I am constantly testing my limits in mental illness recovery. I’ve always been an ambitious person – before as well as after receiving my diagnosis. I’m usually walking a fine line between barely holding it together and being symptomatic. I tolerate the occasional hallucinations just to continue with my busy life. I don’t want to give up anything. You only get one life and that’s it, so I plan to live it to the fullest and keep testing my limits – mental illness or not.
Mental Illness and Self-Care
Yoga and mental illness recovery can go hand in hand -- it is an incredible and powerful tool for recovery. The resources to overcome and aid mental illness are abundant. What works for one person is not necessarily going to work for another. Keeping an open mind and trying different things is extremely important while on this journey. I believe that a combination of a variety of different mental health tools is one of the best approaches. Yoga is one of the tools I use on a regular basis, and yoga can help you with depression, anxiety and stress, too. Yoga can help mental illness.
I've been thinking about caring for your mental health white traveling as I'm writing this on a train, traveling from Montreal to New York City as part of a vacation. While travel within the country is much simpler than travel out of the country, the following vacation tips are good advice for caring for your mental health while traveling.
Seasonal depression exists but so do seasonal depression remedies. Seasonal depression exists in my part of the world, where winter brings with it subzero temperatures and short hours of sunlight. This can make even the most chipper of us feel down. Whether it's winter blahs or full-blown seasonal affective disorder (SAD), it's not fun to experience, and sufferers want to get better quickly. I've recently had a bout and here's my three things to try for seasonal depression.
Recently I got mental health advice from a tarot reading. I'll be the first to admit I'm skeptical about tarot (Alternative Mental Health Information). But recently I got a reading that was empowering. The reading had three pieces of mental health advice I will share since they're good for everyone to know.
Recovery from borderline personality disorder (BPD) is possible. I'm living proof. Recently, I ran across some old Facebook posts about moving into my own apartment and getting my own cell phone. That may not seem like much, but to me it's a huge victory. I am in recovery from borderline personality disorder--and I was once written off as a hopeless case. If I can recover from borderline personality disorder, so can you--you just need to find the right therapy, put in the effort, and recognize the small victories.
Pokemon Go has taught me many things about mental health coping skills. Coping skills are vital to recovery--they're the bricks and mortar of building a new foundation for your life (Coping Skills for Mental Health and Wellbeing). Coping skills vary by person, and one of mine is playing Pokemon Go (I have the weight loss, buff legs, and sunburn to prove it). Here is what Pokemon Go taught me about mental health coping skills.
Research has shown the therapeutic value of animals. We've all seen service animals, but did you know that some states recognize psychiatric service animals or therapy animals? Some states, like Florida, allow psychiatric service dogs. And my state, Indiana, allows therapy animals. What legal protection they have depends on the state you're in, but it brings up the issue of the therapeutic value of animals.
Did you that vitamins can relieve some psychiatric symptoms? Recently my psychiatrist ordered some lab work because I was complaining of exhaustion, sleeping too much, and not feeling rested when I woke up. The labs revealed my iron was about half of what it should be, explaining the symptoms. When you are on your medications and in counseling and still feel symptomatic, there are vitamins that can relieve psychiatric symptoms.
Having a mentally healthy perspective is important. It's a new year, and that lends itself to reflection. Whether 2015 was kind, brutal, or somewhere in between depends largely on your perspective (Putting Mental Illness In Perspective). So having a healthy perspective is important. So how do we have a mentally healthy perspective?