Self-Care : Maintaining Physical Health

I am not a nutritionist or doctor. This section is about basic common sense wellbeing and my experiences of working to maintain physical health with a chronic mental illness.

Maintaining your physical health can be one of the most important parts of your healing journey. That's not to say that is an easy process or that it will come naturally. Often times it will take what can feel like an enormous amount of effort.

Physical health includes 

• Basic hygiene activities (i.e. showering, brushing teeth, brushing hair)
• Eating nutritious food regularly
• Exercising
• A good sleep routine
• Attending to medical needs (i.e. routine physicals, taking medication on time, dental work)

It can feel daunting to try and meet all the criteria, especially if you live in a society that places a lot of emphasis on looking or living a certain way. You may have to shift your view point from focusing on how you "look" to others to how you feel holistically. 

Attending to medical needs may be the most difficult because depending on where you are, there can be social and financial barriers to getting consistent and good care. It can be nearly impossible to overcome these barriers for some as in the US we are seeing social safety nets being ripped away. If you do not have access to medical care, attending to the basic hygiene and physical wellness you can do without those interventions is especially important.

Alternately, you may have an aversion to doctors, hospitals, dentists, needles, etc. that make getting care an extremely stressful or frightening experience. Therapy may help with these issues but if you are in a place where you have the option to research and select your providers, you may find a practice that specializes in helping people overcome these issues. I personally use a dentist that specializes in people with a fear of dentists because I found they actually listen to my concerns and are really good about narrating what is happening. 

*** My Experiences ***

This is certainly an area I struggle with. I do want to be healthy and I understand what steps I need to take to be healthy. Knowing and being able to consistently maintain habits are not the same.

I struggle the most with basic hygiene tasks feeling like a chore even when I know I will feel better after I brush my teeth or shower. It varies depending on my level of depression and anxiety who much effort I have to put into these activities. I did briefly work with a therapist on this but became frustrated that most of her advice seemed to focus on people who do not maintain hygiene rather than someone who is able to maintain it but has feels about it. I do think that is you are at a place where you cannot maintain basic hygiene, that therapy may be a viable choice for you. It just was not working for me where I was at.

Other areas are easier because I made them a lifestyle change like eating nutritious foods. I love food and I love cooking so it was fun to find new interesting recipes that provided nutrient dense meals high in omegas (which are good for brain health). I bought cookbooks that are specifically for mental health and I have cultivated some simple meals I can eat when out or traveling. It does mean that my journey with eating for weight loss has been more complicated. There is no trying fad diets or cutting out entire food groups for me, the work has to be in healthy sustainable portion control and moving more. I did have a doctor recommend trying the F Factor which is a high fiber diet that works with my goals and I have seen modest success when I stick to it.

Like many people, I struggle to get enough exercise now that I have switched to a desk job. I am trying to work in more things I enjoy like dancing and hopefully getting to some yoga classes. When the inspiration strikes to walk or hike, I go with it. 

Sleep has been harder for me since I do have chronic nightmares. I am currently on medication that helps with that. It doesn't make the nightmares happen less, it just makes it where I can sleep again after them - like the nightmares don't fully wake me up anymore. I do get much better sleep than I used to but I also still need longer sleeping hours than my spouse who does not have nightmares. This means I have had to develop a sleeping toolkit if you will. I try to take my meds about an hours before I need to sleep. I have a weighted blanket and stuffed dinos that I sleep with. I have very specific youtube channels that I find calming and watch before bed while I unwind (Studies suggest that watching TV before bed isn't good sleep hygiene, but it helps me avoid anxiety spirals). If I wake up too much or cant sleep, I flip my pillow to the foot of the bed and sleep upside down. 

Last we have attending to medical needs. I am at a place in my life where I have health insurance and the funds to access medical care as needed. The routine aspects of this are ensuring that my medications are refilled in a timely manner and taking them on time. Making regular appointments for check ups and screenings (For those with a cervix, you may want to know that a PAP test is not recommended annually - read more here: https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/cervical-cancer-screening). Seeing a doctor when I become sick rather than waiting until it progresses and getting routine vaccinations for illnesses I am at risk for.    - DMGreisl