To ask how you manage your mental health?

[TheDeuteragonist]

This kind of stems from the 'I'm not okay' thread.

If you are in 'crisis' or struggling with your mental health, how do you manage it?

What kinds of things constitute self care for you?

Who do you talk to? Do you talk at all?

I ask because I'm struggling and I don't have a lot of strategies to manage how I feel so I could do with some ideas.

See a good therapist.

Have a couple of drinks with a very good friend.

'Morning Pages' - first thing in the morning, write down whatever is in your head, fill up three sides of a4, destroy pages afterwards.

Exercise.

Stop drinking, get some early nights.

Start listing 3 good things that happened each day in my diary before I go to sleep.

Make a to-do list, cross off everything on it that doesn't absolutely have to be done, delegate where possible, get on with the remainder.

Eat healthy.

Breathing exercises.

Put on smarter clothes = instant confidence boost for me.

Make big effort to smile at colleagues and ask them about their lives.

CrossFit and having a very small and special friend circle

Exercise.
Making an effort to be kind.
Spending time with friends and family, even if all I think I want to do is hide under my duvet and sob.

When I’m in crisis I think I’m doing awesome. So I don’t get any help. Why would I?
Those that know me however watch and
Wait for the drop.

When I am aware that something is
Wrong I have a band on my wrist I twang. Listen to music. Go online and chat shit
With people. (Tinder has been surprisingly
Good for this). Phone mh crisis team.

I’ve begun to recognise when I’m slipping into a hole. When that happens, I make more of an effort to exercise and get fresh air. It helps that I also talk to my DH about how I’m feeling and I’ve started jotting down how I feel and read them back to myself when I’m low again, as it helps to know I will get better.

I practice breathing in for 3, holding for 4 and out for 5.

Writing down every single stupid, awful and sometimes plain unreasonable and terrible thought. No matter how bad. “Giving” the problem to the bit of paper so I don’t have to carry the problem with me all day.

Yoga helps a massive deal as well, even if I just do five minutes then sit crying like a baby on the mat.

I also now recognise it’s ok to talk about my really shitty thoughts and feelings with friends, and they will neither a) judge me for it or b) think it’s boring and not worth listening to. Took me over a decade to actually just start talking. and realising that’s ok.

I lie on top of my bed with my fan on and the sun on me I dont get in the bed or close the curtains. I have my favourite food, cuddle up to the kids. If I'm not dressed I put on an outfit I feel lovely and confident in and "do" myself up.

I bake a cake I enjoy making them. Get out the house even of it's just sitting on the back door step. I dont have a bath as one of my thoughts on a very bad day is to just give up in the bath. I avoid negative people.

Exercise, exercise, exercise. Can't beat it.

In regards to anxiety, I think it is critical to allow yourself to feel anxious. Acknowledge it. The more you try to fight and deny it, the worse it gets. When my anxiety comes knocking, I don't try to run from it. I actually say (out loud if I'm in private), "Yes, I'm feeling very anxious right now. It feels awful but I will be just fine." It may sound silly but it really does help me. I know that all anxiety is is a very unfortunate and untimely release of stress hormones that often come out of no where. My body just needs time to filter them out of my system. Once I acknowledge how crap I feel, I keep myself busy and do some exercise if I can. Even just bouncing up and down or clenching your muscles helps speed up the burning off of all that horrid cortisol.

Therapy. I'm not in therapy right now, but I was for 7 years and it was the best thing I have ever done for myself

Fruit, vegetables, lots of water, watch your sugar intake. Avoid booze

Exercise every day, as vigorous as you can manage. Totally fine if that is just a gentle stroll some days

Cry it out when you need to. Try to learn to appreciate the release of feelings in a healthy way

Prioritise sleep as much as you can

Routine helps me a lot too

Exercise. I like swimming the most, then walking.
Also music, I have my favourites which take me to a safe place I guess.
I also have a couple of games on my tablet which helps to calm my mind down, card games are quite good for this because I find number sequences soothing.
Having said all that, I don't really have mental health problems in the sense of requiring medical treatment or any diagnosed conditions, so these might not be helpful for people with serious mental health problems.

I walk miles, listen to music and read books.

I prefer not to talk about my issues because inevitably I end up being my friend's therapist every single time. All my mates say I'm a good listener, so unburden to me which leaves me even more stressed.

I write down all my troubles

Use a meditation app- I love ‘Breathe’

Cuddle at hot water bottle

Snuggle under a duvet

Watch gardeners world or a nature programme

Talk to my husband

Listen to calming music, like Jill Scott

Light candles

Do a footbath

Yoga

I’ve worked out some of my triggers so I never book social engagemts two days running and ensure if I am doing more than one thing in a day I have time to stop. This prevents me feeling overwhelmed. I also make sure I have something at least once a fortnight that feels new. It might be knitting something that turns balls of wool into a recognisable item, visiting a museum, cycling home via a different route. I also start to become a hermit before I recognise i’m In a bad place so i’ve told my friends to let me know if they see this happening so I can catch the problem early.
When the problems occur then I find swimming is great for stopping me dwelling on things that drag me down, as does getting absorbed in a good book.

