One big annoyance I’m only recently coming to terms with is how my diagnoses make it harder to go outside. Inside is safe, and less exhausting: two factors that are high up on the priority list for anyone suffering from mental illness.
This is all understandable, but it’s put me in quite a pickle.
Because nature is awesome, and a bunch of it just happens to be outside.
I don’t like feeling as if I’m losing my identity, as someone who likes being out and about and watching and learning and travelling and exploring and discovering.
So for anyone else who loves nature, wildlife, watching clouds go across the sky and so on, but sometimes finds it hard to get out of bed to experience any of that, here are 5 things I’ve found to help.
1 — MAKE YOURSELF DO IT
The tough love approach: force yourself to go out.
I know from experience that when I do make the effort, I tend to enjoy it and benefit even more than I imagined. There’s so much evidence as to how green spaces benefit wellbeing that it’s kinda impossible to argue against.
Alternatively, have someone close to you who knows that forcing you out will help. Tactics they may use include: handing you a fluffy dog which could wee at any second, bribery via chocolate and/or white wine, and heaping numerous coats on you until you accidentally put your arm through one of the sleeves and stumble through the door.
Often the build-up to something is a lot worse than the actual thing, particularly when you come at it from an anxiety direction. Like, what’s the worst that could happen?
2 — DON’T MAKE YOURSELF DO IT
..well, the worst that could happen is a massive panic attack and the ensuing hours-long nervyness. Or a mood dip so unprecedented that if your brain designed rollercoasters it would win an award.
There’s something to be said for recognising when you’re having a bad day, and deciding not to push yourself too far. Stay in, scroll Tumblr, antibac the bathroom.. whatever takes your fancy. Chances are you’ll feel a lot better the day after for taking the time out and giving yourself a break. And next time, pulling your wellies on might be much easier. It’s an investment.
3 — STOP ANTHROPOMORPHISING STUFF
Just because it’s raining does not increase the likelihood of terrible things happening, even if you may think that way. The cold will not kill you as long as you wrap up warm. Not seeing any bats despite visiting several well known sites then getting caught in a thunderstorm then missing your bus then seeing a pipestrelle the next day from your bedroom window does not mean the natural world hates you as much as you decide to hate yourself.
Nature just, like, IS.. maaan. How it makes us feel is purely down to how we decide to interpret events. Try to recognise this.
4 — BRING IT INSIDE
Plaster your walls with photos and drawings, line your bookshelves with natural history tomes, place plants on your windowsill, doodle an embarrassingly proportioned blackbird, take part in online citizen science projects, read National Geographic, watch re-runs of Blue Planet, string some fat balls along the fence outside your bedroom window and watch the blue tits flock.
All those things I listed in the intro? Watching, learning, discovering and so on? Can pretty much be done inside. You’re welcome.
5 — KNOW THAT ANOTHER DAY WILL BE DIFFERENT
Tomorrow, you might think of a way to stop squirrels breaking your bird feeder, and go outside to do it. Or you may really need of milk, shuffle to the Co-op, catch sight of a buzzard above the woods, and decide to take the longer route home.
Sometimes all you need to do is peer out the window, see the sun on the other side of the valley, and know that the clouds above your head may yet part.
This post is based entirely on my own experience and what limited knowledge I have of others’. I understand that everyone is affected differently, and that much of society it still tied up with the stigma surrounding mental health, and I thank you for reading this with an open mind.
