Topic Tuesday **closed** The road to recovery: Reengineering and rebuilding yourself

thanks for the question @CherryBomb

I think sitting the new space, and cultivating the new surrounds.

@Paige you sound like a very insightful person. I think you're right, not everyone can understand mental illness, and sometimes it's not just a matter understanding the illness itself, but more a matter of people's capacity to understand that people's experiences differ to their own.

I just looked at the time, and realized that we've only got another 20 minutes. Sheeez, how time can fly by.

I got a few questions:

What are your next plans? How do you maintain wellness?

5 more minutes to go!

So if you've got any final thoughts please post them now.

@CherryBomb

Thank you 🙂
I agree that understanding other people's experiences can be different and that different isn't abnormal.

I have learnt a lot about my triggers and cognition. To stay well I like to eat right (sugar really affects my motivation and moods!), engage in intellectual material and conversations, connect with people, exercise, remain present and express gratitude as much as I can, and look at seemingly mundane things in a new light. I also like to keep my childlike side- I have a colouring book. Another important thing is to recognise signs of becoming unwell and to get on top of it as soon as possible. I was having trouble getting my head around a certain situation earlier this year and I knew if I didn't talk to someone about it it could trigger a relapse. So I contacted a psychologist and spoke it out. It allowed me to prevent relapse and refocus.

I am in mental health so am able to share my experiences with other people and help others with their individual journey.

My next move is to acquire an advocacy role and then later social and policy change. I am quite passionate about having people's voice be heard. They are the experts on themselves and their journey, and I like helping them express that to others (family members, clinicians, community services, etc). It's amazing how much being heard and taken seriously can help someone.

Thank you everyone for your insights. It's great to have these conversations 🙂

That wraps up our conversation about 'The Road to Recovery'.

We had some wonderful insights: mainly that the road to recovery is an extremely personal and unique experience. Ultimately, wellness ties into our subjectivie notions of what it means to lead a succesful and happy life. And this is something that we can define. Remember, as @Paige mentioned we are the experts of our own lives.