What’s something that has improved your mental health that you wish you started doing earlier?

33 comments

1. [removed]

2. Antidepressants

3. Meditation. Exercise classes. Cycling. Giving up caffeine. Yoga. Pilates. Herbal tea. Magnesium. My anxiety has gotten really bad, so I made all these changes and definitely feel better.

4. Going to therapy and sticking with it.

5. Ice baths. For the past six weeks or so I’ve taken an ice bath at least 3-4 times a week. I’ve been less anxious, gotten better sleep, and able to focus better in stressful situations.

6. Being selfish and allowing my life to revolve around me only.

7. Learning how to say no

8. Having a lot more sex

9. Yoga

10. Reading, jogging, less time on social media

11. Not ignoring my past trauma and abuse…not feeling sorry for myself but knowing it shaped me from childhood… working threw those emotions and hurts to then allowing myself to heal from them… excepting that I never properly formed a sense of self. Figuring out what exactly fit to form a sense of who I was as an individual. Learning that I am in control of my life and my responsibilities of what that means. Supporting others as they also go threw this journey that is not easy by any means. Learning to trust others (therapist, boyfriend, best friend, children) talking openly about things with those I trusted and hopefully helping my children to understand we are all stronger then we think and in turn hoping the history of family abuse ends for good and future generations can consist of strong individuals

12. I don’t know if this is allowed but… Psilocybin mushrooms. I know it’s unconventional and like… illegal everywhere, but I have severely medication resistant depression, and it’s the only thing I’ve found that can pull my out of a “funk” and keep me out of it. I do it about once every 1-2 weeks. The day after I can sometimes be irritable, but the whole rest of the week I can function like a regular person. I know people microdose them but I actually do enjoy the trips. I have been terrified of them my whole life because of the horror stories you hear with bad trips and all that. I regret SO MUCH not trying them when I was younger. My life (and my sanity) could have been so much better.

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    As a disclaimer though, if you are on certain types of antipsychotic medications, they will not work at all. No trip, no pretty colors, just… nothing. I have been off all antidepressant medications since October and tried the mushrooms the first time on New Years Eve, so there was a couple months gap between being medicated and trying them.

13. Artsy stuff, I’ve started colouring a lot and even painting. I’d like to learn how to crochet next. Honestly, it’s not even the colouring, it’s hobbies, I was so depressed I never tried to find any and didn’t know what my interests were. I’m just starting to learn now

14. Working out and therapy. Stopping alcohol and coffee. Taking care of myself and my health.

15. Habit formation, habit loop, awareness of habits in tandem of past trauma to better make changes in the present.

    Self reflection of how I act around/treat other people.

    Take chances that may result in discomfort, it will develop fortitude

16. Running

17. Turning all but the pertinent notifications off on my phone.

    Also putting a hair tie on my phone as a physical barrier to entry

18. [removed]

19. Starting testosterone injections

20. THERAPY. It made the biggest difference in my life. Wish I had gone earlier in my life. Not that I had any huge massive issues or anything, but every single person has their own little issues that stems from childhood. Once I worked through those and learnt healthy coping mechanisms my life just got a whole lot easier and I blossomed.

21. Moving out lol. Love my family, but they drive me crazy

22. Going off the pill

23. Seeing a therapist, walking in parks, reading a book before bed instead of scrolling through my phone. I recently started setting weekend days off for myself instead of hanging out with friends cause it felt like I’m always on someone else’s time and never my own.

24. Getting off social media, eating healthier, stop people pleasing.

25. Keeping on top of the laundry and doing a small amount of housework every day instead of just living in a mess.

26. Leaving a toxic job that made me suicidal, I’m in a much better place mentally now

27. Getting a full blood panel done – turns out I’m insulin resistant paired with low blood sugar and deficient in vitamin D, B and iron. It explained my tiredness, low mood, inability to concentrate, and anxiety!

    For years I had been in and out of doctor’s offices only to be told that nothing is wrong with me. I decided to go to a naturopath and thats where I got my answers.

28. Exercise!

29. Deleted social media!!

    1. This helps me stay more present & less in my head.
    2. Comparing my life to others has significantly decreased, and it def has made me a lot happier.
    3. It’s easy to forget that social media is all an allusion – people only post the good stuff on there.

    I highly recommend doing a social media detox to start with & see how you feel. I plan on deleting it forever after college.

30. Exercise. It’s amazing how much better I feel after I get the lead out. The small wins of pants fitting me better is huge for my self esteem too.

    Bigger though is letting go of needing to be “liked” and taking shit so personally. Some people you just can’t please. Some people just don’t like you for no good reason. As long as you do your best and lead with kindness, the haters gonna hate no matter what.

31. Got better lighting in my bathroom for the mirror 😂

32. Exercise – consistently. I am unfortunately dealing with what is most likely hormonal changes (perimenopause) and exercising in some form every day is the only thing that seems to keep the swings at bay. I also ensure I am outside as much as possible, have a SAD light and take vitamin D in the winter.

33. Moved closer to nature, away from the city or anywhere overcrowded and overstimulating