Maintaining Mental Health: My Personal How-To Guide

I’ve spent the last 6 years writing on a topic I never saw myself really understanding the intricacies of, even as a homeowner. HVAC maintenance! I’ve become quite experienced at explaining what happens during maintenance, and the benefits of such a service–such as improving efficiency, and ensuring powerful performance. 

I’ve also spent a significant part of my 30’s focusing on my mental health–and recently I realized that a lot of what I write about for work can apply in the mental health space.

Bear with me… 

While March of 2020 and beyond showed me what true anxiety was, I was experiencing it long before then. With that anxiety came stress, and as a result I was no longer being the productive (efficient), confident (powerful) woman I knew I had been before, and could be again… with the right habits. Habits to “maintain” my mental health, like sleeping 8 hours a night, eating right for me, getting movement every day, and journaling. Curious about how I made this all happen? Read on!

Eat Right for You 

These habits I’m about to outline didn’t come to fruition all at once. I worked on each of them during different times over the last decade, and it hasn’t been until the last year and a half that I felt I’ve solidified them. 

It all started with how I was eating. In 2013, I started experiencing my first symptoms of IBS and SIBO, without knowing they were symptoms of any type of chronic condition. I just figured “I wasn’t eating healthy enough.” So, I increased the whole grains/whole wheat I was eating, yogurt, vegetables, artificial sweeteners instead of sugar, and I was eating many small meals throughout the day instead of 3 large meals. After all, that’s what well-intentioned medical professionals were telling me to do!

Guess what’s generally bad for SIBO sufferers? Eating wheat, dairy, too many high FODMAP vegetables, and any artificial sweeteners. I also found out that I should put 3-5 hours between each meal, and drink at least half my body weight in the number of fluid ounces of water a day. I was drinking about 50 ounces a day, when it should have been around 80-90. 

When I got diagnosed with SIBO in late 2014, I finally started eating right for me. I discovered that not only did my physical health symptoms subside, but a lot of the anxiety and tension I was feeling subsided as well.

I do wish more medical professionals practiced “health at any size” and didn’t focus so much on how some foods are “wrong” or “bad.” That’s a whole separate blog post for another day. 

Do you notice your mood changes depending on how you eat? What fuels you best? 

Get That Sleep!

From the summer of 2017 to about mid-2018, my mental health suffered the most it ever had. I experienced some losses, and was also struggling with feelings of inadequacy within my primary social circle. I was also questioning a lot about my status as a single woman–spoiler alert, 4 years later, I’m embracing the solo life. 

Insomnia and I were well-acquainted, with sleepless nights being filled with thoughts of “everything that was wrong” in my life. As a result, I was waking up each morning automatically anxious and tense, with thoughts about dreading the day ahead. 

I’d also been considering adding a pet to my life around this time, and decided in March 2018 it was time. Fiona, my cat, is the best decision I’ve ever made for myself, and I’m proud to be her hooman! But guess what comes with adding a pet to your life? A new routine, and if you’re as unprepared as I was for that, a severe lack of sleep. 

While I was happier, and fulfilled by having her in my life, I had to do something about the sleep issues. So I started reading blogs and books on getting the right amount and kind of sleep. I learned that: 

• I wasn’t honoring my chronotype. This is a “label for people’s innate biological rhythms.” I was trying to stay up late and sleep in, because I could. But I was waking up without any energy, automatically stressed and anxious for the day. 
• I was hitting “snooze.” In my research, I’d read that the human body has about 5 90-minute REM cycles a night, and if they’re interrupted, it actually makes you more tired than if you just got up and out of bed at the end of one. This means that by hitting “snooze” every 9 minutes when my alarm went off, I was more exhausted. 
• I was eating and drinking water too close to bedtime. This means I was getting up at 3 in the morning because, well,  bladders are only so big. 
• My mattress wasn’t helping the situation! It was over 10 years old and needed an upgrade. 

By making these changes, I started to get a full 8 hours of sleep each night, and waking up feeling truly rested, which mentally left me feeling more eager to start my day, rather than feeling tense about how much I had to get done while feeling so tired. 

I encourage you to take a look at your own sleep habits. Do you think making some adjustments can help your mental health? What tactics have you tried?

Make Movement a Daily Practice

Movement doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need a gym membership, or the right workout clothes, or even workout equipment. I do have two sets of small hand weights. I like to get some “lifting” done in the morning… 5 minutes worth! Then during the afternoon I try to make it a point to get 10-20 minutes of riding my stationary bike or going for a walk outside–actually going outside for at least a few minutes every day is another good mental health maintenance tip! 

Movement doesn’t have to be intense. Yes of course if you have a specific goal like lowering your cholesterol or running a half-marathon, then you should have some guidelines (such as getting your heart rate up for 30 minutes a day, for instance). But if you’re simply looking for the mental health benefits of movement, don’t be so dang hard on yourself!*

*As with everything I write, I’m speaking based on my own personal experience. I am not a medical professional nor do I pretend to be one. 😉 

Do you move for your mental health? What’s your favorite way to move your body? 

Write it Out

I have always been a journal fan. However, prior to 2020, I hadn’t been consistent with it. As a coffee lover, I decided to start pairing journaling with my morning cup of coffee. I also started working with a life coach-turned friend in early 2020, and subsequently joined another life coaching program after listening to a fabulous feminist mindset podcast, both of which gave me a lot to write about.

I start every day by writing at least 5 things I’m grateful for from the day before. It can truly be as simple as “I’m grateful for watching my cat play with a ping pong ball for 5 minutes.” Then I write whatever else is on my mind… a “brain dump” if you will–this is called a “thought download” by the host of the above-mentioned podcast! 

I consider journaling my form of therapy (of course, professional therapy is a great supplement to all of these tips as well!) and it has helped me so much. 

This is sort of two-tips-in-one–I highly recommend life coaching and journaling to get all your thoughts out. For me, it helped me understand where the thoughts were coming from so I could practice new, intentional thoughts that brought me less difficult emotions. It also helped me accept that emotional difficulty doesn’t mean that those emotions are “wrong” but rather they deserve observation and curiosity. 

What’s a difficult emotion you’ve experienced, and accepted… or one you’d like to accept? Mine is sadness/grief. I’ve realized through consistent journaling and “thought work” that it is okay to sit in sadness, that it didn’t mean anything had “gone wrong.” Grief can last a long time, maybe forever, it doesn’t mean it’s wrong to experience. I could make a decision and be sad about it… and this didn’t mean it was the wrong decision. 

If You Can, Adopt a Pet!

This one comes with a caveat. I would never, ever recommend getting a pet as a “resolution” to a problem, like poor mental health. Pets are a large commitment, and I fully believe it should be something you were already considering and researching. Whether it’s a guinea pig, a fish, or a dog, you should have an idea of what you’re getting yourself into.

That said, if you’ve been considering this amazing addition to your life already, and have the resources to care for an animal, I can’t speak highly enough about the fulfillment that comes with caring for a pet. Just…. maybe don’t do what I did and get your first kitty in the midst of figuring out your ongoing sleep issues. I have no regrets! But it was definitely a lesson. 

Eliminating the Stigma

I share the above tips as someone who has not been diagnosed with clinical depression or anxiety, only as someone who went through a very rough season and has been through a couple of rough seasons since. 

These tips aren’t meant to replace what therapy from a licensed professional can do, or what medication can do. It makes me so sad to hear people who are afraid to pursue either because of the stigma attached to both. Therapy and medication do not make you weak. They make you an advocate for your own mental health, and I applaud you!

“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.” – Glenn Close