Ideas to keep your mind occupied

[DancingQueen2018]

Dd1 (13) has been struggling with her mental health lately- she’s ok during the day when she’s busy but evenings are trickier when she doesn’t have so much to occupy her. She’s seeing Cahms and will be starting cbt soon and I’ve been sitting with her in her room but that’s not sustainable forever.

in the meantime we’re looking for things to do.
She’s not really a fan of TV, most of her hobbies are sport based so finish at 8. She reads a lot but finds that quite hard when her heads buzzing - so what do you do to keep your mind occupied?

If she likes reading would audiobooks help?

Something like cross stitching or there's similar with sticky gem stones?

Mindfulness would be beneficial and meditation apps.
A bath with magnesium flakes and a magnesium glycinate supplement
Audio books
Games
Puzzle books
Art and crafts
Jigsaw puzzle
Yoga or Tai Chi
Learning something like coding
Keeping a blog

Drawing/colouring/scrap booking. I used to enjoy that after evening sports.
Listening to music
Knit or crochet
Reading
Shower
Journal
Keyboard or ukulele
Baking (something easy, rice crispy cakes or something for after sport snack)
Origami
Calligraphy or watercolour

Audiobooks are far better than reading when your mind is busy as you can do something at the same time to block out the buzzing, whether that's pacing the room, exercising, drawing/doodling, tidying, eating etc.

Those very fiddly adult colouring books? My DD used to do those to help her anxiety. I swear by audio books - I have a nice soothing story running all night every night, so if I wake up my brain 'hooks' into the story and doesn't start freewheeling frantically around all the things I need to worry about.

For DS it was Lego. Anything to keep his mind focussed. Audiobooks did t work as they helped his imagination run riot (I am the same).

Cross stitch I loved it

Two things at once. Audiobook and a craft. Or a podcast about something she is interested in. Craft can be colouring in, or something repetitive like diamond painting.

Who else is around in your household then? Can anyone play some games with her, whether something quick and simple like Uno or something more complicated. It has the benefits of being both distracting and connecting with other family members. We discovered in lockdown that things like Monopoly can be played online in a small group and the DC still have a games night with the grandparents (both sets of which live miles away) once a month or so.

Tai chi. It's physical, but also mental. Done properly it will focus, calm and centre. There are also lots of physical benefits.

Sewing is also a great hobby. It's very satisfying wearing clothes you have made from scratch.

I draw a kangaroo. There were videos on Youtube. It's specific I know but "drawing" was too vague and broad and I don't know how to draw. So I Youtubed how to draw a Kangaroo.

Drawing, jigsaw or 3D model kits, musical instrument there are so many to choose from.

Jigsaws and an audiobook!

Works a treat for me

Duolingo
Second knitting or crochet

My mum always used to say to 'get out of your head get into your hands' by that she meant make something. Knitting, sewing, colouring in, jigsaw etc all the things mentioned so far.

Audiobook or podcast plus some kind of art or craft at the same time.
And reasonably intense exercise.
Those are the two think which worked for me, I spent most of last year unable to deal with quiet time as I was so stressed.

I agree with everyone! Something to focus on physically, something crafty, while having something to focus on mentally, like a podcast or audio book. You could sit with her quietly or she could sit in the same room as everyone but do those things herself, so she feels part of the family.

When my daughter was depressed, she wrote in her diary every day - she rarely reads it back but just says absolutely everything that's on her mind, then turns the page for the next day. She also taught herself to knit and crochet, which really helped.