Mental Fitness

[Kyle L]

Hi all, I wanted to see what you all had to say about mental fitness and how we could possibly track it in a similar way nerd fitness tracks physical fitness. How do you stay mentally fit? Are there any websites like this one for tracking mental fitness? Let's get a discussion going. A website I've been using lately to complement my physical stimulation with mental stimulation is blog.jaretgrossman.com. Jaret is a life coach I've come across on YouTube, and seems to talk about higher level stuff. It keeps me motivated during my workouts. What else would you all recommend?

[Guzzi]

I use a couple of apps/sites to try and work on my mental abilities and mental health (head injury + LOTS of painkillers = wonky brain). The ones I like are Happify, Super Better (recommend by someone on here) and Peak.  These are all things that I can dip in and out of as and when I feel like it and none of them are "higher level" stuff, but I find them useful.  

[ratmagic]

For my money the problem with this idea is that what counts as "well" in mental health terms is so wildly variable from person to person. For example, for Guzzi above being "well" means taking painkillers as a fact of life, whereas someone who has a painkiller addiction might well think of being "well" as not taking any! Plus there's the fact that a lot of mental health disorders are with you for life and it's a question of managing them, rather than curing them, so thinking about being "well" isn't necessarily productive as a mindset.

 

I don't tend to use websites and so on as I find they're below the level I've already had to get to just to keep going from day to day (I have recurrent depression, anxiety and some other attendant things). It's one of those hard to define personal wisdom things, for my money; there are almost certainly markers most of us can track for our own personal wellbeing but what they'll be we have to find out for ourselves. Everyone's mind is different.

 

Also, I don't know about anyone else but I have to be *very* careful of the "dieter mentality" - it's very easy to slip into thinking you've done something wrong or you're somehow inadequate if your mental health isn't great today/this week/this year/this lifetime. So a lot of the way I structure my approach to improving my mental health is specifically designed to exclude any kind of competitive spirit; I have an illness that needs taking care of, not a failing that needs to be erased from my personality. (Learning that particular bit of wisdom was slow work, I can tell you).

[Guzzi]

@ratmagic you're right, it's subjective, almost as subjective as being physically "healthy". For many years I suffered from crippling self loathing, insecurity and depression. Although I may have been able to do Brain Training games or the like, emotionally I was a complete wreck and it took me until my mid 20s to come to terms with all the shit from my childhood that had affected me so much.

I wince when I look back and remember what I was like back then, it was horrendous, and I was a complete Bunny Boiler! Thankfully my bf put up with it long enough that I came to terms with it all and I never felt the need to try and boil any family pets. Just as well really, they were farmers, I don't know where I'd get a pot big enough to fit a cow...

Woah! Look at that, way off topic! How'd that happen?

One of the best tools for keeping your brain active (and fighting off the advance of dementia, altzeimers etc) is to keep challenging your brain - study a new subject, learn a new language, be physically active. I assume that is what@kyle L gets from listening to Jarret Grossman - mental stimulation, and it's a part of our wellbeing that a lot of us overlook. We can see the results of physical exercise but the effects of mental exercise is harder to quantify.

I read/watched an interesting article recently called Our Plastic Brains by Cambridge University. Here's the link if anyone is interested: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/lifelong-learning-and-the-plastic-brain

[Guzzi]

Ps.@ratmagic I assume you will appreciate this pic of my furries

[Socksy]

Rats are cute! I'm a cat person though, I can't see my cats getting along with rats.

 

I'd love to find somewhere to check out for improving mental health, because it's becoming debilitating for me - depression, anxiety, chronic procrastination, apathy, etc. I sadly don't know anywhere to check for that, so I don't have suggestions.

 

What I do know is that everyone suggests physical activity and going outside to improve mental health. 

[Guzzi]

@Socksy Here is a review of the Top 10 apps for improving mental health, you might find one of them helpful.  

 

Leading on from what Socksy said about exercise, when it comes to our mental health often we get caught in a downward cycle. We feel bad so we stop caring about how we look, we let ourselves go a little and then feel like shit when we see ourselves in the mirror or compare ourselves to other people, that makes us feel bad/fat/ugly and our mood/self image drops even further. We stop wanting to go out because we feel so bad about ourselves so we lose touch with people, which makes us feel alienated and alone, which makes us feel worse... 

 

All of our negative emotions feed off each other and it can be really hard to break the cycle, hence why antidepressants are so useful (when used properly). They allow us to break the cycle and get back on an even keel, but they're not the be-all and end-all, exercise and getting outside can be one of the things that help reverse the cycle. 

 

When we exercise hard enough our brains release endorphins which give us a kind of high. Obviously that makes us feel good but more often than not it's the chain of events, the upwards cycle, that lifts our mood.

 

When we start to exercise regularly we usually become more aware of our bodies and maybe start to eat a little better. That can lead to losing weight which obviously leads to us feeling a little better about ourselves, maybe we then start taking an interest in our appearance again - buying new clothes, dressing a little better, having our hair done, having better personal hygiene. Maybe then you feel like you want to get out and do things where you meet people, get some social interaction, which inevitably makes us feel better. 

 

It can all feed off each other in an upward spiral, making us want to do even more.

 

For some people that can be enough on it's own, but many of us need a little more help, whether that's antidepressants, counselling, whatever, and there's no shame in that either. We need to use whatever tools are at our disposal to get our health, mental OR physical, to where it needs to be. 

