Using lifestyle medicine to manage mental health - anyone up for a support thread?

[Bisgedi]

My GP and I agreed that lifestyle medicine (LM) could be right for me after a spate of panic attacks due to chronic stress over the last year (alongside anxiety with bouts of depression throughout my life). It’s been really debilitating. Can’t work and sometimes I can’t get up off the floor. But I’m convinced by the growing evidence around LM and want to ‘take’ my lifestyle medicine just as I would pharmaceutical medication.

It’s not an easy road but I want to celebrate every ‘pill’ I take - getting light early in the day, going to bed without my phone, getting into green space, etc.

I’d also be interested in sharing resources - podcasts, tips, etc.

Hop on if you’re interested!

Ive been on/off MN for 15 years but have NC for this.

I'm with you OP!
Like others have said I have found the Dr Rangan Chatterjee books really helpful. School holidays have interrupted my swimming/walking but will hopefully be back to normal in September. I really want to wean off my Citalopram.

A medical herbalist helped me get off Effexor. She guided me all the way and gave me herbs to help with withdrawals. I used a counselor for the emotional withdrawals. I had a soft landing.

You can’t buy it - it’s currently illegal. Never tried it, but there’s a lot of exciting clinical research into its effectiveness in treating depression etc.

That sounds lovely. Are you into reading? There’s a really gorgeous (older kids’) book by Katya Balen, “October, October” in which mudlarking features heavily. I used to read a lot but haven’t for ages - want to get back into it. She has a beautifully written short book called “Birdsong”, too. I love her stuff. Got it from the library for the kids but read it all myself. Come to think of it, her books are all about living with loss/healing. V life affirming and warm without being sentimental.

It grows wild near me later on in the year but I think you need to take some all the time. I might be wrong.

You can, of course dry them for later use.

Today I’ve had my breakfast outside, done a body scan on the grass, been reading The 4 Pillars, had Dr C’s blueberry gut-brain smoothie - again, v crunchy so felt more like a meal.

I need to address my sleep hygiene but find this so hard. I’ve got a decades-long habit of falling asleep listening to audio - used to be cassettes, now it’s my phone right by my ear. I go to sleep listening to something on BBC Sounds, and put something on if I wake in the night, sometimes several times. This is particularly bad at the moment as my cough wakes me. I go to sleep with audio very quickly but I suspect I don’t sleep deeply with it on. I manage to break the habit every now and then, but if I get distressed/depressed/ill, I revert. Has anyone got any tips for breaking this dependency? I know it isn’t helping me at all.

Yes please! This is such a great idea 💖

I've been focusing on exercise and nutrition. I went to the gym three times last week (can't claim credit for motivation, I spent money on a gym programme). I've dialled my nutrition in at the weekend and started to track it as part of the programme.

This week I'd love to crack my sleep too. I read Why We Sleep a while ago and developed a bed time ritual but stopped doing it. I'd like to be in bed at 10pm. I'm so tired I don't think falling asleep will be an issue but I do find magnesium glycinate and a weighted blanket help. If I struggle to fall asleep I've used the vibrating breathing/relax feature on my Fit Bit before. Also if you stare at the back of your eyelids it makes you fall asleep, don't know why but it works. Sounds like I'm joking haha. I have tried Nothing Much Happens Sleep Stories - if my mind is very busy it helps but they can wake me up again. Can you set it so it switches off?

Thanks @Deadliftsandplanks. I have a weighted blanket, so I’ll try that now it’s a bit cooler. I use a timer on BBC Sounds but I think I just need to bite the bullet and charge the phone downstairs so I’m not tempted in the night… Developing a proper bedtime routine would probably help. I haven’t read the bit about sleep in The 4 Pillars yet. I realise as I write this that I’m incredibly anxious about being awake in the night and all the thoughts and worries overwhelming me. But that is majorly avoidant, and it isn’t a sustainable strategy!

I did some CBT for sleep a while back. It was fairly helpful. There is a booklet produced by University of Exeter, I will try and link to it. My CBT therapist sent it to me. I think the anxiety about sleep is a major part of it apparently. I don't really get that too much, for me it's just that my habits are terrible. Although sometimes I will have the odd night where I think I did everything right and I tossed and turned all night. My therapist suggested writing all the worries down in the night. Not tried that myself.

A bereavment specialist mentioned these smoothies to me, its doesn't appeal tbh! But I might try.

I’m not really a smoothie person, but I find it hard to organise myself to eat well. I like the fact that I’m getting lots of stuff that’s good for my gut micro biome etc all in one go! I’m definitely getting used to it.

I think I’m pushing away a lot of big feelings and am scared of being alone with them in the night, but I actually have a lot of strategies I can draw on… so, following Dr C’s advice, I’m going to:

• give my phone a bedtime of 830 and charge it downstairs.
• tidy up my bedroom a bit now so it feels calmer
• sort out an easy book
• dig out my weighted blanket
• have a bath
• be in bed by 930

If I wake in the night, I’ll focus on breathing and/or do a body scan. If I really struggle and just can’t get back to sleep, I’ll read on my kindle.

Easier to get this stuff in place today as the kids are away for a few days.

Went to bed without my phone last night! ✅

Well done! I drank caffeine yesterday and couldn't sleep until 2 am.

Went to gym and ate well.

Well done re gym and eating. The caffeine thing is so easily done!

I meditated in the garden first thing and have had my not-so-smoothie.

That sounds lovely, well done!

Still working on my nutrition which is going well. Feeling like I have more mental clarity and less energy crashes.

Brilliant!

I had coffee outside, meditated outside, short blast of cold shower. Also went to bed without phone again last night and read a bit instead.

Been super tired this weekend but grateful I've been able to sleep. I have a blood test next week so I can find our if anything is going on. I'm permanently exhausted. I've eaten well and slept quite a lot though.

Have been taking lots of inspiration from you all and have managed the following over the past few days:

• turning the shower to cold at the end and sticking my head under it for a few seconds (don't think I could cope with a full cold shower just yet)
• drinking my first cup of tea of the day out in the garden
• going for walks in the park after work (and have sat down on the grass a few times)
• decluttering the living room, kitchen and bedroom (this has made me feel so much 'clearer')
• trying out 'somatic exercises' like humming, neck stretches and 4/7/8 breaths

I have also been looking up places around here where I might be able to get a massage.

Thanks for starting this thread OP 😊

I’ve been struggling with sleep the last few nights, lying awake thinking negative thoughts about myself, it's usually accompanied by my anxiety ramping up a bit.

Treated myself to a lovely cappuccino out this morning, and I'm going to the gym tomorrow. I need to write down a few goals and plans for the next few weeks /months and I think that will help me feel more in control.

I'm v fortunate to be on holiday at the mo -and have been mostly leaving my phone untouched. Have been overcaffeinating, drinking, eating loads of sugar, not sleeping well, repressing a lot of anxious thoughts... BUT also swimming, occasionally meditating, reading, and basically living outside. V grateful for all this and for kids happily playing with their friends. Done a bit of drawing - not so much to create pictures but as a way of paying attention to some of the lovely plants here. 🌞🌺

Beautiful weather here today. Going out for a walk in the sunshine in a minute.

I've decided that when ds goes back to school next week I will write myself a daily schedule. I'm quite a "routine" type person and as I haven't got any work at the moment, I've realised I'm dreading not being in a routine and just drifting.