Hello everyone, I am taking part in @TimeToChange’s StoryCamp. I decided to write about 3 things that aid my mental health because these three things, as well as other healthy coping mechanisms, have transformed my lifestyle and significantly improved my mental wellbeing.
Positive affirmations
Sometimes, I experience racing thoughts. They intend to control my life, however, I realised that I have the power to control them.
I experienced racing thoughts just before I was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. After that experience, I associated racing thoughts with being hospitalised. This association caused me to experience a lot of anxiety.
I have found that when I think of positive affirmations to replace the debilitating thoughts, the negative thoughts eventually disappear. For example, I may think “I am going to fall ill and go into hospital.” So, I change my thought by intentionally saying to myself “I will be well and stay well”.
This is something that has aided my mental health in a tremendous way. I believe my recovery journey has been smoother because of the positive thoughts.
2. Exercise
I can’t express the extent to which exercise has aided my mental health. Being physically active has helped: improve my mood, manage stress, improved my sleep, connect with people (walking club), and increased my self-esteem.
If you exercise regularly, you will experience the benefits within three months, or even less!
There may be someone reading who doesn’t find exercise therapeutic. The great thing is that you do not need to restrict yourself to only one form of exercise. For example, I do not enjoy running outside. However, I do enjoy running or jogging on the spot. I also enjoy doing high intensity interval training. But that might not be for you. So, you can find another form of exercise that suits you.
3. Sleep
Sleep is a vital aspect of maintaining a positive wellbeing. I didn’t realise the importance of sleep until I was diagnosed with my mental illness. Prior to my psychosis, I was sleeping extremely late and sometimes waking up quite early, so I wasn’t able to get quality sleep. Due to this, I would feel quite lethargic during the day and mentally, I felt under stress because I was never getting a good amount of rest.
Now that I have realised how beneficial sleep is, I make sure I get at least eight hours of sleep and have developed good sleeping habits. Some of these include: gratitude journaling before I go to bed to put my mind at ease, eating earlier, having a comfortable sleeping environment and sleeping before 12am.
Now that my sleeping patterns have improved, I feel more energised when I wake up, and happy that I am looking after my wellbeing.
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