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Mental Health Hygiene

© Colleen Sullivan

Well, here I am with an article about Mental Health Hygiene as promised...a couple of days late but life has been hectic the past week!!

It is not my intention to talk about whether you had your shower or brushed your teeth this morning (though both of those are good things), but to talk about the ways you may be able to help yourself, as an individual with mental illness to contribute to your stability.

Here is an acronym that will help me explain:

R = Reach Out

E = Exercise

D = Diet

H = Humor

O = Optimism

T = Talk to Self

T = Take Charge

I = Insight

P = Psychological Journaling

S = Self Help Groups

REACHING OUT

Bipolar Disorder is a challenge...one that doesn't have to be dealt with by oneself. Reaching out to others often helps put things in perspective and helps make problems easier to deal with.

Reaching out to help others is another important part of wellness. Social isolation has been proven to detract from stability and wellness. For personal growth, self esteem and wellness reaching out is a key ingredient.

EXERCISE AND DIET

Physical fitness goes a long way to promoting good mental health. Care in eating good nutritional foods at the right times is essential to a feeling of well-being as well as well as to good mental health. Caffeine and alcohol should be used in great moderation, if at all.

Exercise has been proven to be good not only for the body but for the mind. We can talk about endorphins and scientific research but the fact is that exercise (especially walking and jogging) makes you feel good! It also helps you shed those annoying unwanted weight gain side effects from psychiatric medications.

A body cared for in these two ways is a body with strength and resilience to handle the bad times when they come.

HUMOR

It was King Solomon who said thousands of years ago... "a merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones"

Cultivate humor to help you express fears and negative feelings. This is another hallmark of mental health and may indeed enhance physical health as well.

Laughing with others helps us forge strong, supportive links and bonds.

OPTIMISM

The dictionary defines optimism as "an inclination to anticipate the best possible outcome"

Sadly, many of us with bipolar disorder have lost this ability due to prior episodes, depressions, medications and non-acceptance. None of us were born an optimist or a pessimist and we can choose to change our viewpoint. If a pessimist were to take his negative thoughts and immediately change them to positive ones like, changing the automatic self criticisms fears and doubts to those of self worth it becomes a learned behavior simply because it feels so good.