Taking care of yourself makes everything a little easier

My mental health has been in a tenuous place recently and I’ve struggled to stay positive. I talked to my psychologist because she is actually trained to help people through that kind of thing (crazy, I know). She told me to get enough sleep, eat enough, and get regular exercise – three things that I find particularly difficult when I’m especially depressed. But I put all my energy into sleeping regularly, eating when I’m supposed to, and getting some exercise and you know, it helps a lot. I try to go for a jog when I’m feeling up to it, my campus has a beautiful walking trail by a nature preserve, and being out in the sun brightens my mood a bit. Sunlight has always done that for me and apparently that’s true of most people!

I talked to my psychiatrist last winter and when I said my mood had been poor, she told me I probably wasn’t getting enough vitamin D so I started taking a vitamin supplement. Not a prescription or anything, just what you can buy at the drugstore – and it helps. I guess my point here is that you should take care of yourself. It’s not the answer to mental illness struggles but it levels the playing field a little bit. You need to be strong enough to fight the scary stuff in your head and sometimes it’s easier to strengthen the body than the mind. Do what you gotta do, I believe in you!