Subhuman
Student
- Jun 28, 2019
- 183
This is a list of free things that helped me with my mental health issues in the past. I thought I'd compile it after seeing Bigj75's "pro life" thread. I have no doubt that Bigj75 wrote it with the best intentions, but I also understand why it rubbed some users the wrong way. Nevertheless, many people are asking for additional information about some of his suggestions (mainly kratom from what I saw), which to me indicates that there is interest in stuff that can at least ease our suffering while we're waiting to ctb.
So this is just my personal experience, and I can't stress this enough. I'm not saying you should do any of this instead of ctb. I'm not saying you should do it before you consider ctb. I'm not saying any of you should even try it. I'm not guaranteeing that it will help you. All I'm saying is it helped me. And it's free, so if you want to try it you can.
One last disclaimer before I get to it. Some of this, maybe even all of it, will sound ridiculous to a lot of you. I thought it was absurd too when I heard of most of these things. I didn't even know how they could possibly help me. I still don't, to be honest. But they did. My one and only request is that you keep an open mind if you decide to read this thread. And if you could refrain from judging me or ridiculing me that would be awesome, although it certainly is your right to do so if you wish.
- EFT/Tapping
Before I learned this technique (at about 24), my anxiety ruled my life. No matter how important something was, no matter ho much I wanted to pursue it, if my anxiety was too bad I had to give it up and stay home. This is the only effective anti-anxiety technique that I know and it's incredibly effective. To learn about it I read this guy's website and watched all the videos I found online that featured him. I also borrowed his book from the library (I highly recommend it because it teaches you how to do it on your own without ever needing help with it from anyone again, but it's not necessary). Once I got the hang of it, I mostly followed along with this guy. He has a video for every possible feeling or emotion you might be experiencing.
This technique did not help me with my depression, although it might if I bothered to use it consistently for that. But it was invaluable in allowing me to handle severe anxiety, anger, emotional pain… basically any negative state of mind. It is cumulative, as in the more you do it, the lesser your anxiety (or whatever you're working on) will be in the future. You can't expect it to resolve something like depression in one session, although for many people including myself it instantly reduces anxiety and negative emotions. Depending on the severity of the symptom(s) you're tackling, you might need to do one or more sessions in a row to eliminate it completely.
- Trauma Release Exercises
Disregard this is you didn't go through anything traumatic.
I found a free copy of a Trauma Release Excercises DVD. I don't have it any more but I'm sure it's still floating around. It's a series of exercises that induce shaking in the body. The shaking releases built-up trauma from the body. I know how this sounds. Even if you don't believe in the link between mind and body (which you should because it's a scientifically established fact), the exercises still work. I can recount my own experience with this if there's any interest. Not that it was spectacular, it was profound but on a personal level. The effects are cumulative.
- Self-hypnosis
There are lots of free self-hypnosis tapes online even on youtube. You can search "Self-hypnosis for Anxiety" for example. It's relaxing, but you won't get any benefit from it other than that if you don't do it regularly (at least once a day, usually before sleep, for 30 days). It's surprisingly helpful if you're trying to build a healthy habit or to stop a bad one. If you have an addiction, or impulse control issues, or if you're doing something that requires staying on track for a certain amount of time, self-hypnosis is surprisingly helpful. As a one-time thing I also used it for insomnia and it worked 90% of the time.
- Guided Meditations
You can find lots of guided meditations or visualizations on youtube. I used them a lot if I had trouble relaxing, sleeping, distracting myself, or focusing on a certain goal I was pursuing. They have nothing to do with spirituality, or at least not necessarily, so you can try them even if you don't believe in meditation.
- Affirmations
Does staring at your reflection in the mirror and repeating "I'm happy I'm happy I'm happy" while you're dying on the inside sound preposterous? It is. That's not what I'm suggesting. I used affirmations to motivate me and as a means of self-assurance. You know how when you're nervous about something you say to yourself "I can do this!" before you get on with it? That's an affirmation. So let's say I had a difficult day ahead of me, or I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to tend to my responsibilities. I chose an affirmation that resonated with me and I repeated it throughout the day to myself like a mantra when I felt like giving up. Or let's say my depression got the best of me and I felt so numb that I didn't see the point in doing something I was previously really looking forward to. I chose an affirmation that reminded me of the core reason I decided to do that thing in the first place and focused on it with as much intensity as I could.
