Strategies, tips I have found effective for managing mental health issues
Since around 2017, I’ve been blogging on my personal Facebook page about struggles with my mental health and the road to recovery. That kind of post, and the recovery, is ongoing work.
That said, my path and yours aren’t and could never be the same. But — and Medium truly seems the best platform for this — some of these strategies might help you, as they have me.
Let’s start with, for today, the four pillars of mental health “routine” or “maintenance.” These are regular parts of my everyday life, and I’d recommend these strategies to just about anyone.
With each, I’m going to do my level best to outline scenarios which are the most accessible. I won’t manage to cover all bases, or account for every possibility. The list isn’t remotely exhaustive. It includes:
1. Establishing any one element of a routine
When I say “any” I do mean any element of a routine.
This can be brushing your teeth every night without fail. This can be getting out of bed no later than 2PM, or even just making sure you get out of it once per day. This can be making sure the dishes are done daily, or at least a few times a week. This can be a fifteen-minute walk, a five-minute meditation, just about anything.
Routines aren’t for everyone. But I’m not talking about creating a strict schedule for your entire life. Just something you repeat and look forward to repeating, because it feels good to do. Any one thing which progresses your day-to-day life in a positive way.
Set a pattern and maintain it. This is a strategy especially effective for depression — in my own experience.
2. Finding reliable, easy-to-do, stress-reducers
Emphasis on the word reliable. It needs to be something — or a series of options — you can basically do at any time, at work or at home. This depends entirely on the life you lead.
My favourite example is holding a stone. Something small, with smooth or rough edges. Something familiar. Find the stone, reach for it, hold it. Remember why it’s there.
My own preferred stress relief — which works because I’m a white collar worker — is shuffling a deck of cards.
My other regular option involves two notebooks: in one I write in black ink my intrusive thoughts, the kind of things which I find upsetting or can’t stop thinking about; in the other I use pencils to sketch diagrams of ideas I’d like to explore — just because.
Writing is a huge part of my regular therapy and life. You do whatever works.
3. Finding an outlet for expending excess energy
Notice I didn’t say: exercise regularly. There’s founded reasons — related to bullying or other trauma — why some people (myself included) find the prospect of going to a gym or playing sports a problem.
Still, intrusive thoughts love nothing more than a diet of inactivity. Strenuous activities like running, biking and swimming have ways of forcing the disclosure of moods. It helps people get unstuck. Helps me!
Now, it’s not just the physical excess energy, which people have in varying degrees — which needs an outlet. Find something which also voids out the energy in your mind. I don’t just mean a fidget: I mean a serious hobby.
For me, and this varies by mood, I use playing video games (certain ones) and listening to audiobooks, especially while driving. My fiancé loves to bake as stress relief. Find your own thing. Make it yours.
4. Speaking to a doctor, or other health professional
The first port of call for someone with mental health issues might not be the therapist’s office.
For one, private therapy is wicked expensive, and the public system (in Canada) essentially requires first speaking to a (family) doctor. In many cases, the triage nurse in a hospital emergency room might be the first point of contact, or the attending physician of a clinic. It depends.
There’s a number of caveats, of course. Part of accessing the healthcare system for help with mental health problems requires overcoming a lot of the stigma around disclosing a problem and the blind luck of finding the right nurse, doctor or other professional.
Still — as I can’t assume anything about you — the first port of call I recommend is calling a clinic and trying to see a doctor. Ask for help.
The last bit, putting it together
When I started to acknowledge my own issues in 2017, this is how — without fully realizing it — these four strategies were the foundation of my recovery. Since that time, my strategies have evolved and changed.
Naturally, I needed the help of therapy and some medication to stabilize a lot of the issues, as well as diagnose the extent of my problems.
If you’re facing rock bottom, right now, here’s my unsolicited advice on how to get your foundation to recovery going, and climb the ladder out the hole:
- Start setting alarms for when you go to sleep, and when you plan to wake up. Give yourself extra time, and room for error. Brush your teeth, wash your face, etc.;
- Associate a positive memory with an object, something in your life that’s precious to you. Have that object or a copy with you at all times. Touch it to refocus on the now;
- Find ways to exert your body and your mind. Look, the “walking cures depression” cliché has a grain of truth to it. Based on how mobile you are, do what works for you; and
- Call your doctor, call different clinics, use e-therapy apps, shout into the void of social media — whatever it takes. Even if your region’s healthcare system sucks, persevere. Ask for help until you find what you need.
