Those of you who are or have recovered at some point, what advice would you like to give oth ers who are going for recovery?

[Silent_cries]

As someone who is currently going for recovery myself I would like any advice possible that could help me on the road to recovery, and I am sure oth ers would too.

The thing s I would like to know the most is how you successfully recovered and how to avo id becoming un well again?

Thank s in advance for any little tip s and advice that can help <3

 

[lost_ange1]

I might be a bit late to this but wanted to reply anyways. I thought i recovered at some point which really was not the case but i got some tips for you anyways.

Most important is, accept your mental sickness. I know it might sound weird but i personally struggled a lot or sometimes still do to accept that the mental sickness is part of me and that i do not just want to push it away or cut it off from me.

Secondly, recovery needs time. I hate saying that but it does. Just think about how long you have been dealing with this mental health issue or had tendencies to slip into them. All those habits, thoughts, actions, emotions. They did not just randomly appear one day, they have formed and developed over years. And to change them, work with them, overcome then it probably needs years too.

Another thing is that you should not just focus on your mental recovery but aim for a healthy body and mind. Small things like physical activity/exercising , healthy food, taking care of your whole self will help you with getting better. There is multiple things that influence our mind or our whole person, so it takes multiple things for us to get better.

Personally what helped me a lot was mindfulness and nature. Additionally developing a high awareness of your thoughts, your emotions and the physical symptoms of your body.

Good luck for your recovery!

 

[Lonelyhotcake]

You can't avoid it... to "successfully recover" you have to learn to identify, manage those feelings and have tools to deal with it.

What I mean is you can't be hard on yourself because you are depressed... you are the only one who can help you, learn how to do it.

I've learned about different topics that helped me:
- Inner child (to learn how to take care of me and finding motivation again).
- Narcicist families (the things they did had a huge impact in my life).
- Changing the way I see the world and how I speak to myself (for example... EVERYTHING IS RUINED! ---to--- Things went wrong but I'm going to find the way to succed).
- Exploring what I feel and why I feel it (I talk a lot with CHATGPT so it can help me recognize my emotions and the reason why I feel it... for example I say "Can you help me identify this emotion? -Tells the whole situation- Thanks, it's that because I....?" and I talk 'till I feel I've made a conclusion.
I do that with dreams too because sometimes it shows things we are worry about but we don't manifest in other ways.
----
I've learned more and I have more tips but I don't want to talk too much. Besides, I should check my diary because I don't remember what else I've learned lol

*Oh! You should have a diary - journal to track your feelings and your recovery path.

 

[justcallmeJ]

focussing on what you have and what you can do helps a bit. even if it are small things. It was hard to see because of my past and all the issues. Accepting that those negative things will never change kinda makes me do things again to make the rest of my life better.
Keeping yourself busy helps too. From doing household tasks to going outside meeting people, anything that doesnt leave me alone with my thoughts too much prevents me from spiraling.

 

[dustyrainbow]

I am one of those who thought they completely recovered but then realised life had different plans.

I know it's exactly what you're asking: How to NOT fall back into "the void".

But I'll be honest and share what someone just told me about Ups and Downs.

You can't avoid getting worse again at some point.
As long as you're living in fear it might happen, a part of you already experiences it already.

It's similar to weather. I can't control the weather. But if I hide because at some point it's going to rain again, I will also hide from sunshine.

Instead I can try to embrace the good weather, be glad, thankful, relieved, happy or just "at least not in a crisis"; and at the same time I can prepare for weather changes.
Better clothing, an umbrella...


I believe the key is to have all the tools to challenge those times. Not to completely avoid them.


(Speaking as someone who lived in fear of becoming worse and not recognising my way downstairs again).


A good start could be to brainstorm about what helped you in the past to "survive" the hardest times.
What mindset did you have?
In what activities did you engage?
Who did you spend time with (and who not)?

And these things don't have to be "the big solution".
In my case, it brightens the day when I look at cute pictures of animals.
Or I feel refreshed after I cleaned my teeth.
Opening the window, letting fresh air in.

Preparing for bad times can be...
Make sure, you let people who are close to you know.
Have all needed medication stored (skipping them can cause an even worse crisis)
Try to focus on the bare minimum and human core needs. If it's hard to drink enough, prepare enough bottles and place them next to the bed.
Buy food that won't go bad fast or is prepared easily.

And so on. Everyone is different, and recovering is as well.
But I've seen many reporting that fulfilling "the basics" helped them to battle tough times.

I truly hope this post doesn't encourage you. "Bad times" don't mean necessarily a crisis again. It can be "just a bad day" you have, but manage to not fall completely back.
But life isn't only the one or the other opposite. No matter how we wish it was the case or how others seem to live their perfect life.

And never forget: setbacks are normal. We're not machines (even machines run into errors and have bugs ;) ). Giving the best looks different day to day.
we don't have to give the best everyday anyway. Some days just need to be survived. And that's great! That means, you still go forward.