What are some things you do to keep your mental health in check?

[The Sum of Awe]

For me, I love going for long walks and just sitting at the park for a while. I do this almost too much, just about every nice day there is 2 hours out of my day dedicated to it. I love just letting my mind flow, watching the trees, the clouds, and the geese and the ducks, reflecting on things, and just remembering what I have to be grateful for while I'm out there. The warmth of the sun is very euphoric also. I wonder if this, in a way, is considered mindfulness meditating. But I do notice that if I do it often I am in an overall better mood.

What about you?

 

[Secret Chief]

Meditation and running. Sometimes at the same time.

 

[Secret Chief]

For me, I love going for long walks and just sitting at the park for a while. I do this almost too much, just about every nice day there is 2 hours out of my day dedicated to it. I love just letting my mind flow, watching the trees, the clouds, and the geese and the ducks, reflecting on things, and just remembering what I have to be grateful for while I'm out there. The warmth of the sun is very euphoric also. I wonder if this, in a way, is considered mindfulness meditating. But I do notice that if I do it often I am in an overall better mood.

What about you?

Yes, you're in the flow. People should do it more. More human being and less human doing.

 

[JustGeorge]

I have a strange love affair with the alley.

Don't tell my husband.

 

[Secret Chief]

I have a strange love affair with the alley.

Don't tell my husband.

That's....... weird. (Even by your standards)

 

[HeartBreakKid]

I'm not sure if I really at it like mental health because my general well being and emotional state is far more complex then what some mental health label can cover. I don't really find myself attempting to stay positive too much, though I suppose there is a limit for me in that regard. I believe emotions can get trapped inside our limbic systems and thus cause a host of maladies if they are not dealth with, so I tend to focus on whatever emotion I'm feeling for as long as I can and I find that usually makes it better at first, I have a habit of suppressing my emotions, but if I didn't suppress them I would go around screaming at people all day. I believe it's been studied to an extent there are some practitioners who believe in the limbic system theory so it's not simply my own theory.

I used to listen to music for everything, to deal with whatever it is I am feeling at the moment. I try to turn negative feelings at times into anger because it's more proactive then being sad because otherwise you fall into a state of depression, but I find if I listen to my feelings enough they usually turn into anger on their own. I don't listen to music as much lately for some reason but that's a long story but I probably will again in the near future.

I find that exercise helps, but I feel like the fact that exercise releases endorphins can act similar to taking drugs and it can almost exist as a way to avoid your problems or is not getting to the root cause but I've exercised a lot in the past.

 

[ChristineM]

For me, I love going for long walks and just sitting at the park for a while. I do this almost too much, just about every nice day there is 2 hours out of my day dedicated to it. I love just letting my mind flow, watching the trees, the clouds, and the geese and the ducks, reflecting on things, and just remembering what I have to be grateful for while I'm out there. The warmth of the sun is very euphoric also. I wonder if this, in a way, is considered mindfulness meditating. But I do notice that if I do it often I am in an overall better mood.

What about you?

Walking in the forest or by the river. Is it meditating? I don't know but it helps clear my mind

Cooking. I can think of little more enjoyable than eating a well prepared meal.

Housework (really) you can travel to another galaxy in your mind when engaged in such mind numbing drudgery.

Driving on a track keeps me aware of my surroundings.

Playing with my puss.. cats.

We only have a small courtyard but i try to keep it a green oasis of a place to relax.

Learning new stuff, educating myself

Funnily enough RF is an education

 

[McBell]

I go fishing.
I love sitting out on/by a lake or river with a line in the water.
A little fire going to help drive off the bugs.
Sometimes I will even use bait.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Meditation and running. Sometimes at the same time.

Replace 'running' with 'walking' and I do the same.

Also, people watching and wildlife watching (which are kinda the same thing).

 

[Mock Turtle]

For me, I love going for long walks and just sitting at the park for a while. I do this almost too much, just about every nice day there is 2 hours out of my day dedicated to it. I love just letting my mind flow, watching the trees, the clouds, and the geese and the ducks, reflecting on things, and just remembering what I have to be grateful for while I'm out there. The warmth of the sun is very euphoric also. I wonder if this, in a way, is considered mindfulness meditating. But I do notice that if I do it often I am in an overall better mood.

What about you?

As a child and even during my youth I was reasonably contented and without too many worries, even if I was quite shy, and I usually had at least one good friend, so it hardly mattered what I did as to how I felt. And this is much the same now but there were long periods in between where it was mainly my belief in myself that kept me going. Cycling and hill-walking no doubt helped over the years, or anything else that tended to enable contact with nature.

Given I don't socialise much now, probably my main means of remaining level-headed is by assessing how my thinking, feelings, or beliefs compare with the various people in the media that I tend to admire or perhaps with whom I might have similar views - plus of course doing the same for those whom I don't admire (Trump, Putin, etc.) and who might have very different views. And of course how this might compare with the general public.

Apart from listening to all the music that has accumulated over my life, and any reading that takes my fancy, there is not that much that I require.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I go fishing.
I love sitting out on/by a lake or river with a line in the water.
A little fire going to help drive off the bugs.
Sometimes I will even use bait.

I can see how that might be relaxing. Do the fish enjoy it?

If I did this, I would probably just cut the hooks off the lures.

Now I wonder if fish mind being teased.

 

[Spice]

Quiet times in nature -- mornings on the porch swing, weather permitting, sometimes wrapped on a blanket.

Active times in nature -- walking, yard work/gardening, occasional light hiking.

Laughter -- at the antics of my grandog, my cat, my students attempts at English and right back at them with my attempts at Spanish. Volunteering is great!

Positive engagement -- I make a mindful effort to wave at the garbage men, the mail carrier, neighbors, have brief dialogs with cashiers, nods, smiles, and sometimes brief exchanges with strangers while out and about. People "usually" return what you offer even if not in the same measure.

 

[metis]

What about you?

Not to spend too much time on RF.

 

[JustGeorge]

That's....... weird. (Even by your standards)

You're weird by my standards.

 

[libre]

Only advice I can give is don't be afraid to talk to a professional when it gets out of hand.
We are amateurs, and there are whole career paths dedicated to helping people who are struggling.

If you cannot access such services, reach out to family and your support network to see what other options there might be for you.

 

[Quintessence]

Biggest thing by far?

Having a day job that I enjoy, with supportive and fun colleagues, that doesn't have draconian work hours.

I don't really need to do anything in particular for mental health when the thing I spend most of my daylight hours doing is good.

 

[Secret Chief]

You're weird by my standards.

That's transcendentally weird.

 

[McBell]

I can see how that might be relaxing. Do the fish enjoy it?

If I did this, I would probably just cut the hooks off the lures.

Now I wonder if fish mind being teased.

That would just be mean...

 

[Debater Slayer]

Meditation, mindfulness, socializing, music, gaming, and horror movies.

 

[Heyo]

For me, I love going for long walks and just sitting at the park for a while. I do this almost too much, just about every nice day there is 2 hours out of my day dedicated to it. I love just letting my mind flow, watching the trees, the clouds, and the geese and the ducks, reflecting on things, and just remembering what I have to be grateful for while I'm out there. The warmth of the sun is very euphoric also. I wonder if this, in a way, is considered mindfulness meditating. But I do notice that if I do it often I am in an overall better mood.

What about you?

This might be tailored to my specific mental problem.
1. Exercise (For me, that's just a walk of at least half an hour.)
2. Meditate (AT)
3. Keep a journal (just activities and duration, activity is the best indicator for (my kind of) depression)
4. Take my medicine (dosage determined by activity in the past ~week)
5. Maintain social contacts