We’re in this together! 🤗 🤗 🤗

Mental Health

Here are some pointers that I have picked up along the way on my journey with mental health issues. If you don’t feel OK, Please:-

❗ Get professional help ASAP.
❗ Get a mental health practitioner who is available to you on whichever communication medium you’re comfortable with. Be it, face-to-face, phone call, sms, WhatsApp, FB/IG Messenger, etc. This should always be the first person you have access to 24/7.
❗ Surround yourself with a ‘tribe’ that ‘hears’ you even when they don’t ‘understand’ your language!
❗ Understand that caregivers are often not equipped to help you get through your mental health issues. Educate yourself on your mental health condition and, if/when possible, educate your ‘tribe’ as well.
❗ Do your part in getting better. Trust that your mental health practitioner and your loved ones have your welfare at heart even when it doesn’t ‘feel’ like it at any given moment. Follow their advice but, also, don’t be afraid to voice your concerns or discomfort with your treatment. Here, I’m especially talking about medication. This is a major problem area for most of us, recovering mental patients.
❗ Try and keep yourself busy with whatever tasks you enjoy, however insignificant they may appear to others. Activity helps to distract you from your mind especially when it’s on overdrive.
❗ Remember to feed your body, mind, and spirit, in equal measure. Balance is key to your overall well-being. Don’t ignore any aspect of what makes you a human being.
❗ Keep the faith, whatever that means to you! You can do this and you will!
❗ Try and find humour in life even when it seems very hopeless and sad. It’s never ever that serious! But I know, only too well, that this is easier said than done! Oi! 😰
❗ Be open to getting things off your chest and to asking for support. You won’t believe how much weight is lifted off your shoulders when you unburden yourself in a safe space. Even writing in a journal can fall in this category.
❗ Forgive as much you feel able to and remember to count your blessings. Gratitude is spiritual medication. I would highly recommend keeping a Gratitude Journal which you refer to often especially when you’re down and out emotionally.
❗..


❗ Please feel free to add onto this list in the comment section below! We can all learn from one another.

And remember:-

#itsokaytonotbeokay

#iamafricansformentalhealth


Thanks and blessings! 🛐 🙏

WangaRay.

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Mental Health and Cleaning Up

Mental Health

They (whoever they are) say that cleanliness is next to godliness! I have found this to be true in my journey of living with mental health issues.

Anyone who has been through depression will tell you that even taking a bath, let alone doing the general cleaning up tasks, is a monumental task.

So, here’s my take, based on my own experience…. What if we approached cleanliness, not as a chore and drudgery, but as a mental health tool? What if we used what we consider to be mundane and thankless as an avenue to a healthier mental health state?

The next time you’re cleaning up after yourself and others, be it washing dishes, doing the laundry, cleaning the house, dusting off your bookcase, etc., try incorporating your meditations, prayers, Biblical/Qur’anic and other teachings, songs of praise, dancing. and indeed that which uplifts your spirit, into the task at hand. When your mind feels muddled up, take a long shower or bath and, as you and/or your environment get physically clean, visualize your mind and spirit getting cleaned up in the process!

Would love to hear your thoughts on this topic in the comments below.

Thanks and Blessings! 💘💘💘

Mental Health and Covid-19; 2

Mental Health

In these times of anxiety and uncertainty, please allow me to share another mental health tool with you. I call it, ‘The Worry Window’!

It’s 100% human to be worried. Don’t ignore your feelings and/or bury them. If you do so, they may accumulate inside you and erupt at the most unexpected times.

On the other hand, don’t allow your worries to dominate your every waking thought and thus rule your life.

So, how to strike a balance? We need to make peace with all our feelings, +ve or –ve, to avoid imbalance within out minds.

Here’s what I suggest…

Set aside a specific time in the day when you can address and entertain your worries. During this time, allow your worries to talk to you. Listen, and talk back, if need be.

But, when the ‘Worry Window’ time is up, pack up all your worries and tell them, “That’s all for today. Until the next time, Adios!” And then shut the window tightly. Focus on other things until it’s time to open the window again.

That’s all for now, Amigos!

Mental Health and Covid-19; 1

Mental Health

Don’t bottle up your thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc. Letting it all out is a guaranteed and very effective tool of mental health self-care. Some people rant and/or cry, scream, laugh, write, film, box, break glasses,…, etc. Whatever works for you, go for it.. Just make sure it’s in a safe (and private!) space (like your car, man-cave, …, etc.!) so that those around you don’t freak out. Emotional outbursts are hardly ever pretty for others to witness. But, believe me, you’ll feel lighter and will rest easy after you get it all out of your system. Let’s all stay safe and sane out there.

Ama?

Credits at the end of the video

Caroline Mutoko Talks on Mental Health

Mental Health

Way to go, Caroline Mutoko! You’re a godsend in the media.

Check out her In Depth conversations on mental illnesses on YouTube.

Let’s talk, People! 👋

In-Depth Conversations with Caroline Mutoko on YouTube
1. Depression (3 Parts)
2. Depression & Suicide
3. Bipolar II Mum & Daughter (3 Parts)
4. Kuki Magana – My 5 Parents
5. Things Parents Won’t Talk About (2 Parts)
6. Cutting, Self Injury (This one chilled me to the bone! 😱

7. Depression at Work (3 Parts)

8. Postpartum Depression (2 Parts)
9. Toxic Parents