Tools for Mental Health Treatment (Part 2)

In case you missed it, check out Part 1 of this series!

I previously shared how taking breaks and swimming are two strategies I use to treat my mental health and my HS. A couple of additional tools I use to treat my mental health are through spending with my friends, writing articles, writing in my journal, and taking my prescribed medication.

Spending time with friends

I am an extrovert so being with my friends gives me energy. A large group of people can feel overwhelming to me but when I’m with my tight group of friends, I feel safe, accepted, and loved. I can talk to my friends about my worries and fears and they offer advice or just a listening ear.

Spending time with people who love me and make me feel safe also gives me energy to then manage other parts of my life. Being with my friends helps address my feelings of loneliness, anger, and grief. As long as I respect their boundaries, connecting with my friends can be a strategy for managing my mental health.

Writing

Writing is another tool that I use to manage my mental health. I write articles such as this one and posts for my HS Instagram, which gives me a space for advocacy and an outlet for my HS experiences. I advocate for better treatment in healthcare, educate others on HS, share my experiences with chronic diseases, and raise awareness of HS.  Writing about my experiences makes me feel empowered and, in turn, helps with my mental health.

I write articles and posts but I also write in my journal. Journaling is a tool that helps me process my thoughts and feelings. Sometimes I don’t even know what I am thinking of feeling. Writing helps me sort through this and identify triggers. It can help me make difficult decisions. It is also just an outlet for thoughts I do not want to share with anyone else. Journaling helps me to manage anxiety, cope with depression, and reduce stress.

Taking medication

Medication treats physical health like HS but medication can also help mental health. I am currently prescribed two antidepressant medications that I take to treat my mental health. When I first started taking an antidepressant to treat my depression, the change was like night and day. Depression can feel bleak and dark and hopeless. It made me feel like I would never be happy again. Antidepressant medicine stopped that feeling. I started to feel more motivated, more energetic, and like I could be happy and hopeful again. The exact medication I take has changed over the years but the medicine continues to help treat my mental health in a highly impactful way.

In addition to depression and anxiety, some antidepressant medicines can treat nerve and musculoskeletal pain. One of the medications I take to treat my depression also helps treat my pain. Another medication helps me sleep. More sleep has made a significantly positive influence on my mental health. It has been a relief to sleep solidly through the night and feel energized during the day. I am grateful that antidepressants exist and that I can access them to treat my mental health.

Strategies to treat mental health

Medications like antidepressants can address the physical causes of mental health illnesses. Taking medicines can treat mental health in a way that no other tool can but I do use other strategies to help treat and manage my mental health. I intentionally take days to rest and refresh so I am more energized, physically and mentally, to manage the rest of my week.

Swimming is a form of movement that I enjoy and can physically do with respect to also managing my HS. Another way that I take care of my mental health is by spending time with my friends. Finally, I also write articles and write in my journal as an outlet to manage stress and reduce anxiety. These tools and activities are ways that I can treat mental health while also managing my HS symptoms.