I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.
Ask HN: How do you manage your mental health?
61–70 of 95 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your mental health?
#62Disappointed to see that "See a doctor or mental health professional" has not yet been mentioned. So I'll recommend that. My anxiety had started manifesting physically as panic attacks. After verifying my situation wasn't an emergency, he said my diagnosis was a no-brainer and prescribed Sertraline. It's helped a lot, and I've had no ill side-effects. Please, please see a doctor or mental health professional if you s…
I see a therapist in the same way that I see a dentist – even if there's no immediate crisis, preventative care is generally much easier than waiting until there is some sort of major issue. If we have someone check our teeth and gums a couple times a year just to clean out the gunk and make sure everything is ok, why wouldn't we do the same for our (arguably) most important organ?
I'm not sure if it really makes sense to see a nephrologist every 6 months to clean the gunk out of your kidneys, but I may be mistaken.
That's what you meant, right? The most important organ, the kidney?
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your mental health?
#63Everything I wanted to mention has been mentioned in one comment or another. No need to repeat.
My advice is don't be scared to jump in and start trying some of these items that seem appropriate to you.
If it doesn't work, pivot.
Pivot again if needs be and again until you find what helps you. Use the experimentation as a positive message to yourself that you are helping yourself when you need to the most. Don't let anyone tell you your ways of trying to deal with mental health are wrong.
Also, if you ever find yourself in crisis and questioning your mental health, please see a qualified professional and if you feel you are in real danger call a hotline (U.S Info): https://www.mentalhealth.gov/get-help/immediate-help
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1‑800‑273‑TALK (8255)
SAMHSA Treatment Referral Helpline, 1‑877‑SAMHSA7 (1‑877‑726‑4727)
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your mental health?
#64So I agree with everyone who says if you are having an issue, or a struggle, you should see a mental health professional. First and foremost, get the help you need to get your life stable. But as a secondary aside, there has been an awful lot of talk about mental health on this forum as of late. I hear about it daily in articles. You see increasing rates of suicide. People I talk to are generally miserable. Some more…
Re social media:
Learn the platform, then arrange to engage with it in a way that works for you. The kinds of things you choose to post or respond to influence the kinds of information/followers/etc you attract.
Pick and choose your notifications. Learn to block, mute, unfollow, etc judiciously.
Be mindful that what you post will shape how other people engage you. If you don't like the kinds of interactions you are getting, look to your own behavior first. Experiment with posting different things and then invest more in the kinds of behaviors that get results you like.
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your mental health?
#65So I agree with everyone who says if you are having an issue, or a struggle, you should see a mental health professional. First and foremost, get the help you need to get your life stable. But as a secondary aside, there has been an awful lot of talk about mental health on this forum as of late. I hear about it daily in articles. You see increasing rates of suicide. People I talk to are generally miserable. Some more…
If you take an animal and put it in the wrong habitat, even if it has what it needs to survive, it will become depressed sooner or later. Why? because it has instincts which are not compatible, if it can't satisfy instincts, the brain goes "wtf". Same with humans who evolved hunting together - running through the wild chasing danger - who now sit idle with screens and then wonder why things feel off.
The thing is, I don't think we need some crazy transformation, the world that respects our biology and instincts doesn't look very different. It works mostly the same except that people are generally happier and outside more and talking to eachother face to face. Not because facetime isn't cool too, but facetime isn't the same
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your mental health?
#66* therapy visits when i can get them in
* being on a regular schedule of waking up/going to bed
* at least half an hour of some form of exercise per day, outside preferably.
* * seasonal depression especially can kick your ass hard, so if you live in a northern area like me where you get no sunlight in the wintry months take vitamin d supplements or get a happy lamp.
* a good support system of friends, family, and professionals to support me
and last but not least:
* venlafaxine (effexor) er, 150mg/day.
moral of the story is don't be afraid to take meds or go get help. sometimes you don't even realize just how down in the ditch you are until you get up and out for the first time in a long time.
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your mental health?
#67I'm a mental health professional (PhD) who works with founders and tech folks.
There's a lot of good content here already.
Strategies to prevent mental health struggles: regular exercise, prioritizing sleep, time with friends, a pet, reasonable nutrition, a life philosophy that includes self compassion, breaks from work as well as time to deep-dive into meaningful work, self-reflective practices (like journaling), having a relationship with a "wise" person (therapist, clergy member, mentor, etc), volunteering or finding a way to make meaningful contributions to other people. Many of the other things people have mentioned.
Strategies to cope with mental health challenges include extra doses of all of the above plus a mental health professional who "gets" you. Who doesn't have an agenda beyond understanding you and supporting you. I admit it can be hard to find the right therapist or physician but it is worth the effort. Most problems do not require medication (bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are notable exceptions- they are almost always treated with medication)
Most HN readers will do well with someone who is tech savvy and has experience working with folks in the tech industry.
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your mental health?
#6810K IU of vitamin D, since Michigan winters are kind of harsh. And I don't product a whole lot. After that I added guided meditation with Headspace. Next I will probably add 20 minutes of exercise 3x week.
Its more of an engineering exercise at this point. I just need to keep evaluating new improvements I could make.
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your mental health?
#69Mental health is an issue I live with on a day-to-day basis. I struggled for the first 42 years of my life, always finding it difficult. I experienced great short term successes but they never lasted. Finally, two years ago, after losing my wife and family, I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder (Type 1) and began treatment. These days I take regular medication, speak with a psychiatrist monthly and a psychologist eve…
> They're also the reason I stay on treatment.
Out of curiosity, why would you want to go off?
Re: Ask HN: How do you manage your mental health?
#70Disappointed to see that "See a doctor or mental health professional" has not yet been mentioned. So I'll recommend that. My anxiety had started manifesting physically as panic attacks. After verifying my situation wasn't an emergency, he said my diagnosis was a no-brainer and prescribed Sertraline. It's helped a lot, and I've had no ill side-effects. Please, please see a doctor or mental health professional if you s…
I see a therapist in the same way that I see a dentist – even if there's no immediate crisis, preventative care is generally much easier than waiting until there is some sort of major issue. If we have someone check our teeth and gums a couple times a year just to clean out the gunk and make sure everything is ok, why wouldn't we do the same for our (arguably) most important organ?
One argument against is cost - weekly CBT in NYC is going to run about 150 a session which will work out to ~7800 a year.