- Yoga
I have a curvature of the spine and chronic pain as a result. Had it since I was 13. The doctors were not helpful and I gave up on them when one told me my only option was surgery. Not only did my chronic pain vanish when I started doing yoga, the spinal curvature in itself improved. I used this website daily for several years but there are tons of free videos on youtube too. At first I wasn't able to complete even the easiest classes but I made a lot of progress surprisingly quickly. It didn't do anything for my mental health, but I included it because it does for a lot of people. Plus, for me being pain-free is a mild miracle in and of itself.
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Disregard if you don't have issues with material possessions.
This is not a book about mental health but since hoarding is classified as an anxiety spectrum disorder I decided to include it. I heard the author has her own show in the US and I've seen her method being talked about more and more online. Forget everything you've seen on the show and read online and just get the book. You can find free copies online. I listened to the audiobook version and it changed my perspective on material possessions forever. It has nothing to do with making your house look pretty or with talking to your socks as if they were sentient.
I was raised by hoarders, so I vacillated between being unable to get rid of completely useless crap and being too quick to discard items I should have kept. I refrained from buying things I needed but I also bought unnecessary things on impulse. I don't have those issues any more. I feel like I can see my belongings for what they are and I'm clear on what purpose they serve. The intense feelings of guilt and unease when it comes to acquiring/discarding things are gone too.
- Meditation
This is the most powerful one but I listed it last because I know how controversial it is. I never expected that sitting with my eyes closed and doing nothing would have any benefit at all. But it did. I don't know how and I don't know why. I can't even begin to describe the ways in which it changed my life, so I won't even try. All I can say is that it's not religious and it's not even spiritual, although it can be. I'm an atheist and I find it invaluable. I'll just say that you can learn it pretty much everywhere, online or irl, for free.
I'm aware that none of this can help if you're too depressed or unstable. I myself am currently unable to do any of the things that I listed. Just trying to meditate makes me want to scream and bang my head against the wall. You may ask why I'm still suicidal if these things helped so much. It's because I'm a fuck up who managed to ruin her life in spite of all the beautiful things she experienced :) So like I said this is just a list of things that those of you who haven't given up completely, or who are still in the right frame of mind, might want to try. Not so much as a solution to all of our problems (wouldn't that be nice, lol), but more to make our life more bearable before we get to die.
If there's anything you guys have done that improved your mental health in any way, I'd love if you could share it as well. Other than therapy&meds since those are a given. Obviously not everything is for everybody, but please consider that if your contribution helps even one user, that's a huge difference you will have made in that person's life.
So this is just my personal experience, and I can't stress this enough. I'm not saying you should do any of this instead of ctb. I'm not saying you should do it before you consider ctb. I'm not saying any of you should even try it. I'm not guaranteeing that it will help you. All I'm saying is it helped me. And it's free, so if you want to try it you can.
One last disclaimer before I get to it. Some of this, maybe even all of it, will sound ridiculous to a lot of you. I thought it was absurd too when I heard of most of these things. I didn't even know how they could possibly help me. I still don't, to be honest. But they did. My one and only request is that you keep an open mind if you decide to read this thread. And if you could refrain from judging me or ridiculing me that would be awesome, although it certainly is your right to do so if you wish.
- EFT/Tapping
Before I learned this technique (at about 24), my anxiety ruled my life. No matter how important something was, no matter ho much I wanted to pursue it, if my anxiety was too bad I had to give it up and stay home. This is the only effective anti-anxiety technique that I know and it's incredibly effective. To learn about it I read this guy's website and watched all the videos I found online that featured him. I also borrowed his book from the library (I highly recommend it because it teaches you how to do it on your own without ever needing help with it from anyone again, but it's not necessary). Once I got the hang of it, I mostly followed along with this guy. He has a video for every possible feeling or emotion you might be experiencing.
This technique did not help me with my depression, although it might if I bothered to use it consistently for that. But it was invaluable in allowing me to handle severe anxiety, anger, emotional pain… basically any negative state of mind. It is cumulative, as in the more you do it, the lesser your anxiety (or whatever you're working on) will be in the future. You can't expect it to resolve something like depression in one session, although for many people including myself it instantly reduces anxiety and negative emotions. Depending on the severity of the symptom(s) you're tackling, you might need to do one or more sessions in a row to eliminate it completely.
- Trauma Release Exercises
Disregard this is you didn't go through anything traumatic.
