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.

Do you think you could share your routine with us. I think I’m like you. I love a schedule, a list, routine.

Will do definitley, still thinking it through.
My aim is to split the dayinto chunks of;
Exercise
Quiet time - so meditation or reading
Domestic chores - boring!
Admin or computer time - I'm hoping to do an online course.
Outdoor time.

This week and next week there are family visiting from abroad. Not staying with me but I’ve got a lot of socializing to do. I hate socializing. So I’ve been doing the socializing with the attitude of “social connection is important for mental health”. Also I’ll be soon back to normal and can hopefully have a schedule and see improvements

Slightly off topic and I don't want to derail - so please feel free to PM me - but how do you field questions about why you're not managing your mental health with pharmaceuticals? I'm really clear about my own reasons for not taking antidepressants or anti anxiety meds, while also recognising that some people find them helpful. I don't want to sound like a defensive or zealous twat and I don't want to undermine other people's choices. But sometimes I feel judged for my decision. Thoughts welcome!

@Bisgedi it's not something I tend to get asked because I hide my tendency to depression very well, literally only a couple of close people know. But I'm very clear on my reason for avoiding medication for it. It's because I'm already on a few other medications for physical health issues, I have suffered side effects from one of those,so I simply can't ask my body to deal with another different medication, with all it's potential side effects.

Something positive I have done for myself today. I have signed up for an online college course. Our local college is offering adults free online courses, it will take about 8 weeks to complete if I give it 10-15 hours a week.

Just found this thread and will follow as it's something I'm interested in. I have found reflexology really helpful with sleep problems and stress. I am currently struggling with a chest infection which is miserable and I have no energy for anything. I'm going to try and do a very short to do list each day. When I am physically well I find a routine involving yoga/pilates, meditation, drinking water, daylight, walking and having a to do list all help. I need to work on my sleep and also on being sociable. I live in the middle of nowhere so can't rely on chats with neighbours. I have to arrange social activity and I'm not always good at that.

Thanks to this thread today I spent a good hour in the garden so far. It’s very hot for a change and too hot to go for a walk so I did a few easy chores outdoors. I also sat and read for a while. I love this thread. It’s more motivating than I believed it could be. Still trying to work up courage for a cold shower.

So much of this resonates (including chest infection!). I find it hard to make the social stuff happen but need it so badly. Hoping to make some headway with this once the kids are back at school.

Brilliant!

Hi I have been reading this with interest for my DH. I was wondering where ypu can get weed? I think it may help my DH with his anxiety. He hopefully will be getting meds and has been referred to a mental health team but I was wondering whether a weed vape would help him. However, I am very square so don't know how to go about it.

In all the stuff I've read on lifestyle medication, weed isn't one of the recommendations - probably because it can make anxiety worse (and it's not legal unless prescribed as cannabis oil, but I don't think it's prescribed for anxiety). Some people find CBD oil useful and you can buy that online or in health shops. I tried that and it didn't help me, to be honest. If you're interested in lifestyle medication to manage anxiety and/or depression, there are some really good podcasts esp by Dr Rangan Chatterjee. Hope he finds something that helps!

Thanks. I have all his books and did tell him to try some of the techniques but at the moment the deterioration has been rapid and quite bad but I'll try and get him to try things hopefully once he's had some medication.

@Bisgedi I do take anti-depressants at the moment and I'm completely transparent with it with close friends and family but anyone else, it's not their business.

I don't think you need to explain to anyone why you are managing your MH, perhaps a partner if they are very worried. If it's unsolicited advice, it can be easier to let them have their say though and then respond 'that's interesting, I'll stick with what I'm doing for now' rather than to get into a debate about medications vs lifestyle- plus for me, both are the way to go.

I discovered this when my husband had cancer, it's easier to just listen and say 'how interesting' rather than argue with people, unless you are very close and genuinely want their feedback or to talk it through.

@Concernedabouthubby in this situation, I'd be guided by the MH crisis team. Introducing other drugs, which might vary in strength or variety, could be problematic and cause more problems. Once there is stability in the situation, then I think experimenting and working on lifestyle changes might open up as a possibility,

Hope you're getting some support, too, and finding ways to take care of yourself. Love Dr C and have come to him quite recently so I'm zealously telling everyone, forgetting that he's been writing and podcasting for years! Sorry about that!

@Onwardsandsidewaysyetagain Thanks so much for this. Really helpful! I will definitely borrow that sentence. I'm sorry you had to use it in those circumstances.

@Bisgedi Thank you for sharing so many good ideas. I like the sound of the veggie ice packs for calming.

I have blueberries and walnuts almost every day for breakfast and notice it on the days I don't.

Lettuce is very calming and helps you sleep. That is why in Beatrix Potter they eat lettuce and fall asleep, and why the pregnant wife craves it and steals it from the witch's garden in Rapunzel.

Chilli is a massive mood booster for some people. Works for me. I put chilli flakes on every single savoury meal I eat.

Hi at the moment, no. I'm feeling very alone and confused. But being here is helping. I do lots of the things from the book, like spend 5 minutes in nature, journalking, yoga but it all feels out of control at the moment.

@Concernedabouthubby glad you're finding this thread useful. I'm so grateful for each and every person posting about these little things we're all trying to do.

I'm reading The Expectation Effect (David Robson) at the mo - not explicitly about mental health but has loads about mindset that I'm finding helpful and relevant - emphatically NOT "positive thinking" or mind over matter or anything like that.

There's a lot that is definitely relevant and could amplify the impact of lifestyle medicine, eg in a Harvard study, hotel cleaners who were told that their work was a good form of exercise had lower blood pressure and more weight loss at the end of the experiment than their colleagues who weren't told that but did the same work. Sorry about the crappy summary, but you get the gist. Framing matters. From what I've read so far, thinking of all my "doses" of lifestyle medicine as being really good for my mental health will make them even more effective.

He also says a lot about the value/efficacy of open label placebos (when you know there's no active ingredient in the pill you're taking).

When I was having a really hard time, I remember thinking: what's the point of going for a walk, journalling, meditation etc? The minute they stop I feel exactly the same - no better after meditation than I did before. Then I realised - the point is not that they make you feel better afterwards but that they make you feel better during and that gives you a tiny break. Once I realised that I tried ot add as many tiny breaks from feeling really low as I could into my day and eventually they started to blur together and I realised I was feeling okay for chunks of every day and then one day I realised I felt normal - not amazing happy but not really low either, just fine.

Yes I managed to get him to draw, then sent him back to colour it in, which he wasn't doing before. I'll do that every day. I realise uou were talking about me- sobyeah I need to get back to doing things otherwise I won't be in a position to deal with this.

Can I join please. Struggling with my anxiety and depression at the moment. I know what should do to, but struggling to build it into busy work life ( silent social life) and managing teens through tricky life moments

I hear you, knowing what we need to do and actually doing it can be two totally different things. Can you find even just 20 or 30 minutes a day for yourself to read/go for a walk /do a bit of yoga?