I want to share five things I do when I want to get out of a funk. By funk I don’t mean serious depression; I mean a really bad day, recent setback, or maybe even the monotonous routine of everyday life. It’s important to take care of yourself and feel good, especially in mental illness recovery. Here are simple things I do to cheer up and feel refreshed when I need to get out of a funk.

Doctors do not diagnose most mental illness in childhood. I wasn't diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder until my early 20s. While the diagnosis made sense to me, it came as a surprise to many of my loved ones. I believe there were signs growing up that could have indicated that I would develop a mental illness, we just didn’t realize it until I was stable and on medication. There were signs of my mental illness in childhood.

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. 

I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in my early 20s, and since then I’ve received many different reactions when disclosing my mental illness. Many people are supportive. Others are curious. Sometimes I face mental health stigma. Writing for HealthyPlace means my diagnosis is out there for anyone to see. I’m fine with that because I want to help and I want to fight stigma. However, in my day-to-day life, I choose whom I want to tell and when I want to tell them. Here are a few of the good, the bad, and the ugly experiences with disclosing my mental illness diagnosis, not necessarily in that order.

There's no doubt that weather affects our mental health as anyone's mood can be affected by the weather. I live in Toledo, and many people complain about our weather. I think the weather is the best part of living here. I’ve always been fascinated with weather and I love living in an area that has four distinct seasons. I thought this article on the effects of weather on mental health would be timely considering April is the start of Ohio’s tornado season.

The motivation for recovery from mental illness depends on the individual, so it is important to find reasons in your life to stay motivated. Recovery can be a long and bumpy road, but those reasons will give your journey purpose. Setting goals can give you something to look forward to and keep your life moving forward. Here are some of the reasons I stay motivated in recovery from mental illness.

Recovering from mental illness can feel impossible. It seems like an uphill battle, leaving you feeling stuck and overwhelmed. Finding a place to start when recovering from mental illness is a daunting task. I’m here to tell you that by finding and reading this blog you are well on your way toward an "impossible" recovery from mental illness.

Volunteering aided my recovery from mental illness when I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and bulimia in my early 20s. I volunteered for my local National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) chapter, and it soon became a great opportunity that helped me take back my life and even lead to an internship. Here are five ways that volunteering can aid mental illness recovery that I discovered during my time at NAMI.

Suffering a mental illness when you're young is extremely difficult and debilitating. When you’re young there is an immense amount of pressure to fit in as well as to act and to look a certain way. Judgment and stigma from peers can run high and be openly expressed. Many times, those who suffer from mental illness when they're young believe that something is wrong with them and don’t know how to “snap out of it.” As difficult as it can be to live with a mental illness when you're young, it is also hopeful to know that the suffering doesn’t have to last forever.