My journey with battling mental health for a year after taking conscious efforts.
Concerns around mental health have grown significantly in the past few years. A lot more people are working towards removing the stigma around this supposed taboo topic. There has been a heightened acknowledgement of the role mental health plays in achieving overall developmental goals. Depression, anxiety, panic are not synonymous with feeling ‘bummed out’ anymore. This is a piece of great news! People are now much aware of their feelings and are becoming accepting of these issues.
Last year I wrote an article about my journey through battling mental health and my progress. I had also penned down what I learned from my therapist and my own experiences. The last year has been a year of turmoil and it continues to be. But now, I can safely say that the way I react to situations has changed dramatically. Today, I am aware of my triggers, am not too hard on myself, and am more cognizant of how to tackle each trigger. But I am still not there yet; meaning, I am not in my complete zen that I aim to achieve someday. (and yes this state is possible!)
Since it has been more than a year that I have been on the path of recovery, I thought I could share some convalescent benefits from what I practised that helped me get better. While this may help you to gain some perspective, I would still recommend consulting a practising psychologist/ therapist/ or a psychiatrist if you are struggling.
- Communication — Of course, I need not remind people of the importance of communicating the right thing at every point. This is a very primitive thing, ain’t it? However, what I want to emphasize more is honest communication. We live in a world of social media where thoughts are shared constantly on different online without giving much importance to the hidden emotions behind them. And covid-19 has just added to it as social face time has become almost zero. Something very rude is expressed ever so casually over texts that millennials and gen-Z lack the guts to speak up their hearts in person. And amidst this, honesty and genuineness behind our thoughts are lost in a jiffy. What I did was to try to have honest conversations with people around me — what I liked, what I am comfortable with, what I am not comfortable with, etc. I am still trying to switch to telephonic conversations so that my tonality is understood in the exact nature I intended it to be. There is no other relief than the receiver getting your point.
- Removing Unnecessary Hate — My life has not been easy socially. I faced a lot of discrimination for being a particular type. And the gloomy abhorrence for people who fueled this discrimination stuck with me for almost forever. It is an extremely negative emotion that played with my mind incessantly and unnecessarily. But when I contemplated and channelled my energies in a different direction, it felt wonderful. I realised hating them didn't harm anyone but me, so why hate? I reconciled with those negative emotions and my efforts in this direction still continue!
- Practising Gratitude — oh what a thing, gratitude is. Nothing to preach here; I just started maintaining a gratitude journal and thank the higher power for every positive experience in my life. It is a feel-good thing to do and you get a sense of positivity in your daily life.
These are three small things I am working upon every day and there is a drastic change people around me have noticed in me, and so have I. There are troughs and crests and life is not a happy song but I am trying. The lifestyle changes I made last year weren’t sustainable anymore so I am trying to wrap my lifestyle around something more doable (physical health wise).
And just like I said this last year, moving towards being mentally fit is a journey. You won’t find yourself free of worry on one fine day. This takes time to heal, but you eventually do!
Disclaimer: All the thoughts expressed in this article are from my experiences and is not a set-in-stone pocket guide to good mental health.
