As noted in my previous post I face multiple mental health challenges such as OCD, PTSD and bipolar disorder type I. However, I have been in remission from bipolar disorder since 2006, and I am reaching many of my life goals. What helped me improve my mental health is: changing the psychiatrist, being honest, continuous improvements, psycho-education, measuring what matters and Islam.
Change the Psychiatrist
Do not hesitate to consult a different psychiatrist if you do not see progress whether in your well being, or to understanding of your condition and how to manage it.
Change before you have to. Jack Welch
I spent 13 years with the first psychiatrist I consulted, he prescribed me Haloperidol sold as Haldol a first generation medication, and I did not see progress after a complication, I spent many years suffering unnecessarily. He even said he did not understand what is happening but at the same time warned me that seeing other psychiatrists may be dangerous and changing the medication can be a bad idea.
With Haldol, Tegretol, and Parkizol, despite my best effort to maintain a good health, each year I spent around 2 month in severe mental and physical pain.
Fortunately, after changing the doctor and getting prescribed Olanzapine things got better but it is not all about the medication.
We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. Dolly Parton
Be honest with yourself
This is crucial and deal-breaker, if what the psychiatrist says make sense to you, follow through with his advice and guidance.
If you are able to pinpoint issues you have that lead to inevitable life changes, better be honest with yourself and face the truth.
For example I used to practice martial-arts and I was good at it and I loved it. However, as my health deteriorated I had to transition to gentler sports for my joints with low impact such as walking, swimming, and cycling.
Same for work, I had no choice but to work from home and in my country as I could not travel or work in an office.
As for education I could not have a doctoral degree or have other degrees from brick and mortar institutes or universities for this I earned 4 certificates from online academies.
As my eyes are tired but improving, for more than a year I could not use the computer screen for more than 1h30 min a day now I am up to 3h30 . This improvement was possible because of slow and steady optimization: using a large screen, zoomed in, dark mode, relaxing my eyes by looking far away, working for a specific time than taking measured breaks, being aware of my distorted thinking and cognitive biases etc…
Kaizen Continuous Improvements
1- Limit further damage
If I am severely trapped in a vicious circle of hell, and I experienced this pure hell for many years of life, all I did is limiting further damage as much as I could because if I did not do so it will get me more time and work to recover later on.
Besides, the more damaged I become the more fragile I will be, and I will be more vulnerable to new complications. This is what happened to me, after the 2006 relapse, as I also had a back disk issue adding to it PTSD and chronic fatigue. For that reason even after 18 years I still have chronic fatigue, muscle contraction, OCD and PTSD.
2- Do what you can with what you have
Avoid maximizing the negative and minimizing the positive, focus on what you can do instead. This leads to the next point.
3- Even the smallest positive move forward counts
I won’t say step by step I will say even baby steps count, as with time and little effort this compounds to significant improvements. I break down large tasks to small and manageable tasks, I take multiple breaks if necessary. Whether it is work, study, cooking, or exercise everything become easy.
Psycho education
Many organizations provide free online resources, it also a great idea to listen to psychology podcasts: such as: The Savvy Psychologist, All in the Mind, Inside Bipolar, TalkDB, Speaking of Psychology etc….It will be great if you buy books about bipolar disorder and psychology in general. Of course, whether books, podcasts, or other online resources be sure that the author and source is qualified do your best to avoid information that is not credible.
Self-awareness & self-reflection
Be studying psychology you will acquire new tools and knowledge to adapt & adjust to our mental health issues. Taking notes about our struggle and how we are working on it to solve it will help us discover patterns and triggers that may be dealt with for better life satisfaction.
For note taking it can as a simple audio recording or writing docs in Google Docs. Using a mood tracking app may help you pinpoint the time of the year when your mood goes up or down. You will be able to prepare yourself in advance when harder times come.
Optimize Your Time by Measuring
It is also helpful to measure each activity and know with precision how much it takes to able to plan you day your week and longer projects. This will also easy the synchronization different projects.
Measure activities’ time is hugely important at work as after a couple of year of experience you will know the time needed for each task and you will be able to access the project assigned to you and the time needed to finish it, this translates in nearly 100% deadline respect for me over more than a decade of work as self-employed.
For example I measure, the time it takes me:
– to bike from my city to the next city
– cooking of different recipies
– different work tasks
– walking to different places
Islam
This is profound, it is a lifestyle and sets of principles that even if they seem old school or even medieval are essential. Since I am a Muslim, I do not drink alcohol, no substance abuse, no smoking these three points only are great for everyone’s health and there are better for people with mental health.
Besides, it is advised in Islam to sleep early, wake up early and nap, I do that too and I feel great.
Then, when I eat it is 1/3 food, 1/3 liquid, 1/3 empty stomach and it is advisable to eat only when hungry. I did this with some degree of success and for sure it help providing me with more energy and decrease in weight.
I avoid unnecessary speech Laghw (Arabic: لغو) and avoid backbiting too. This brings peace of mind and avoid losing energy in negativity and save our energy for things that matter.
The thought of an after life and the possibility to go to paradise is comforting. When I did not believe in the after life and I used to study philosophy and Nietzsche in particular, it was a dark and restless place, it did not make sense to suffer in this life and then nothing.
In Islam there is a Hadith which says: “Death is Enough as an Admonition”, I think about death nearly everyday, I go to the graveyard to visit departed family members and I follow Facebook pages that publish the people who recently died.
This nurtured my love of life and I appreciate more that I can do many things that matters to me. I value my time and energy much much more and try not to waste the smallest amount of it in vain.
Islam values the family relationship significantly, for this I have become more patient and accepting toward my father who is hard to deal with. I ended up being more understanding and I found more serenity in my life.
Conclusion
Adapting and managing mental health challenges is multifaceted, it does not rely only on a medication, psycho-education, therapy or life philosophy. It is beneficial to complement it with different constructive hobbies, healthy eating, and regular exercising. What helped me the most in my journey of recovery and vitality is Islam as it is a whole system and every details in it fosters better life and greater peace.
In a next post I will write about the importance of healthy eating, exercising and hobbies.