Strategies for managing your mental health

As economic, environmental and socio-political stressors increase, mental health challenges tend to increase with them. It is important to learn how to manage your life in each environment you find yourself in. This involves managing your words and thoughts, your relationships and the things you have.
Managing yourself
Picture your life in stages that come throughout ages:
15-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65-74
75+
Each age will present you with opportunity to manage who you are. That is exciting! Cultivate support networks, take care of your physical health, put in the work early when building your career or income path, and think fast about your financial future. Once you find clarity on who you want to be, discipline in that area becomes easier. If something is important to you, you bring a lot of energy to it. "Procrastination is not a lack of motivation but a lack of clarity." (Dale Bronner)

Managing relationships
The people around us affect our thoughts, feelings, moods, attitudes and perceptions. You want to pay close attention to how you relate to others and how others relate to you. 

The first relationship we encounter outside of ourselves, is with family, and as Robert Frost put it, "Home is the place where when you have to go there, they have to take you in." While some family relationships are dysfunctional and detrimental, it is mostly your family that will support you through life's challenges. Communication, temperance, loyalty and kindness are all key in keeping strong family relationships.

Relationships with friends, co-workers etc thrive best when there is reciprocity, and when you purpose to be an additive in someone's life.
Relationships can be challenging, but you want to pay attention to how you fight and make peace, and know how to rightly judge the intent of others. These tools will help you maintain good relationships.

When it comes to severe mental illness, there are several therapies that can be used. Below are a few examples:

Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT) - mostly used on individuals living with schizophrenia, this is where therapy assists the client to integrate their memories, emotions, dreams, hopes and beliefs to form more complex thoughts about self and others - and use that capacity to respond to life's challenges. For more information, visit: https://www.meritinstitute.org/

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy involves being allowing of the things you dislike or don't want in yourself and others. It involves not letting certain things keep you in a place of dissatisfaction and resolving ambivalence. With ACT, you commit to facing your emotions and challenges rather than avoiding stress.  You also commit to taking action that enriches your life, and having the psychological flexibility to open up, let go and do what matters.

Logotherapy is a term derived from “logos,” a Greek word that translates as “meaning,” and therapy, which is defined as treatment of a condition, illness, or maladjustment. Developed by Viktor Frankl, logotherapy is based on the premise that humans are driven to find a sense of meaning and purpose in life. According to Frankl, life’s meaning can be discovered in three different ways:

1. By creating a work or accomplishing some task
2. By experiencing something fully or loving somebody
3. By the attitude that one adopts toward unavoidable suffering

A purposeful living, translates to a fulfilled life.

Biofeedback is a type of therapy that helps increase your awareness of how your body responds to stressors and other stimuli. This includes pain.
During a biofeedback session, a therapist will teach you how to use relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, and mental exercises to override your body’s response to stress or pain.

Mental imagery - similar to biofeedback, mental imagery is  creating vivid images in your mind. For some people, this can be very useful for managing pain. There are many ways to do this. For example, the next time you’re in pain, try imagining your pain as a red, pulsating ball. Then, slowly shrink the ball in your mind and change it to a cool shade of blue.

You can also imagine that you’re in a nice, warm bath. Picture your body relaxing. Whatever imagery you use, try to be as detailed as you can for maximum benefit.

Therapeutic gardening is another way to ground psychiatric patients by putting them in contact with nature and other people, and getting their bodies moving. Grounding helps people detach from emotional pain by reconnecting with the external world and the present moment. While researchers are still learning exactly how tending plants affects the brain, what is known is that gardening reduces stress by decreasing the production of cortisol.

A note on addiction recovery
It takes a lot of adaptive energy to pursue recovery, because you will have to change. A common treatment for opioid addiction is methadone.
A typical methadone detox can be 20 milligrams per day in the first week, decreasing by 5 milligrams each week. When 300mg of dried and crushed rosemary leaves are added, withdrawals reduce.

A clinical trial published in Addiction and Health found that when rosemary was given to patients in addiction treatment programs, in combination with methadone, it helped to alleviate symptoms of withdrawal such as headaches, nausea and mood changes. Rosemary acts as an antispasmodic, an antioxidant and also boosts memory and alertness. Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) appears to reduce symptoms of withdrawal by inducing GABA neurotransmitters which calm the brain.
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3905473/


















 

Disclaimer
Please note, the content on this website is not to be used as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult with your healthcare provider if you are experiencing any mental health symptoms. If you are in distress, contact your local COAST or Distress Centre. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, call 1-833-456-4566.