Mental Wellbeing

 Mental Wellbeing

This week I would like to share some of my experiences with a mental healthcare tool that will help me better understand and treat the symptoms and challenges that most arise in me in times when it feels as though everything is out of balance. A tool that helps track how well I am doing by summarizing my day to day activities, giving me daily feedback on my progress and helping me to develop ways to avoid making the same mistakes.

Being good at self-awareness is an important aspect in getting my life back on track and preventing relapse and giving myself the motivation to work through a problem and continue towards my goals. It took me months to finally admit I was struggling with depression, but now I know exactly what triggers my problems as well as how to manage them. Although things only get worse the longer you are stuck in the place where you feel they need to be. So I want to talk about my first month since being put on this programmer and how things have changed since then.

When I started my journey to become mentally balanced, I had thought the hardest part of the process was just over the horizon and the final result would come quickly. That was until recently after reading a few psychology books which made me realize that the truth is that there is nowhere near the end of the process and all too often the results are nowhere near what we expected. This last week has taught me two things. The first thing being that if you're not happy about something you've done or even if you don't like someone, you can always change your mind next time around. For example the person who told you you were unattractive could go on to tell a friend of theirs that they liked this person after realizing they do a lot more than they let others know and that the negative feedback they were receiving from them didn't matter. Similarly, if you're unhappy about going to see your therapist, you can go back to it next time but keep doing a check up on yourself first and make sure you can handle yourselves on your own.

The second thing being that my feelings are actually valid because they're based on evidence and not necessarily how I'm feeling. Something that helped me with this would be when one of my colleagues said "I'm just stressed out, I have to attend the meeting tomorrow", and here I am having issues, but I have to attend. If I'm really ill, such as right now, then yes I have to attend or else I'll end up in hospital. However, if I'm healthy, then I can still attend for the sake of my health.

Last week I came home one morning in tears because I realized that last week had been horrendous, but not nearly as bad as the week before, which was awful. In fact, in hindsight I realize after those weeks I have actually enjoyed myself more and have no memory of that awful Friday night.

So this week has taught me to look at situations from a different perspective, instead of focusing on one thing, such as if I want to find love then I should appreciate any relationship if it's decent even if it's difficult until I actually start enjoying it.

Another area I want to improve on is my ability to stay calm when things get overwhelming. Sometimes there are people whom cause quite a stir and I find myself thinking 'what will happen when they start making fun of me?' We should also learn to accept ourselves and understand that this is normal too for anyone and for whatever reason. This week has also taught me to enjoy small moments because they don't have a huge impact on our lives. For example, the weather was sunny today and it felt nice to sit outside under the shade and watch my dog play on her toys. When the rain hits and it rains hard, then it gets raining harder, sometimes it turns down the path, maybe the grass is wet then the wind blows sideways and it hits me, but we should take small steps, walk slowly and carefully and smile, enjoy the view and enjoy each moment of what we're experiencing.

Mental Wellbeing
Also last week I started working on a project at school that takes me further into researching new topics. One of the topics I want to cover is ADHD, mainly for emotional reasons, however it'll also have applications for kids whose family members suffer from ADHD as well. There's a lot of stigma against ADHD, so it's nice to see that research for diagnosis is moving forwards. Also seeing the treatment options available, like medication and therapy, helps. Hopefully it will lead to the improvement in treatment and acceptance to ADHD amongst young people.

As I reflect on the progress I've made this week, in particular the achievements I've made in terms of my personal development, the progress I've made in keeping social anxiety under control and progress on my short term plan, I think about the positive impact that this whole exercise has had on me and my ability to cope with the world in general, my ability to focus, my ability to laugh, my ability to read a bit more in bed and generally just have a positive attitude. Being able to be confident, happy and positive, are some of the best qualities anyone can possess. My experience this week is that of a strong person that is aware of his/her emotions, and is able to control them, however I want to learn more ways to control my reactions. If I can be proactive, then hopefully I will be able to keep up with others and not allow myself to fall into cycles of anxiety where I lose time and energy just trying to remember what to say to someone. Asking the wrong questions is another way of losing myself in my own misery, this week I'm focused on listening and asking the right questions, and I hope this makes other people realize that sometimes it'd be nice to have a chat about what's happening.

laidbackhealth

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