The Periodic Table of Needs and Self-Care

Justin Souter
Nov 3 · 2 min read

Backstory

Between Christmas and New Year 2018 I caught up with my friend and colleague Jonny Ellis about issues relating to wellbeing and peer support. Jonny has founded The Alpha Complex — Zone Tracker app.

I had been reading The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, which features a chapter recounting the history of the Periodic Table and how it captures the complexity, commonalities and inter-relatedness of different elements in the Cosmos. I like how Mendeleev’s original had gaps for elements he predicted would exist — and he was validated when they were discovered.

As the dialogue between Jonny and I was ending, our conversation triggered an idea for a ‘Periodic Table’ for issues relating to mental health and wellbeing. My thinking being summarised as follows.

Context

Different folk struggling with wellbeing issues seem to self-identify with different vocabularies and treatment modalities.

A goal behind the Periodic Table (my draft shown below) is to create equality of esteem between different vocabularies / modalities, yet still recognise the links and ‘lines of force’ between them.

This is the original ‘periodic table’ I created. It includes work from Prof Amy Edmondson re Psychological Safety - top left.
This is the original ‘periodic table’ I created. It includes work from Prof Amy Edmondson re Psychological Safety - top left.

Some assistance with abbreviations / acronyms:

  • CBT = Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
  • SSRIs = Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (pills, like Prozac)
  • LSD = Lysergic Acid Diethylamide
  • MDMA = 3,4-Methyl​enedioxy​methamphetamine (commonly known as ecstasy)
  • PTSD = Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • EMDR = Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Online realisation

I’ve created this online version using Trello.

I’m hoping that this start can be built upon by others to create greater wellbeing, and greater awareness in those with struggles about how to think — at a high level — about these issues.

Get involved

If you would like to give feedback, you can do so in the comments below. You can also do so on Trello, namely: if you’d like to become a Member and comment on these cards — then drop me a line via Twitter https://twitter.com/souterconsults

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Written by

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