I found a free copy of a Trauma Release Excercises DVD. I don't have it any more but I'm sure it's still floating around. It's a series of exercises that induce shaking in the body. The shaking releases built-up trauma from the body. I know how this sounds. Even if you don't believe in the link between mind and body (which you should because it's a scientifically established fact), the exercises still work. I can recount my own experience with this if there's any interest. Not that it was spectacular, it was profound but on a personal level. The effects are cumulative.
- Self-hypnosis
There are lots of free self-hypnosis tapes online even on youtube. You can search "Self-hypnosis for Anxiety" for example. It's relaxing, but you won't get any benefit from it other than that if you don't do it regularly (at least once a day, usually before sleep, for 30 days). It's surprisingly helpful if you're trying to build a healthy habit or to stop a bad one. If you have an addiction, or impulse control issues, or if you're doing something that requires staying on track for a certain amount of time, self-hypnosis is surprisingly helpful. As a one-time thing I also used it for insomnia and it worked 90% of the time.
- Guided Meditations
You can find lots of guided meditations or visualizations on youtube. I used them a lot if I had trouble relaxing, sleeping, distracting myself, or focusing on a certain goal I was pursuing. They have nothing to do with spirituality, or at least not necessarily, so you can try them even if you don't believe in meditation.
- Affirmations
Does staring at your reflection in the mirror and repeating "I'm happy I'm happy I'm happy" while you're dying on the inside sound preposterous? It is. That's not what I'm suggesting. I used affirmations to motivate me and as a means of self-assurance. You know how when you're nervous about something you say to yourself "I can do this!" before you get on with it? That's an affirmation. So let's say I had a difficult day ahead of me, or I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to tend to my responsibilities. I chose an affirmation that resonated with me and I repeated it throughout the day to myself like a mantra when I felt like giving up. Or let's say my depression got the best of me and I felt so numb that I didn't see the point in doing something I was previously really looking forward to. I chose an affirmation that reminded me of the core reason I decided to do that thing in the first place and focused on it with as much intensity as I could.
- Yoga
I have a curvature of the spine and chronic pain as a result. Had it since I was 13. The doctors were not helpful and I gave up on them when one told me my only option was surgery. Not only did my chronic pain vanish when I started doing yoga, the spinal curvature in itself improved. I used this website daily for several years but there are tons of free videos on youtube too. At first I wasn't able to complete even the easiest classes but I made a lot of progress surprisingly quickly. It didn't do anything for my mental health, but I included it because it does for a lot of people. Plus, for me being pain-free is a mild miracle in and of itself.
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Disregard if you don't have issues with material possessions.
This is not a book about mental health but since hoarding is classified as an anxiety spectrum disorder I decided to include it. I heard the author has her own show in the US and I've seen her method being talked about more and more online. Forget everything you've seen on the show and read online and just get the book. You can find free copies online. I listened to the audiobook version and it changed my perspective on material possessions forever. It has nothing to do with making your house look pretty or with talking to your socks as if they were sentient.
I was raised by hoarders, so I vacillated between being unable to get rid of completely useless crap and being too quick to discard items I should have kept. I refrained from buying things I needed but I also bought unnecessary things on impulse. I don't have those issues any more. I feel like I can see my belongings for what they are and I'm clear on what purpose they serve. The intense feelings of guilt and unease when it comes to acquiring/discarding things are gone too.
- Meditation
This is the most powerful one but I listed it last because I know how controversial it is. I never expected that sitting with my eyes closed and doing nothing would have any benefit at all. But it did. I don't know how and I don't know why. I can't even begin to describe the ways in which it changed my life, so I won't even try. All I can say is that it's not religious and it's not even spiritual, although it can be. I'm an atheist and I find it invaluable. I'll just say that you can learn it pretty much everywhere, online or irl, for free.
I'm aware that none of this can help if you're too depressed or unstable. I myself am currently unable to do any of the things that I listed. Just trying to meditate makes me want to scream and bang my head against the wall. You may ask why I'm still suicidal if these things helped so much. It's because I'm a fuck up who managed to ruin her life in spite of all the beautiful things she experienced :) So like I said this is just a list of things that those of you who haven't given up completely, or who are still in the right frame of mind, might want to try. Not so much as a solution to all of our problems (wouldn't that be nice, lol), but more to make our life more bearable before we get to die.
If there's anything you guys have done that improved your mental health in any way, I'd love if you could share it as well. Other than therapy&meds since those are a given. Obviously not everything is for everybody, but please consider that if your contribution helps even one user, that's a huge difference you will have made in that person's life.
