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Prioritize Your Mental Health

May is Mental Health Awareness month and as it comes to an end here next week, I thought I would capture a few thoughts to share with you to help you prioritize your mental health.

If you have read any of my blogs, like this previous one, you will know that I suffer from Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety, and Hypervigilance issues. This combination of mental health issues can make it difficult to live a healthy, joyful life.

Background.

For over 8 years I suffered in silence and drowned out my mental health concerns with a healthy dose of daily alcoholism. That was until 2017 when I finally said enough is enough and sought counseling, which believe it or not, was one of the hardest things I have done in quite a long time (just behind getting sober). The act of getting setting up an appointment and driving there was easy, the mental strength it took for me to say “I need help” took me 8 years of burning all the bridges around me down to the ground.

I often look back and think, man how would life have been different if I would sucked up my pride and ego and just asked for help and actually prioritized my mental health over other priorities. So hopefully, for those of you reading this I will inspire you to not be like the old me, and be like the new me which enjoys therapy and tries to take advantage of the benefits.

But, just know that there isn’t a magic pill (okay, well maybe MDMA or Shrooms under supervision) that will do all the work. Also, just going to therapy alone won’t do all the work. Hell, even combing a pill and therapy will get you on your way, but won’t do all the work. You have to do the work yourself to enhance your mental health.

Now, you don’t have to be diagnosed with a mental health issue (I don’t like the word disorder it still for some stupid reason has a stigma attached) to work on your mental health. Actually, be proactive in taking care of yourself will help you lesson the severity of being reactive when it happens. I am talking long term issues, not a sudden bout of depression from say the loss of a loved one.

So what do I do that helps me, that may help you (or at least consider trying):

Nudism

I can tell you that nudism has done wonders for my mental health and stress levels. I don’t do it all day, everyday. However, I do when I can, or, when I feel the need to relieve stress and just truly be free. Removing restrictive clothing not only allows a since of freedom, but also allows the body to not have the restriction of movement. Plus, it allows you to let your inner hippie out and go against social norms…which is pretty freeing in and of itself. Whether you do this alone, or in a social setting, give it a shot. Hell, just try it for an hour and don’t focus on what your body looks like, enjoy the benefits.

 Music

Music is a powerful tool that can take you from a bad mood to a great mood instantly. However, on the other hand it can take you from a good mood to a bad mood. Know the songs that do this to you. Therefore, find the kind of upbeat, fun music that has you tapping your feet, singing out loud, and dancing around. Then hit repeat, and do it again. Make yourself a playlist so when you need a pick me up, put it on and turn it up.

Get outside

More recent studies have shown that being outside is just as powerful for you as taking an anti-depressant. Go somewhere outside where it is green. If you don’t have areas that have hiking trails (or you have troubles with mobility) find a park and go sit outside for 20 minutes in the sun and read a book, listen to mediation music, or hit that play list. When you are outside, work to clear you mind of all your life stresses and just be in the moment. If you are struggling, ask yourself: what do I see, what can I hear, what do I feel, what smells are around me. This will make you focus on the here and now as you can’t focus on what you are hearing while thinking about what is stressing you out. Want to increase the sensation and effectiveness? Take off your shoes and socks and allow your feet to you make contact with the earth. This will ground you and will feel the stress start to melt away.

Seek Professional Therapy

Key word is professional and not your friends or family. Use someone that is training in different modalities which can help you. Even if you just need a tune up, it is well worth the 50 minutes of your time. Also, pay attention to the nuggets of information that they provide you, or, if they give you somethings to work on..go work on it.

Remove the Background Noise

In life we have a lot of background noise that likes to try to take center stage. This is all the things that aren’t truly important to you and things you can’t control. Peoples opinions, politics, the news, social media, etc. If you are like me, this can send you down a rabbit hole of thoughts and internal dialog that can take hours to recover from. Work to turn it off.

Control your Thoughts

Our thoughts control our actions. Therefore, if we don’t control our thoughts, they WILL control our actions. This is something I have to pay attention to on a regular basis. If not I will be knee deep in a thought for 10 minutes before I realize it. By then, I have had many conversations in my head and I struggle to clear it. Remember earlier when I talked about my hypervigilance? It is hard for me to go in public places, or around medium to large groups of people. I run every violent scenario in my head (and when I mean violent I am not talking about movie or TV show violence,  I mean real no bullshit violence), then I run every possible action I can take both armed and unarmed.

Man you want to talk about kicking in a serious anxiety attack, do that for an hour while out and about and I am ready for a nap. But, if I pay attention to them, I can catch them early and work to control them and not allow them to control me. Focus on your thoughts and put a foot in the rabbit hole you are about to go down.

Stop or Limit Social Media

The average American spends 2 hours and 24 minutes per day on social media. 2 hours and 24 minutes. You may be more than that, you may be less than that. But it isn’t always about the time you spend, it is the amount of information you are taking in. It is the false narratives and information, the competition you unconsciously competing against, the negative news/opinions/feeds that you are taking in.

You don’t even realize it is affecting you, but pay attention and I will be you $100 you are seeing more negative information for your mental health than you are seeing positive and uplifting content. I stop doing Instagram and have Facebook, however, it isn’t loaded on my phone. I have to go through a message to a link of a Facebook story to see it…what a pain. Instead, if I am on my phone, 90% of the time I am playing my favorite game as a way to focus on something that isn’t my thoughts or content. Try it out for 2 months, and after the stress and fear of missing something, you will see you don’t really miss it at all.

Turn Off the News

I haven’t watched the morning or evening news (minus a handful of times) since probably 1998. The morning news starts your day with negative content, and ends it with negative content. This starts and ends your day on a negative note. No freaking wonder we are negative people. If I want to see the weather, I will look at it on my phone. Unless there is something of major importance, I don’t watch it. This is why I don’t know 99% of the shit that happens all around me!

Dump It

If it doesn’t provide you with value in your life, dump it. We are still in spring so now is a good time to look around in your life and dump that which doesn’t bring you joy or value. This can include people, work, and things you spend time doing. You can’t get time back, so invest it on things that bring you joy.

Smile

Even if you don’t have anything to smile about, just freaking smile. Smile at random people in public and watch them smile back. According to Walden University, “smiling increases mood-enhancing hormones while decreasing stress-enhancing hormones, including cortisol, and adrenaline. It also reduces overall blood pressure. And because you typically smile when you’re happy, the muscles used trigger your brain to produce more endorphins—the chemical that relieves pain and stress.” So smile!

So there are my top 10 actions for you to consider trying to tune up and prioritize your mental health. I would ask you to consider picking 2 or 3 of them and work on them starting today. Once have done them for a few weeks consistently, add another 1 or 2. Consistency is the key to long-term success.

In your corner,

Ryan