Plan Ahead for Positive Mental Health

Everyone should expect the unexpected. Everything from personal tragedy to social upheaval and natural disaster is on life’s to-do list. And people who plan ahead will weather these storms better than those who do not.

You’ve heard of emergency preparedness plans: preparations you make for fires, floods, hurricanes or blackouts and so forth. Those plans involve survival kits (flashlights, portable radios, batteries, first aid kits, snacks, water, etc.) and rendezvous points for reuniting with family, etc. Again, people taking these precautions are more likely to recover than people who fail to plan.

Here’s my point. In the same way that natural disasters can upend our lives so can sudden dramatic turns in our mental and emotional health. In fact, the consequences of mental health issues are decidedly more disruptive than environmental disasters. Challenges to physical safety typically do not endure beyond the events presenting the challenge. Because what we do in the aftermath of these affairs greatly depends on our psychological self-sufficiency. But profoundly negative psychological events in and of themselves undermine our very sense of self-sufficiency. That can leave us in a continuous state of emergency.

Imagine a steady-handed person unexpectedly diagnosed with schizophrenia. The impact of that diagnosis can throw everything into question for an unprepared soul. They may second guess themselves. Persistent worry and/or negative thinking can challenge their usual resilience. They might shy away from certain people and environments. Feeling leprous, they may opt out of social life completely. With that, their relationships, self-esteem and outlook on life will suffer dramatically. What else would you expect from someone taken off guard in that way. Some other personal crisis or even a change in neighborhood or career path and other life events, both good and bad can add loads of anxiety on anyone’s shoulders. These are all mental health issues, big or small.

But here’s the good news. A plan of action can be developed to help you through challenges to your mental health the same way that survival kits are employed in emergencies. This plan of action for optimal mental health is called a Wellness Plan or a Prevention and Recovery plan.

Nothing here is a substitute for professional advice. I’m simply highlighting an effective strategy that can be used along with other treatments. Know that a wellness plan can be very detailed and complicated. However, using just the basics in the right way can produce the desired results.

Among the tasks of a wellness plan is taking a look at your Strengths. This is a healthy and rewarding task as these strengths will undoubtably be called upon in the future. Your strengths include your talents, knowledge, the things others like about you and those things that you like about yourself. Make a list of those strengths. Next to each one describe how that quality supports your sense of wellbeing. For instance, if you’re an artist or a writer, write down the rewarding aspects of each activity.

Once you’ve logged them and have a full grasp of your strengths, consider your Triggers: things that frustrate, anger, sadden, or confuse you and/or anything that can reliably dim your spirits for a long time. Make a list of those triggers. How did you overcome their effects in the past? More than likely, your recovery had something to do with one or more of your strengths. Now you can create a new section, titling it What To Do When Things Don’t Go My Way or something like that. Here in your wellness plan list each trigger and next to each make a note of how the relevant strengths you called upon answered problems presented by that particular trigger in the past.

You can organize your plan anyway that suits you best. The important thing is knowing your positive and negative points then using them to actualize behavior that addresses challenges to your wellbeing. So, be sure to include Strengths, Triggers and a What To Do When section. You might even want to include a Warning Signs section. There you would list anomalies in your thoughts and actions that can alert you to when you’re within range of one or more of your triggers.

You can add a list of Supporters too. These would be people who can be relied upon to be there for you when you need them.

The following is a loose example of putting a completed plan into action:

You’ve noticed yourself irritable. This is a Warning Sign that you feel overwhelmed by your responsibilities. Before you lose your cool and make a costly mistake, you can refer to your plan’s What To Do section. There you are reminded that busying yourself with creative pursuits has been a reliable way to destress. One of your strengths might be that you’re an amateur photographer. So, you embark on a weekend exploration of scenic parks. You capture picture perfect landscapes. You’re mingling with friendly people. Everyone of them is enjoying nature just like you. You watch ducks peacefully floating by in streams and bees quietly pollinating bright flowers. You lose yourself in these surroundings. You feel your frustration gradually fading. It is replaced by a deep appreciation for the moment.

At the end of that weekend you’re thinking through your challenges with a clear mind. You find effective solutions that restore your confidence. These feed your sense of self-reliance which is one of your natural strengths. To top it off, you call a close Supporter. They are on board to go with you on your next photo taking excursion to a place you’ve always wanted to visit. Things only get better from there.

That is a simple but realistic example of how a wellness plan can effect a course correction when we’re wavering. When things are bad, we don’t always behave as if we’re in complete control of our senses. So, having a written strategy for these occasions will boost your sense of security. And it will almost guarantee that you’ll emerge as a victor when the smoke clears.

You don’t even have to write a plan. You can just record it on an audio device and listen to it whenever you need to. Or you can just make a list of your strengths and supporters and keep it on your phone for a reminder of what you have available to you. Be as creative as you’d like. Organize your plan and use it as you please. Simply understand it as an agent of optimism and a rewarding tool for reinvigoration that most of us will need, just in case. The key is to get started. It will be done before you know it. So, get to work.

If you have challenges to your mental health and need someone to talk to, or to listen to you, call the Mental Health Hotline at 866-903-3787. Or if you feel like a danger to yourself, call 988.