How To Create Your Mental Health Survival Toolkit
Looking after your mental health can be challenging. What tools do you have to help navigate all life has to throw your way?
Over the last few years, my experience with anxiety and depression has encouraged me to look for tools that enable me to create a better sense of balance in my life.
My Mental Health Toolkit is not a fixed thing, but rather an ongoing process of discovery through trial and error to find out what works best for me and when.
Rather than seeing the toolkit as something that staves off my anxiety and depression, I try to reframe it as a series of tools that allow me to be a happier and healthier version of me.
It’s much easier to run towards something you want than away from something you don’t.
When Do You Use the Toolkit?
I find it is important to get into the practice of doing at least some of the things in my toolkit everyday. In the past I’ve definitely fallen into the pattern of just reaching for the tools in difficult times. This doesn’t work.
The toolkit is not a quick fix. The point of the Mental Health Toolkit is to create the conditions which allow me to spend less time in these darker moments; to make them less frequent and last less time when they do arrive.
Does the Mental Health Toolkit Work Every Time?
The toolkit is not a magic cure. Some days I will find a practice like meditation calming and relaxing. On other days it will just feel like 20 minutes of delaying the inevitable onset of anxiety.
I find it’s easy to let the routines slip when things seem to be going well, but that for me is when things begin to start crumbling. The toolkit provides a foundation for what everything else gets built upon, so using some of these tools every day is important to maintain balance.
It’s also important for me to adapt my routines and create variety, to keep them fresh. Otherwise I find relying on just one or two activities can lead to boredom and then they themselves become just another layer of things for me to worry about.
Laying the Foundations
The most important thing to keep in mind is that the toolkit is an ongoing process. Creating balance in your life, especially in your mind, is a delicate art.
Sometimes your practices will help, sometimes they will feel futile. Our lives are constantly changing, and our Mental Health Toolkit will evolve along with it.
This process isn’t about short term change, although this will no doubt be a positive side effect, but about creating a solid foundation that can be drawn upon throughout our lifetimes.
The key is to find something that works for you and to nurture it. And if it stops working for you, don’t be afraid to let it go and explore other things.
What’s in my Mental Health Toolkit?
These are a few of the things that are in mine. Remember this is not a prescriptive list, but just some things that work for me:
Running:
I used to hate running, I found it to monotonous. But now I love it, pretty much for the same reason. The monotonous rhythm becomes meditative and it’s a fabulous excuse to get outside into the fresh air and get some exercise.
Meditation:
I’ve been practicing mindfulness meditation for a few years now, and I honestly think it saved my life. I try (and often forget) to meditate for at least 20 minute a day, more if possible. I remember it being difficult to sit still at first, and I thought it wasn’t really for me. I’m glad I persevered, as I see how important it is to me to help me stay grounded in my daily life. If you’re new to meditation, the Headspace app is a good place to start.
Working Out:
Physical health and mental health are so intrinsically linked, but this is one I would still say I do with a degree of reluctance. I grew up with a passion for avoiding all forms of sport and physical exercise. There is still a voice inside of me when I am doing my morning exercises screaming, “WHY!?” However, I know when I push through that and do it I feel much better in myself. I use the app Bodyweight Freeletics. I’m sure the people who designed it are sadists, but it does the job.
Journaling:
I am a huge advocate of journaling. Having a private space to let off steam and process ideas helps me to clear my mind. Otherwise I have a tendency to let these things build up. It’s a safe space to release some of that pressure. I mostly write in a blank journal, but there are excellent tools like ‘Mind Journal’, which help to provide a structure and routine to your journaling, and are worth considering if the idea of a blank page seems daunting.
Arts and Crafts:
Creativity is an important one for me. I love to draw, make collages, cut things out, make mini comics, and experiment with new art forms. There is a need inside me to do these things, and if I neglect that calling I start to feel a build up of pressure inside of me. Arts and crafts are a great way for me to experience flow and process information which language can’t always convey.
Walking in Nature:
Or I guess just going for a walk in general, but it’s easy to feel a disconnection with nature in our daily lives, especially when living in a city. Taking the time to reconnect to nature is really nourishing for me.
Talking:
This one is probably the most important of all. I used to bury and repress all the things that were happening in my head. That didn’t work. I find it is so important for my well-being to talk about the difficult bits. It can be hard to do, as there is always the worry of burdening someone with my problems. But I haven’t found this to be the case at all. And often, as soon as something that has been keeping me awake for weeks is aired, it’s hold becomes less strong. The other side of talking is listening, and being there for others in their times of need. You’ll quickly learn you are not alone.
Doing Nothing:
This may sound counter-intuitive, but often we fill our lives with distractions to hide what is really going on underneath. Sometimes, the answer is just to stop. Don’t read, don’t go for a walk, don’t meditate. Just do nothing. You’ll be surprised how transformational that space can be. There’s an excellent book by Laurence Shorter called “The Lazy Guru’s Guide to Life” which offers some great wisdom in this area.
I also eat a relatively healthy plant-based diet, read a lot, listen to music, have hot baths and try and create as much space for myself as possible, which is easier said than done!
I don’t do all these things all the time.
Sometimes I forget to follow any of my advice. I try not to beat myself up about it, and just pick up where I left off.
I know that when I do commit to doing a daily practice in some form or another, I feel much more grounded and able to navigate the trials and tribulations as and when they show up.
Our mental health is a very personal thing, so your Mental Health Toolkit will no doubt be different to mine.
I’ve been asking lots of people recently and there are so many fascinating things people have told me they do, from walking their dog to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
What do you have in your Mental Health Toolkit?
