Now that you have read the second post of my blog, I want to go further into what you can do in your own road to recovery. If you have not yet read part 1 you can access here Part 1 You can access part 2 here Part 2
Mental Health Charity Mind
I really would recommend contacting your local Mind. They really helped in my recovery and without them my recovery would have taken a lot longer.
MIND have wellbeing centre’s around the country and you should have a centre within a reasonable distance from you.
They offer a safe place to go through the week to come and try one of the various groups on at the centre. I also had a mentor for 12 weeks to help me achieve my goals who had been matched to me as someone who had recovered from similar mental health issues. I also went on to 2 courses on mental health through mind and I am now involved with a scheme called workshop in mind which has allowed me to get back into paid work at my own pace.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy -CBT
I did find this helpful and it is a good idea to find out how long the waiting list is as I had to wait 6 months, it just depends where you live and how much demand there is in that area. It is all about working on your thoughts and changing negative patterns of thinking.
Voluntary Work
I have done voluntary work before in my recovery or if I’ve been out of work for a while and lost confidence. I focused on work involving helping others which helped take my mind of me and give something back to the community. It did take perseverance getting the right volunteer jobs as I had to apply to a few as some were not very well run or weren’t as described when I went to discuss them. It is a great way to build confidence, meet people, try new things and get into paid work after, if you want.
Hobbies, A positive obsession
Having obsessive thoughts and worries are common place when you have a breakdown. I found it helped to really get back into my old hobby of toy figure collecting and model making. I was also enjoying art and pyrography at my local mind centre. I used that obsessive nature to have positive obsessions that I enjoyed. I would recommend trying to get back into an old hobby or finding a new hobby or interest,
Some examples are:
- Collecting something, memorabilia ect
- Painting, drawing
- Sports
- Gardening
- Crafts
- Family tree
- Yoga
- Martial arts
Alcohol and Drugs
stay away from alcohol at least for a good while until you are feeling a lot better. The antidepressants need to work in your recovery and alcohol as a depressant will counteract the antidepressant from working properly. If you are not taking any medication I would still refrain from alcohol until you are stable and feeling a lot better down the road. I would advise staying away from drugs in general as I have suffered bad experiences in the past. They especially do not mix with mental health problems.
mindfullness, meditation and relaxation
I would look into some form of the above. It really helps with anxiety and helping to get perspective in life and reduce stress. There are plenty of books on these subjects available at the library or to buy. There are usually courses and groups you can find in your local area as well to teach you.
Please feel free to ask me anything or comment below. Good luck on your path!
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