Since my breakdown last October, I’ve been fighting to recover my mental health. It hasn’t always been easy; events in my own life and around the world have been hard to cope with. I know I am extremely lucky in so many respects and I’m certainly not complaining, just documenting my experiences in the hope that they will resonate with someone else.
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed a dip in my mental health and confidence. This shouldn’t be happening. I’m in my happy place, beautiful Scotland, and I have the freedom to do what I want, within reason. Surely that’s the dream? And it is, but if it’s not underpinned by supportive practices it has the potential to turn sour quite quickly.
So, I thought about what I’m doing and not doing to support myself and what I could do to support my mental health more effectively.
Today, I’m going to talk about five good habits which I stopped implementing and how not doing them has been harmful
1. I stopped journaling every day
If I’m honest, this has been a bit of a slippery slope. Since our house move, and in the very hot weather, I found it all a bit too much effort. I also thought I didn’t need it because life was pretty exciting and positive. The truth is, journaling is a habit like any other; if you don’t keep doing it during the good times it’s harder to pick it up when things are tough.
Journaling has been an absolute lifeline for me during the past few months, which is why I now teach it on my wellness breaks. It doesn’t need to take long. I know I need to get back into the daily practice, even if it’s only for 5-10 minutes. It’s probably the thing that will make the biggest difference right now
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2. I stopped talking
Most people would feel really happy to hear this. After all, I’m often told I talk to much. But what I really mean is that I stopped having uplifting interactions with people. I stopped listening to my positivity podcast and I stopped having conversations. The truth is, I’m on my own in a part of Scotland where I no longer know many people, so it’s hard to have a chat with the local shopkeeper (there isn’t one) or invite someone round for a cup of tea. Going forward, I need to make more effort to be part of virtual chats with uplifting people. With the world as it is, it’s getting harder for me to find safe spaces, but it will be worth it.
3. I stopped drinking
I don’t mean alcohol. I was never into that. I always was, and still am an occasional drinker in that respect. Alcohol can be quite harmful to mental health, so it’s probably just as well.
However, I stopped drinking water and herbal tea and, although I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, it’s likely I’m existing in a state of sub-optimal hydration. This may have an effect on every process in my body, including those pertaining to mental health. I’ve never really cracked this one even though I’ve tried all the techniques. Perhaps setting an alarm on my phone is the next thing to try.
4. I stopped walking
In London, I make an effort to do 8,000 steps a day of just walking, regardless of what other movement I’m doing. Lately, however, I’ve let this slide. It’s partly to do with transport; it takes a car to get to a safe and suitable walk around here and I haven’t always had one, it’s partly because I’m on my own, and it’s partly because I’ve had a lot of pain in my foot lately. But walking doesn’t seem to make the pain much worse, and it’s so good for my wellbeing to be out in nature. And nature is very wonderful around here.
5. I stopped having goals and a plan
Having a direction in which to go and planning each day to achieve the little things and the big things helps create momentum and direction. Without these tools, it’s all to easy to drift. This is what’s been happening with me. It means I have achieved less and have less clarity about what I should be doing. This doesn’t cause depression in itself, but it can add to stress and overwhelm. Instead, I need to have a strategy for what I want to achieve and take steps each day to achieve these.