It is no secret that for the past year, I have been working super hard on a self-care routine that would allow me to handle whatever life may throw at my Schizoaffective disorder ass. Before a couple of weeks ago, when that dang virus showed up, I had no way to test my self-care routine in a genuinely stressful environment. I also had debilitating anxiety. I do not mean the kind where you can think good thoughts, and it will stop. No, I mean the kind where you are curled up in a fetal piston, waiting for the end of time to put you out of your misery. My routine allowed me to function well enough to get out of bed and allowed me to live independently 99 percent of the time instead of laying in a fetal position on my bed. And here I am 11 days into the pandemic, and aside from freaking out that the LIBRAY closed…I mean seriously one of the ways I cope with my anxiety and depression is to go to the Library. Every time I go to the Library, I always come out feeling 100 percent better. The Library is my happy space, and I have always thought that as long as the Library was open that there was still hope for humanity, but alas, KY was put under a stay-home thingie, and yep my happy place was closed for the “foreseeable future.” That was what knocked me off my equilibrium, but today I am pleased to report that I am feeling a lot better. I still have my Scribd and Kindle Unlimited and review copies ( books). Most importantly, I proved to MYSELF that as long as I STICK that, I DO have the ability to weather a crisis without having to be an inpatient at the psychiatric hospital.
So what IS it that I do? Glad you ask!! Below is what I do, and I hope that it may help you too!
Workout– it took a long ass time for me to listen to my shrink over working out. When I hit my lowest in terms of depression and anxiety and was on a shit ton of pills, and my DR was like just TRY working out at the gym next to your apartment, If it works, then yay! If not, then we can discuss other options. So I finally dragged my ass to Planet Fitness that was a block from my apartment. That was four years ago, and Damn, my mental health has never been better. I have to say I am not precisely all skinny yet, but that is because I was on Seroquel, and that med would blow you up even if you starve yourself you could still gain a LOOOT of weight. The one silver lining with Seroquel is that I did NOT hit the 600-pound mark, and you know what? I am damn proud of that feat. If you doubt me that a pill could make you that fat, just go to a DR office and see how many skinny people in the behavioral health unit I was 140 pounds when I was diagnosed with Schizoaffective disorder. My highest weight ever was 335. Yeah… After I found that out, I went straight to Planet Fitness and signed up. I am doing the Tone it UP works out, and I LOVE it. Now that I am off of Seroquel l, I have high hopes that this year I will start to see positive changed in my body.
Eat as clean as possible – for me that means a gluten-free, vegan diet. I bought the Tone It Up meal plan and that I some of the best vegan recipes I have ever tasted in my LIFE! I have noticed that if I have gluten or sugar, then I feel like shit for a few days afterward, and when I feel like shit, I start to become itchy, and it snowballs into a disaster.
Mediaite-This is another thingie that I had wish I started earlier. I knew people who had great success using meditation tools with a mental illness, but my thick skull felt that was all woo-woo stuff, and at that time, I was mist NOT a woo-woo person. Me and “religion” never were a good combo, and no matter how hard I tried, I always felt that the people in churches were.. to be honest..not my type. Then I discovered Danniell Laport, and my mind was blown… I felt as I had finally found my people, and with that, I found a whole new way of authentic living THAT’S when I started to meditate. I have always used the calm app, and while at first, I struggled to release all the negative thoughts, and it took about a year, but I am finally reaping the benefits.
Journal-I have been doing this for a long time. I have found that if I don’t get my thoughts out ASAP, then it leads to very bad blowups. I use the Day One app on my Mac and my iPhone. This has helped me just to get all the thoughts out of my head so that I can be a nice person to everyone. No one likes a screaming bitch, no matter if you do have a mental illness.
These four things are my Non-negotiables. As long as I am doing the above, I can handle almost anything. And yes, I have read alll the productivity books and have tried practically all of them—some work a LOT didn’t. I am a firm believer in intake that you like and forget the rest.