The Basics
When my mental health starts to take a turn, there are always a few things I turn to first. I call them: The Basics.
The first thing is I check in with my physical health. As much as I value mental health care and believe in its value and effectiveness, physical health will always trump mental health. I’ve been feeling a bit off lately, my emotions are blunted and I just feel blah. What’s the likely cause? I’m postpartum. My hormones are all over the place. While there could be underlying narratives I’m unaware of that is contributing to this, my initial plan of attack with how I’ve been feeling is to treat it as postpartum. If after the expected length of time passes I still feel like I have been, then I will know there is likely more going on mentally that I need to address.
When your mental health isn’t going as you would like it to, it’s a good first step to check in with how you are doing physically. This is why it is beneficial to have regular check-ups with a primary care doctor. While I believe in the power of therapy and valuing our mental health, there are physical experiences that even the best forms of therapy can’t overcome.
After I’ve checked in with my physical health, the other basics are what I call baseline coping skills. Sleep, diet, and hygiene. I call them base-line because while I may not feel drastically different after making adjustments in these areas, the goal is to stabilize the base-line of how I’m feeling. I’ll check in and see if I’m getting adequate sleep, eating enough food, eating a well-rounded diet, and if I’m staying consistent with my hygiene.
In this season of life, my sleep is dependent on a 2-month-old. So it’s not great. My diet is at the mercy of finding time between the needs of a baby and a toddler, so it could be better. Hygiene I am doing well. My showers are my sanity savior and I make sure to take 5 minutes in the morning and before bed to always wash my face and brush my teeth.
So, what do I take from checking in with “my basics?” That I’m doing the best I can. My hormones and my sleep are very much out of my control in this season. My diet I could do better at. And hygiene is the one thing that feels fully in my control, and I’m doing great at it. So, I feel like I can confidently say that I’m doing the best I can.
It’s equally okay if you check in with your basics and find more areas to make adjustments. Either way, if your mental health isn’t where you would like it to be, I encourage you to check in with your basics first and then go from there.
