Making The Mental Health Checklist

Everyone's mental health is different, it's imperative to take care of it, but it's harder to remember it's OK to take care of ourselves.

As our mental health heals, we develop certain routines. There has been a rejuvenating routine I've developed to make my mental health checklist to help heal and ruminate my mindset.

If you are looking for different ways to ruminate your mind, I hope this can aid you in your progress toward your mental health regime.

Have A Back-Up Plan In Case You Have A Therapy Session That Doesn’t Go Well

I go to therapy and sometimes I have sessions that didn't go as planned, the topics I talk about might not have been explained well enough. I have always had trouble trying to talk about what I want to express, and when I can see that my topic got misinterpreted. I sit there and stew about how I got the answers on a topic that wasn't on par with what I was pleading to.

Sometimes I have to make a pact with myself that if a certain therapy session doesn’t go well then I have to go do something for myself afterward to perk myself up so I don’t get so downtrodden or simmer over what I couldn’t say.

Please be sure to do something for yourself afterward. If that means getting your favorite meal from the drive-through and then going home and putting on a good television show. Whatever that activity is, it is special to you, and it defines a good time, it'll be your way of making up for how that session didn't go as planned.

It wouldn't hurt to keep in mind that you need to keep your options open for other therapists just in case you don’t mesh well with the one that you’re going to. To go to therapy, it needs to be comfortable with these professional strangers, they might have advice that just doesn't match your problems to talk about. It's OK if you have to try out different therapists, the whole point is to get help and it's already an accomplishment that you are doing that.

Remember That You Don’t Have To Talk To People That You Don’t Want To

With depression and anxiety, it is a lot to verbally communicate with someone else. It takes a tremendous amount of confidence and energy to be able to talk to people. In these social situations, the energy is tested on people that we don’t even want to waste our words on.

Often I have to refuse contact with people or even tell them that I can't talk at all because of the busy life I lead. Because I need a certain amount of energy I need for myself. Some people might not understand the level of mental energy and patience to listen to a problem. I'll be blunt and say that sometimes it's hard to have the patience to listen to someone when it's hard to gauge if they will be droning on and on. It will not be a bad thing to do, to tell them that you can't talk to them.

But on the latter of the idea of talking to people that need to put boundaries up for, some just need to be purged from your group of friends.

I had a lot of hate and resentment built up in me to maintain certain friendships that weren't even worth establishing or fixing. I was exhausted from my patience that was stretched out to be willing to help some of these people that I found that I didn't want in my life. I was just getting my mental health worse by having to talk to these people and wasting my mental energy.

It is a hard thing to try and break off a friendship or contact with someone when the worry is “Well what’s gonna happen next?” Believe me, it is very tough, because I have been contacted after I cut off contact with someone else and they demanded to know why I did that.

As you go on your evolution with taking care of your mental health it is very important to go ahead and decrease the things that are causing turmoil or stuff that you know will cause turmoil.

If you know you don’t like them and you don’t want anything to do with them, then there’s no need to have the contact or have the connection instead of straining yourself. Sure they might be upset about it, but you have your path in life and they don't have to be on it. Be with the people that don't cause your turmoil, build you up, and respect your boundaries.

Take Care Of Yourself In Your Way, Not The Way People Tell You To

Don't feel bad if you can't do the care system the way it's projected to be presented. Some ways of self-care just aren't that appealing.

Aromatherapy is great for some people, sometimes it’s not their kind of calm outlet to use smells for quelling. Meditation works for some people, but not all can sit and ruminate their minds to be quieted and focused. Self-help books can help change someone's whole mindset to be positive, but some people (I count myself too), can't just believe something to be applied for self-affirmation in an instant.

Half the time when I shop around to get self-care stuff, there would be this feeling of guilt that I need to take care of myself, but I just can't buy all the things I need that people advocate to help with mental health. Items like: self-help books, yoga, aromatherapy, drink specific tea, etc. If you have tried these out and they don't work for you, that's OK! At least you know you tried to see what works and what doesn't, that's an accomplishment towards your mental health that you tested to see what works for you.

If you know what calms you down in your self-care system, people have their way.

I know someone that carries stones with them because it's something to hold onto, and this item keeps them grounded when their mind is shrouded.

There's a friend of mine who has a system of getting a regular haircut to freshen up her short styles because that makes her feel good to be primped and polished for what she takes pride in which is her hair.

We know what we want for our well-being.

If You’re Having A Breakdown Please Make Sure To Have Hydration & Sustenance

The thing about having a breakdown is the fact that it breaks you down in all parts of your body. When I have a very bad depression episode my eyes will hurt, my cheeks will hurt, and even my teeth will hurt from the tension in my face so much. Not only was my mental energy worn and weary, but my own body was empty from the tears that were exerted. I was having a conversation with my friend about what to go for in the event of a breakdown, and she actually has Pedialyte nearby just in case she has a breakdown because it’ll help out with replacing the water that has been flooding from her eyes. Thinking about that, it is a good idea to have something that will provide hydration and nourishment.

The last thing I think about when I'm having what I call, "The Deluxe Waterworks Package", is to get some kind of nourishment to replenish the water that left the body's system in tear tracks.

Make a little care package for yourself in advance to have a sustenance system in your room or around your house to have some snack or beverage nearby to get your energy back up again while you're letting your mental energy just build back up slowly.

Count Your Victories

With depression, there is this feeling of phantom pain to feel this clenching emptiness. To feel that nothing is accomplished or could be accomplished. Even when we have to take our tasks down a notch to not burn ourselves out, it's hard to accept that it's OK to do what we can in our ambitions. But there is a victory to see every day.

If that means taking a victory for going through the files on your computer, that's an accomplishment. You threw something away, that’s an accomplishment. You got out of bed, that’s an accomplishment.

I count taking showers as a victory because there used to be days I couldn't even get the energy to get out of bed to take a shower.

In the way, you take care of yourself, count it as a victory.

I'm ending this mental health checklist by asking if you would make your mental health checklist. Please make it a daily goal to take care of yourself.

Thank you for reading!