osteopath DO and I specialize in mental health. It is my pleasure to spend some time with you to tell you about my passions...

Humans have always been my raw material. I was first a psychosocial worker; then I embarked on the great adventure of becoming the osteopath that I am today. Anyone who works with humans knows it: we are immersed in thoughts, emotions, perceptions… In fact, it is not necessary to make a job out of it; just to live with others, or even with oneself, is to swim daily in these waters!

Sometimes, when we think of something, an emotion appears. And often that emotion causes our body to settle, relax, slow down, even to open. We enjoy. The moment is magic or simply comfortable, we find ourselves sighing with happiness. When we are confident, we position ourselves physically differently. Do you know what I am referring to? Did you notice it? Did you feel it?

But sometimes, it's the other way around. A fear or sadness arises and suddenly, the body changes, adapts. It can be a simple unpleasant email, an important meeting but pains appear... We can have the impression that our heart stops or tightens, that our body empties. All our muscles tense to be ready to face an emergency, a danger. Breathing may be shorter, more shallow. The throat may become constricted, as if holding back all the emotion to keep it from coming in, or coming out and showing through. The shoulders are so tense that it goes up in headache. Thoughts can spin in our head, making it harder to sleep. For some the appetite disappears, while for others, eating becomes a way to feel full of "something", when one feels empty inside.

In short, it is the body that transforms the perception of what is happening through our brain into something else. In biochemicals. In nerve impulses. In contraction. And it becomes tangible, we feel the emotion everywhere, it lives in us and takes possession of us physically.

That's what intrigued me, enough to go back to school; to better understand what happens when this phenomenon occurs, but also to explore concrete ways to help people in other ways. This was my final study research subject: open new mental health intervention doors via osteopathy... And it was worth it! When going through the body directly, the results are different and almost instantaneous. They demonstrate that it is worth trying to go through the body to help the mind to free itself too, to better manage the symptoms and the causes.

Now that we know each other better and that the table is well set, I will talk to you next time about my osteopathic thesis on the link between the T.A.G. (generalized anxiety disorder) and digestive disorders. It will be a little more technical but it's exciting, I promise!

Until then, I invite you to include osteopathic hands in your mental health first aid kit.

Looking forward to meeting you virtually or in clinic,

by Julie Richard, osteopath DO