- Support groups are safe, welcoming, confidential, understanding gatherings. Visit www.dbsalliance.org to find a group near you.
- Music has the power to help us calm down or motivate, whether we are listening or performing.
- Healthy eating. Avoiding fats, sugars, cholesterol and salt; drinking water and balancing our food groups can help improve mood.
- Exercise / walking / movement can get us through depression or use up extra energy if mania seems close at hand.
- Pet therapy. Our pets offer us unconditional love, a shoulder to cry on when needed, and they never get tired of us.
- Journaling. Setting aside time each day to think through what has occurred and write about it can help us look for patterns and better understand ourselves.
- Sleep. It’s impossible to overestimate how important regular sleep and wake times can be for people living with mood disorders.
- Creative writing and poetry allow us to process information in artistic ways that can be healing and safe.
- Meditation can help us become more calm and focused. It isn’t complicated; just sit quietly and do your best to clear your mind. It gets easier with practice.
- Arts and crafts can help us explore issues non-verbally. Pick your favorite and try it out. Don’t worry about the end result.
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- Mood tracking. Taking 60 seconds a day to track our moods can alert us of problems earlier and help us address them.
- Friends and family can be our shelter from the storm.
- Work. Having a job that forces us to get out of bed every day helps our self-esteem and self-discipline.
- Education about our illness empowers us to make decisions with our health care providers, so we can say, “Don’t work on me, work with me”.
- Spirituality. Belief in and reliance on something more powerful than yourself is an important aspect of wellness for many people.
- Volunteering. Whether you are working or not, adding a volunteer job helps you to give back as a part of your recovery journey.
- Yoga. Combining the benefits of exercise and mediation, yoga is a beneficial wellness tool for many.
- No drinking/substance use. Getting clean and/or sober can work wonders on your moods and treatment effectiveness.
- Gardening. The combination of exercise, beauty and being outdoors makes this wellness strategy irresistible to many of us.
- Tracking triggers (predictable actions or situations that destabilize moods) and preparing for them can help us avoid severe mood episodes.
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