YOUR MENTAL ILLNESS?

I was messaged recently by someone describing how exhausting it is to have to manage their anxiety disorder on a daily basis.

Whilst it is a completely understandable and even natural response to wish to manage our perceived mental illness there are a couple of reasons why this particular approach can cause problems.

1. By managing our illness we restrict our mind to only operating within the confines of our understanding of how that illness manifests.
In short, we start to live our life according to an NHS pamphlet rather than our own responses and requirements.

2. By focussing our energies on managing a particular set of responses we empower and amplify those responses. Like looking at things through a microscope, the thing we focus on fills our awareness...and soon starts to look like a monster.

The fact is you probably know how to manage your own emotional wellbeing better than anyone else...and it is always a lot less complicated than it at first appears.

Often it’s mostly about basics.

Get your rest.
Be kind to yourself.
Take one thing at a time.

Stop trying to manage your mental illness.

Start managing you.