Self care for me includes three things as prevention, which I am fortunate seems over the last 15 years to have helped greatly:

Set times for sleep, even more so since catch-up tv came along.
Trying to reduce the 'to do' list at work by getting the smaller tasks out of the way.
Spreading holidays out so there is not too long between them.

Positivity: read positive messages online before you get out of bed. Mind over matter, it really works for me. Check out Little Penny thoughts on Facebook, and Just for today on various web pages. Worked for me when suffering greatly recently.

Be kind to yourself, put yourself first. Do whatever you feel you can face that day, whether it’s simply doing the washing and getting a shop in.

Remove all unnecessary things from your life, get back to basics, keep life as simple as possible. We are all on a treadmill which just leads to unhappiness, so get off, look around you and breathe.

Try to eat healthily, and if you’re not up to cooking then indulge in marksies etc. You deserve it.

Make an effort to take my medication at exactly the same time every day - it does really help.

Drink enough water and eat properly.

Get some early nights.

Ask DH to take the kids away so I can have some time to myself at home - I like pootling out and about by myself but there’s something much more relaxing about being home alone.

Recently I’ve taken up running and it’s made a world of difference.

Thank you, all of these are helpful.

I feel myself starting to backslide, then I feel trapped and overwhelmed.

I have intrusive thoughts so my reaction is to sleep, but then I have nightmares which inevitably leads to insomnia and then the thoughts snowball.

Tell my husband it's happening.

Tell my manager it's happening.

Prioritise sleep and exercise.

Make a daily to do list, but only containing 2 items per day.

Therapist. GP. Medication. Meditation. Diaphragmatic breathing.

Since having therapy I cut myself a hell of a lot more slack in life. I am kinder to myself.

Cut back significantly on alcohol
Get plenty of sleep
Have lots of little things to look forward to
Enjoy the silence

One thing I need to work on is getting more exercise. I see it mentioned on here so often as part of good mental health.

I have a variety of mental health conditions. But I'm a single parent and have to be able to work full time to look after them so, as pathetic as it sounds, sometimes it's about choosing the least destructive condition and giving into it a little so that the others can recede into the background.

For example, if anxiety gets really bad I stop trying so hard to fight anorexia because it's less likely to stop me functioning straight away. And if that starts to get out of control then I 'let' myself self harm so I find it easier to eat a little more. Not ideal but it does allow me to keep going.

More positive methods:
Keeping very, very busy so I don't have time to let negative thoughts in
Exercise that I love - eg running will not help my mood but a dance class definitely will
Talking to friends - tough and I don't do it very often but it helps when I do.
Getting enough sleep.

I was in a depressive crisis and suicidal three months ago and I’ve learned an awful lot about self care since then.

I write copious lists - I will plan my week out and structure my days even if I’ve not got a lot on I will make myself have a purpose for that day, schedule in the admin I’m putting off, go to that gym class. If you’ve got a reason to get up in the morning it’s much easier to get through the days and as you’re productive and busy and your energy levels increase, your mood improves too. I feel like I was barely existing but I’m back to living again now.

I’ve found self-care easier the more well I’ve become. Once, getting out of bed and dressed was a success. Now I’m back to doing little pamper things like dying my hair, painting my nails, I’m eating well, sleeping better and I have routine.

Start one little thing and everything falls into place

Oh yes and be kind to yourself! You’re doing fine - don’t let the mind bully tell you otherwise. We are all way too horrible to ourselves.

Living mindfully, enjoying fresh air, I no longer drink alcohol, meeting friends, keeping my social circle small but close, talking to my family and letting them talk to me.

I test ideas to see what will help me feel better or won't. When I'm struggling I try to come up with possible ideas and test them as a way to busy my mind when I feel hopeless.

As an example: In the past few weeks, I've been testing breakfasts. I normally don't eat breakfast at all - I have quite a low appetite - but it was suggested to me that a good breakfast could help the anxiety and fatigue and such so I've been trying. I've tried Meritene which is a supplement drink powder, an egg muffin in a mug microwave recipe, protein bars (I've gotten a new one to try in the morning), and just drinking a cup of milk. I have found having at least something has helped in comparison to days I've forgotten to the point that when if I get low in the morning my first thoughts go to what and when I last ate but I'm still testing to see if I can find something I quite like that will fit. Like I like the Meritene, it's easier going down than just milk, but it's also more mess, a bit of a faff to get to dissolve, and a bit expensive, the egg recipe was fine but a bit bland so I'm thinking of things to add and so on.

I've also been trying out different resistance bands workouts I can do while sitting on the couch which isn't particularly good but it does seem to give me a bit of a boost to then go do more.

I also do talk a lot, particularly with my spouse. And when I feel really babbly, the internet.

^I feel myself starting to backslide, then I feel trapped and overwhelmed.

I have intrusive thoughts so my reaction is to sleep^

this is me right now. its just hit me from nowhere after years of being “well” and all i want to do is take codeine to knock myself out, so that i’ll eventually wake up happy