STEP 3 Mental Health First

Tom Fadden
Sep 3, 2018 · 5 min read

Good mental health brings a sense of well-being, confidence, and self-esteem. It enables us to fully enjoy and appreciate other people, day-to-day life, and our environment. When we are mentally healthy we can form positive relationships and use our abilities to reach our potential.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services says that mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

As a general rule, people with psychiatric disabilities tend to have the same life aspirations as people without disabilities. We want to be respected as autonomous individuals and lead a life as normal as possible. As such we mostly desire: a) our own housing, b) an adequate education and meaningful work, c) satisfying social and intimate relationships, and d) participation in community life with full rights.

Initial Self-Assessment

People with mental illness can and do recover, in work and in life. It’s helpful to have a goal or sense of purpose in your life. Persons with mental health issues develop life plans that are small goals at first in order to reach a larger goal later. Expect setbacks, but these don’t mean that you won’t be able to reach your goal.

Consider these questions:

  • Who are you aside from your diagnosis/disability?
  • How do you cope right now with your mental health problems?
  • Emotional problems that keep me from doing the things that I want are…
  • What are your hardest emotional or mental health issues?
  • I feel better when…

Many persons with psychiatric disabilities want to work at some level. Consider a few things that you’ll need to resolve before you rejoin the workforce, if this is what you desire to do. What are your skills, interests, preferences, and aspirations? How are you working through difficulties like any issues with self-esteem or self-confidence, any fears of failure, or anxiety? Are you prepared for social interactions with coworkers and a supervisor? Are your medications adjusted so this will allow you to work without undue interference from symptoms or side effects?

Develop a Support System

Research shows that healthy functioning people with mental illness show high outcomes regarding psychiatric health and quality of life. The importance of participating in society is underlined even more when social supports could a) improve recovery from acute episodes of mental illness, b) help integrate the person in community, and improve quality of life.

Create your circle of support. It is very important to have a circle of supportive people and resources to succeed in your recovery and life goals. List your current supporters, like doctors, social worker, parents, siblings, boyfriend/girlfriend, spouse, teachers, coworkers, boss, friends, and any formal mental health support groups, plus those in the link above.

How can you add to your support circle?

Take an Inventory

What do you have? What do you need, or want? Take an inventory of what you like in your life today? Examples may include a good friend, supportive family, home, health, or fun hobbies. Look at the Expressing Yourself: Assessing Self Determination in Your Life resource developed by the University of Illinois at Chicago. This self-assessment is designed to help you discover how much self-determination you have in your life.

Self-Care is Essential

Self-care is absolutely essential. What new daily self-care strategies may work for you? What new things do you need to do every day to take care of yourself better? Take care of these regular self-care activities: throw out the trash, clean up your home and keep it clean, shower at least a few times a week, brush your teeth twice a day, pay your bills on time each month, buy groceries every week, and get the laundry done so you’re always wearing clean clothes.

Don’t forget the five top practices, the 5(2)THRIVE, that make a healthy mind much easier to maintain:

  1. Take the right medicines on time every time.
  2. Get sufficient sleep, at least eight hours a night.
  3. Eat nutritiously.
  4. Get daily exercise.
  5. Limit/avoid alcohol and recreational drugs.

Also, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Check out the Mental Health Action Plan for some direction on how to stop problems before they get out of control.

Set Initial Goals & Plans

Do you want to go to school, or make a new friend? Don’t worry about selecting many goals in all Life Domains. Self-care and developing your support circle might be your only goals right now. What would you like to change? What good things might happen if you eventually make a change? What hard things might happen if you make a change?

Other goals will naturally follow. You’ll be out of bed more each day, maybe even out and about outside your home. You may spend a little more time planning your goals and action plans. Run your errands. Move forward with your hobbies and actions to have fun and play. And even do some level of work or concentrated and focused activity.

These are cases of motivation following behavior. Find that energy spurt within you and do two or three things. You’ll be amazed at the new energies created to keep going, and you’ll have a memory of success. All you need to do is take that first step. The second and third steps will follow naturally. After a few days or a week, you’ll notice you’ve got some momentum building behind you. These activities are becoming routine. You feel great pride and satisfaction in each and every little win. Your resistances are breaking down. Then you lose your footing and you’re living in the flow of life. Your recovery really is taking hold. But remember to always be compassionate with yourself. Don’t beat yourself up for not holding to perfect standards.

The best way to succeed is to take it slow. Move from choosing a life goal, to planning or listing steps for how to achieve the goal, to soon acting on the goal. Write out any obstacles, needed resources, a budget for this goal, and your needed support. Be creative in brainstorming the specific tasks you’ll need to complete. And keep considering how your support circle can help you accomplish the goals you set.

Remember that “success” means reaching your final goal but also trying hard and completing your tasks, learning from mistakes, and changing your plans if needed. Completing you final goal will feel fantastic! This whole process of choosing a goal to getting into take action could take several months or even a year or more.

Engaging the World

Do this Top 10 to effectively advocate for yourself. These techniques are important whether you’re seeing your doctor, enrolling in school, solving a problem, negotiating an emergency room visit, and so on.

  1. Believe in yourself.
  2. Know your rights.
  3. Decide what you want.
  4. Get the facts.
  5. Plan your strategy to tackle your issues.
  6. Gather up some support.
  7. Target your efforts to reach the right people who can help you.
  8. Express yourself clearly.
  9. Assert yourself calmly.
  10. Be firm and persistent.

You Make It Happen

Personal responsibility sets all of this into motion. No matter what influence you believe other people may have had in your life, your recovery success is up to you.

Resource Links

Ten Things You Can Do for Your Mental Health

Changing Your Habits: Steps to Better Health (NIH)

Serious Mental Illnesses

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