How to cope

On mental health slumps and making it through

My mental health has been in the shitter the past week.

This rough patch is really roughing. Starting a business with zero financial resources, being alone in a new city, friends thousands of miles away, constant money stress. I have been at breaking point and losing all hope.

I’ve spoken before about how when I spiral, I have s*icidal ideation and I had a couple of days last week where it was a real mental fight to push those thoughts away, which was exhausting.

But it’s a new week, and I’m still here. Success!

No one is immune to mental health dips and negative thought spirals. We all go through them in our own ways.

I thought I’d share what helped me get through the past week, in case you happen to go through a dip, maybe some of these will help you.

Go outside

It would’ve been way too easy for me to hide myself away and hibernate. I’m so glad I have Biggie and have an excuse to get outdoors. Aside from the obvious benefits of fresh air etc, I find that being outside and just seeing people reminds me that I am not all alone in the world, that I am one of many, that I am a part of the fabric of a community, something bigger.

Journal

I’m an avid journaler and I do morning pages every day. But when things are especially heavy, I will often pick up a journal at random points in the day and just write it out. I find it really helps to literally get the thoughts out of my head, rather than just have them in there looping around. Writing them down helps me to process what’s going on.

Exercise

I am a huge believer in using movement to process emotion and let it move through your body. The chemicals exercise releases in your body is all good stuff. And again, it just helps to channel that energy into something physical and have your focus shift from looping thoughts to sweaty breathlessness for a while.

Just feel it

I don’t think avoidance is ever the answer. I let myself feel it. I find trying to fight the feeling makes me feel weirdly anxious on top of it all, so allow myself to just feel, just be. I cry it out, I surrender to the fact that I am not going to be productive, I get under a blanket and let myself sleep if I need to. I take any and all pressure off to be anything other than how I’m feeling in that moment. And generally, that helps it pass much quicker.

Answer the calls

My tendency is to want to hide away, be a complete hermit and turn the world off when I’m in a downward spiral. Last week I mentioned on my Insta stories that I was having a day where I was really struggling and wanted to give up on everything. I had lots of messages from people on there, which was lovely, but also had multiple friends call me. I don’t love talking on the phone, but I’ve found forcing myself to answer the phone when I’m in one of my spirals, having a conversation, talking it out, is truly really helpful. I probably had about four phone calls with friends that day and each one of them listened, made me laugh and took my mind of it for a little while. So, answer the phone. It is always worth it.

What are the things that help you get through a funk? Let’s add to this toolkit for whoever might need it.

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