Take charge of your Mental Health

101 ways to improve your mental health without medications
© 2006, Rick Brouwer

Read the list below and choose one or more strategies and try them out today!    

1. Take a walk
2. Forgive someone who has hurt you
3. Think about positive attributes in someone you know and write them down
4. Have a massage
5. Take a long bath
6. Smell some flowers at least once a day
7. Think back over a recent achievement (no matter how small) and congratulate yourself
8. Lose weight
9. Forgive yourself of a past mistake
10. Pray the serenity prayer
11. Have a cup of tea with a friend
12. Think of something kind to do for another person
13. Buy a dog or some other pet
14. Don’t do things that are wrong, even if it feels good at the time. You will pay later.
15. See a Counsellor, Psychologist or Doctor and discuss your problems
16. Say “I will come through this, no matter how dark things are now”
17.  Write down the negative thoughts that are going through your mind. Then write “These thoughts are probably untrue.”
18.  Live life ‘loving people and using things,’ not the other way around
19. Read the Bible, especially Psalms, Proverbs and the life of Jesus.
20. Take up a new hobby
21. Get up and get out of the house, NOW!
22. Visit a positive and bubbly friend
23. Watch a comedy
24. Slow Down. Its Ok not to push yourself so hard
25. Let someone know that they have hurt you and you want to repair the relationship
26. Listen to the advice of a trusted friend
27. Let yourself be loved
28. Remove yourself from a toxic relationship
29. Stop worrying about money. Live within a budget. Be content with what you have
30. Discover a new puzzle, game or crossword
31. Stop avoiding pain through drink or drugs then expect a new way through it.
32. Invite God’s Spirit to dwell in you
33. Ask yourself “What has this awful experience taught me?” Learn the lesson and move on.
34. Become totally focused on the present activity you are involved in.
35. Repeat often “Depression, you are my enemy and I want no part in you.”
36. Admit you can’t make it on your own and reach out to God for help.
37. Ask God to forgive you for your past failures
38. Plan a holiday or a short break and then take it!
39. Make up a sick or funny joke
40. Find out what your best strengths are and decide to use them most in life
41. Remember something good someone has done for you and write a note to thank them
42. Do some gardening
43. Do something you have been putting off, you will feel better for it.
44. Imagine a light switch in your mind and when you feel dark, switch the light on.
45. Lie prostate on the ground and repeat “I humble myself before God.”
46. Eat some chocolate
47. Make sure you eat well with plenty of fruit and vegetables
48. Open a window and breathe in some fresh air
49. Give up smoking or some other bad habit
50. Watch a sunset or sunrise
51. Look intently and study an intricate flower or flower arrangement
52. Drink one good coffee a day
53. Watch children play. Decide you want to develop childlike qualities of fun, trust and creativity
54. Get around new life; babies, an emerging butterfly, a blossoming rose, a zoo or animal nursery
55. Decide you want to live to 100
56. Decide that living happily is entirely possible
57. Do something kind for someone who was unkind to you
58. Ask for spiritual wisdom into a problem that is perplexing you
59. Stop filling your head with gossip columns, trashy magazines, bad movies, pornography or crazy internet sites.
60. Stop comparing yourself to others
61. Write down all the expectations that others have of you and cross off those that aren’t worth living up to.
62. Forgive your parents for their failings
63. Go fishing
64. Stop telling yourself that you can’t be happy
65. Remember that depression may be your minds way of telling you to fix something that’s not right in your life
66. Losing a loved one may cause us to grieve… that’s OK, let it wash over you like a wave. You won’t drown.
67. Read a book about someone else’s journey through depression
68. Decide that suicide is never an option
69. Sit or lie comfortably and breath deeply and slowly, focus on your breathing
70. Read an inspirational book
71. Listen to good music
72. Get a good night sleep and don’t keep erratic hours
73. Place a sign on your mirror “Perfection is not what I need, I need love…”
74. Go to church and hear an inspirational message
75. Join a social or sports club and make new friends
76. Volunteer some time to a good cause or charity
77. Sit around a campfire and sing
78. Get out into the country and look up at a starry sky
79. Get a notebook and keep a journal or diary about how you feel for several weeks. Then ask a trusted friend or counselor to read it and discuss it with you
80. Write a letter to someone to get things off your chest, but wait a month before deciding if you should send it.
81. Ask God to renew your thinking patterns
82. Learn a musical instrument
83. Develop a totally new skill
84. Invite someone over for a simple meal and prepare it with love
85. Get onto the internet and learn more about overcoming depression
86. Remember that the most balanced people have had really tough times in their past
87. Remember to talk about pleasant things everyday
88. What made you feel happy today? Tell someone about it.
89. Develop your own ‘Love Strategy’ to love yourself, others and the environment
90. Express yourself; Draw, Paint, Write, Sculpt, Dance, Play, Sing, Photograph, Cook!
91. Go Camping
92. Turn off the TV for a week
93. Understand that all pain has a purpose
94. Find a career that you can be passionate about, focus on that
95. Respect others and treat them as you would like to be treated
96. Don’t say yes to everything that comes along, pace yourself, your not superhuman!
97. Think about the consequences of your actions or words before hand to avoid regrets
98. Live life enjoying the journey. Enjoy today. Don’t be so focused on the future or the past
99. Let others know that you need their forgiveness if you have mucked up
100. Stop yourself over analyzing everything
101. Don’t take yourself too seriously

Disclaimer: These tips are not presented as a cure for depression or other mental health disorders. Please seek professional help if you are feeling anxious or depressed.