Exercise: The Good and Bad

This was an idea that a counselor on the Adapt Crisis line came up with me today.

What to do:

On one sheet of paper, write all the bad things you've been called your entire life.  Argue with those things if you can.  This page you want to put all your raw emotions into.  Then shred it up and throw it away.

On another sheet of paper, write good things about yourself.  Keep this one.

A suggestion that was made: take those good qualities and make some kind of art out of them.  A collage, sculpture, cross-stitch...  whatever comes to mind that you can display at home to remind yourself that you have something good to offer.  (While the post-it note strategy may be a good short-term plan, pieces of paper aren't as special as something you actually worked on.)

Example: Happiness Collage

Here's a collage I made to illustrate Topic: A Collage of Happiness.

This collage includes images of a kitty, a pink sunrise, Robot Chicken, chocolate, plarn (plastic yarn), mountains, yarn, and a Nintendo 3DS XL.

The thing to remember when you work on your own happiness collage: the pictures need to be things that make you happy.  What makes you happy is the "right answer" to this exercise.  We're all individuals, with different tastes.

So what makes you happy?

Topic: Your Daily Happy Thought

This is one that I challenged my friend with a few days ago.

Upon waking up, find something good to be happy about.  It can be anything that makes you happy.

Yesterday, it was feeling rested.  Today, it was pretty pink clouds at sunrise.

It sounds easy, right?  When you're depressed, it can be quite a challenge to find just one happy thought.  It's also tough if you're used to thinking negatively.  It's like drinking a really bad wine.  The first gulp is awful.  The second one isn't much better, and after the third, you hardly notice anymore.  But it still does harm to you, all the same.  And you get "hooked" on the intoxication.

It's the same way with thinking dark thoughts.  They're not good for you, but they're habit-forming.

Well, give this exercise a try.  It doesn't matter how small the happy thought is, just do it.  Get into the habit of thinking happy, one thought at a time.

Topic: A Collage of Happiness

First, for those that may not know what a collage is, it is traditionally a page of pictures cut out of newspapers and magazines, and these pictures glued onto the page.

Second, I got the idea after thumbing through a friend's Weight Watchers book and realized the exercise adapts well to those of us with mental disabilities where we think negative/dark thoughts.

So here's the challenge: Look for pictures that make you happy.  They can come from newspapers and magazines.  Paste them all in a jumble on a piece of paper.  You can even do this exercise on the computer if you wish.

If you're stuck in the "think negative" rut, this exercise is intended to get you to think happy things.

Topic: Another Coping Skill

This is one I forgot to mention, and it can be useful.

Three Things Now: When you realize that your mind is thinking negatively, stop yourself.  Now think of three good things.  This helps get your mind off of thinking that things are going bad.

I'd never heard of this technique until I went to the hospital.  But it's simple and it works.

Topic: Hospital Stays

I've stayed at two different hospitals now, one of them more familiar than the other.

But what this topic is about is concerned with patients that make us a little bit nervous.

My first stay at Green Oaks wasn't so bad.  We had one guy that threw a fit in the unit though; he wanted to take a shower and started throwing his bottle around.

The second stay in the Green Oaks ER had me a bit more nervous.  There was this creepy guy wandering around, taking the bedding off of chairs on the female side of the room.  He wanted everyone afraid of him.  And then there were the fist fights and arguments that broke out.  Overall, it was nerve-wracking.

Then there was my stay at the WYSONG unit in McKinney.  Most of the people there seemed pretty much normal.  But there were a few that didn't understand the concept of "personal space" and just seemed to be looking to pick a fight.  I had my own "brush" with one of the patients, and made sure to let the nurses at the nurse station know what was going on and that the behavior had me feeling a bit anxious.

The one thing I found sad were the number of people in the hospital because we can't find work.

Tip: Verified by Mental Health Professional

Anyway, the tip is this: even if you're mentally ill and you're taking pills, the pills alone won't fix you.  I had the idea that it's crucial to help "mend yourself".  Work with your medication and your team of professionals.  Do things to help keep your mood where it should be.  Don't dwell on the bad stuff that got you here in the first place.

And another tip I was given, more of a coping skill: the bad stuff is in your past.  You can't change it.  But you can learn from it and choose to move on.

I think what group that was in was a "learn forgiveness" exercise.  Something about "anger is like a hot coal, it burns you".  I couldn't help but bring up this dream I had years ago about being in the traditional "fire and brimstone" Hell, but not feeling any of what was going on outside of my being.  The only thing I felt was my anger, and I was told I could leave Hell any time I wanted, if I chose simply to ditch the anger.  Group found the imagery and story to be quite appropriate.

While I'll admit I've started feeling no anger or very little anger about various things in the past, I can think of at least a couple of apartments where the residents could use some "letting go of anger" themselves.  Oh well.  I can only hope they eventually will.  It's reassuring though that I can now.