Determine What Recovery Means For You

Your first step in recovery is the Seeking Treatment stage which is closely linked to the second stage of Mental Illness Education. These stages will offer you tons of information about general mental health and recovery, different treatment types and the medical terms involved. When you can take this information and use it to determine what recovery means in your life, you will be better empowered to tackle the third stage: Making a Change. Without knowing what specifics are attributing to your mental illness, why you want to recover and what you are willing to give up, it can be impossible to determine which changes to make and even harder to stick to those changes. Some ideas for how recovery looks for you include healthy sleep patterns, more desire for social activities and increased productivity toward your goals.

Include Other Types of Health in Your Plan

Throughout the five stages, it is crucial to remember that your physical, mental and spiritual health are connected in many ways. The worse your physical health, the more difficult it will be to recover from mental illness and vice versa. For example, think of how your mood changes based on when you eat breakfast and what you have for that meal. Chances are that more nutritious and calm meals lead to more energy and less stress throughout the day. To ensure you get the best nutrition possible, you should find a plan like the Thrive patch to fill in the gaps.

Create a System of Support

The right support system needs to include your medical teams, such as physicians, therapists and specialists, your family and your friends. For some types of mental illness, you will want to add support or therapy groups, teammates at work or in hobbies, and even pets. It is essential to cut off anyone who makes your mental illness worse, such as abusers and those who enable addictions to drugs or alcohol. The best support systems are those you can fall back on during tough times, do not make you feel like a burden and understand your journey.

Address Your Stress

Unfortunately, stress is a part of life, so it is crucial to address it instead of avoiding it. Strategies for coping with stress include meditation, exercise programs or classes, and spending time with loved ones. A common saying is "laughter is the best medicine," and studies have shown this to be true when addressing stress. Finding humor in a stressful situation can help relax your muscles and get your body out of panic mode. Relaxing like this can help you avoid stress headaches and provide clarity to help determine your following actions.

Distinguish Between Goals, Systems and Dreams

Many people, even productivity and mental health gurus, often lump goals, systems and dreams together under the term "goals" and divide them by how long it will take you to achieve them. This grouping can lead to frustration as you are told to aim for the stars and create realistic goals. Distinguishing between these three things can help you make the systems of habits necessary to keep your goals and achieve your dreams. For instance, if your dream is to retire a billionaire, then your goals can include getting out of debt, and your systems can be built on the habits of tracking your spending and reducing your expenses.

Recovering from mental illness is a personal journey that starts with seeking treatment and determining what recovery means in your life. Knowing what you want your life to look like in the final recovery stage can help you plan how to get there and develop healthy habits and systems for maintaining your physical and mental health.

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