 

I was recently referred to the Mental Health Team because I was suffering from low mood and social isolation because of my health problems. Someone comes round once a week to get me out of the house and meeting other people, something I can't do on my own. It's really helped! Even though I can't say I have made any "friends" yet, at least I get out and meet people, I'm not stuck in the same 4 walls just waiting for my bf to come home.  

 

Out of interest what things have other people found to help boost their mental health? 

[zeroh13]

Honestly, I use NerdFitness to help with my mental health (in terms of depression, anxiety, and whatnot). There are several great threads that I know I can turn to when I'm struggling. Basically, a support network. Let's see...

 

^This is the second challenge we'll have the Project B.R.E.A.T.H.E. group. I've found it a great place to check in with yourself, give yourself some self-love, and get support. (If you're from the future and looking at this, check the accountabilibuddy groups for the current challenge. If this group isn't around anymore, consider starting your own.)

 

^Sometimes we'll struggle with something that we don't feel comfortable broadcasting on our challenges or battle logs. But then we'll come to realize that others are struggling with the same issues. That's how the Disordered Eating Support thread was born. 

 

^Being part of the alphabet soup, or having a friend or loved one who is, comes with its own special set of challenges. That, again, we may not feel comfortable talking about on our own threads.

 

 

As far as maintaining or improving cognitive functioning, keeping your mind sharp and all that, I'm a firm believer that video games can play an important role. And I'm not talking about those brain teaser games that advertise mind boosting capabilities. I mean regular games that require strategy and/or multitasking. (There's papers out there about the benefits of video games for the elderly.)

[ratmagic]

@Guzzi your rats are gorgeous! I miss having fuzzbabies <3 stupid animal-hating landlady.

 

@Socksy - I agree 100% that keeping your mind active is a good thing. Something I hear about from time to time is "control and mastery" - having something in your life that you really feel like you're good at and in charge of, is supposed to be a huge booster for mental wellbeing, and it's not necessarily anything physical either. It's fiction writing that does that for me. But I know I've seen other NFers talking about how they got a sense of that from changing the relationship they have with their body, too. Hoping I might achieve a little of the same with time.

 

As far as games go I don't know if anyone else is into puzzle or adventure type gaming? I'm a lifelong fan of them, everything from old-fashioned text adventures to the more puzzle-oriented of the hidden object type games. Forcing yourself to think through the puzzles rather than rely on hints is a great challenge.

[Guzzi]

@RandMart Thank you for posting that. 

[Zahirah]

Check out:

 

The Angry Therapist

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Angry-Therapist/159106487485932   and

 

SHFT

http://blog.shft.us/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/thisisyourtribe/

 

Following TAT (a licenced therapist and life coach) has been hugely instrumental in helping me on my own mental fitness journey.  SHFT is a collective of life coaches that has changed my life.

I also meditate regularly, see a therapist when I need to, journal, and try to build resilience and practice mindfulness through the research backed exercises at Greater Good in Action http://ggia.berkeley.edu/.  I have a history of severe depression which has a tendency to rear it's head sometimes, so building resiliency has been incredibly helpful for me.

 

 

[Raincloak]

I recently took up meditating (again), hoping this time to make it a regular habit and get all those positive neural effects the scientists keep rattling on about.

 

Also, not sure if learning cool mind-blowing stuff counts as "mental fitness," but I've been listening to educational podcasts and getting the same joy I used to get from going to lectures (fuck yes I'm a nerd, need you ask).  Current favorites: "Planet Money," "Freakonomics" and yup, "TedX".  

 

When I get tired of economics lessons I'm probably gonna switch to podcasts about life sciences or history; open to suggestions for good ones?

[Jaguwar]

I just began reading 10 minute toughness. It's about training your mind to be more resilient. I can't give a review yet as I just started reading it but it might be worth a try for others as well.

[Lydiechan]

On 10/11/2016 at 3:52 PM, Kyle L said:

How do you stay mentally fit?

 

I read.  Fiction, non-fiction, pretty much whatever catches my attention.  Statistics show that reading makes you smarter and helps prevent dementia.

[Cam-Beul]

On 10/25/2016 at 4:39 AM, Guzzi said:

 

When we start to exercise regularly we usually become more aware of our bodies and maybe start to eat a little better. That can lead to losing weight which obviously leads to us feeling a little better about ourselves, maybe we then start taking an interest in our appearance again - buying new clothes, dressing a little better, having our hair done, having better personal hygiene. Maybe then you feel like you want to get out and do things where you meet people, get some social interaction, which inevitably makes us feel better. 

 

 

What sucks to me is when it all falls apart, when trying to do better just makes it worse. I've had too many times to count, particularly these past few weeks, where I'm getting ready to go out Friday night with my boyfriend to see our friends, and I'm just standing there thinking "I should go in a trash bag, it would fit me better and be more honest". 

 

That's when it gets really scary for me. A few weeks ago I went to the bar in an old-as-hell hoodie and the baggiest jeans I owned, and basically tried to drown my ugliness in oversized clothing and cheap beer. There are a lot of factors that screw me here personally, and I don't want to bog down the threat with my personal BS and sob story, but it's just something that always hurts in a weird kind of way. I have a lot of respect for people who can get into the whole "self care" thing and not feel like they're lying to themselves, or wasting something on themselves. It's messed up but at least half the time, that's how I wind up feeling, like I'm wasting things on myself.