What's helped my mental health over the last year
Published Date: 13 May 2021
Everyone has bad days. Everyone has good days. The sun always comes out after the darkness has passed. But what about when all there seems to be is dark? What about when the sun doesn’t shine anymore and it’s only getting darker and darker? Mental health is being spoken about more and more over the last few years. 1 in 6 people are said to have a mental health diagnosis. Suicide rates have gone up alarmingly over the last decade. It’s sad when the only option someone thinks they have is to end their life. I’m here to tell you that it’s not - the sun will rise again. It just might be darker for that little while longer.
In 2020 the world changed as we knew it and went into meltdown when COVID-19 hit. People were suddenly put into bubbles, and bubbles weren’t allowed to interact with other bubbles. It was just you and your bubble. And if you were a lone person, well that was your fate for the next year. It’s easy to see why that can have an effect on someone - being pretty much by yourself for even just a week can be pretty draining on your mental state, never mind a year. Then there’s the other end of the spectrum, my bubble. I was in my house with my two parents, two younger siblings, and five foster children under the age of 10. Now THAT is also going to have an effect on someone’s mental state. Spoiler alert – for me, it did.
Getting out of the house became an absolute luxury for me. To escape the chaos that was my bubble in my house. And yet, someone who was living alone was probably dreaming of having other people around them. But the fact remains, people at either end of the spectrum may have seen an impact on their mental health. So how did I cope? How did I get through all those dark days of continually being locked in a house with so many children running around and none of my friends or my boyfriend to go out with and interact with in person?
I took up running. It started off that in the hour outside that Nicola Sturgeon gave us, I could fit a mere 3km. So I’d do my 3km outside, then back to the jail house I’d go. Suddenly I could do 5km in an hour. Then I could do 10km. Then, I could do 10km in 45 minutes and I realised I still had 15 minutes of freedom to spare. If you think I was going back inside with still 15 minutes left on my watch, think again. I would then run 12km. Every day I looked forward to getting out of the house for that one hour and going on my run. It got me through the rest of my day inside. Through snow, hail, wind, rain - I was out there running. The endorphins that exercise would give me and the difference it made to my mental state was absolutely incredible. Even on the days I didn’t run, I made sure I got outside for an hour and went for a walk. Again, the clarity in my mind and the positive thoughts that I experienced after were phenomenal.
Simple things such as reading a book, going on a walk, baking some pancakes, playing a board game, can all seem such small trivial things, yet they can have such an impact on your mental state. Turn your phone off. Give your mind and eyes a rest from social media and the constant bad news, the constant comparing yourself to other people’s lives. Start with an hour. Strive for two. Heck, turn your phone off for a day and see what else you can do in the time that you’re not scrolling. Watch yourself come alive and remember what it’s like to live and appreciate all the small things, like the sun against your face or the sound of the ocean waves or the cries of a child in her pram because she’s hungry and wants the pancakes her mum made earlier.
Find something you enjoy and do it every day. Make time for you. Speak to people. Open up to your friends and family. Even speak to a stranger if you find that easier. Don’t face the dark alone. There is always, always someone out their willing to listen to you. You’re not a burden. You’re not a waste of space. You’re wanted, appreciated and loved. Even when you feel like you’re all alone and there’s no way out, there is.
I know this blog isn’t exactly deaf-related. But I think it’s something that hits both hearing and deaf people just the same. It can be lonely being deaf at times, and that can have an effect on your mental state. But the last year has shown it can be just as lonely when you’re hearing. Mental health doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, young or old, hearing or deaf. So the next time you ask your friend how they are and they say fine, ask them again. Are you really fine? Let them know you’re there to listen to them. Let them know they’re appreciated and you have time for them. The next time you’re out at the shop or walking down the street, smile at someone you pass. Pay them a compliment. Be kind. It might just make their day.
Life is the most precious thing you’ll ever have. Everyone has bad days. Everyone has good days. But the important thing is that we keep having those days.
