Tracking Your Mental Health Is Centering and Empowering

Here's what's happening on the HealthyPlace site this week:

• Tracking Your Mental Health Is Centering and Empowering
• From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
• Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
• Mental Health Quote

Tracking Your Mental Health Is Centering and Empowering

Living with any mental illness can be discouraging. Have you ever wondered, “Will I ever get better?” or, “How do I heal?” Questions like these are often overwhelming when you don’t know the answer.  Tracking your mental health is a simple yet effective way to make you feel more centered and empowered to take charge of yourself and your life.

Tracking helps you see what your brain and body, behaviors, thoughts, and feelings are doing. You can look for patterns and broaden your perspective. In your mood tracker or mental health journal, keep a record of things such as:

• The symptom
• What time you’re feeling it
• Your circumstances
• How long it lasted
• What you did to help it improve
• Medication you’re taking, doses you accidentally miss, how meds are impacting your symptoms
• Your nutrition, what you’re eating and drinking and how these influence your moods
• Situations that worsen your symptoms and those that relieve them
• The amount of sleep you’re getting, and what habits you form to increase your sleep quality

While tracking any aspect of your mental health arms you with information so you can do more of what works and less of what doesn’t, over-tracking can increase stress and anxiety. Start by selecting just one thing to monitor.

Tracking gives you insight into your mental health so you can reduce problems and increase wellness.

Related Articles on Tracking Your Mental Health

• HealthyPlace.com Mood Tracker
• Identifying and Tracking Bipolar Symptoms
• Use a Food and Mood Diary to Improve Your Mental Health
• Journaling as Self-Care for Your Mental Health
• Journaling for Mental Health Benefits

Your Thoughts

Today's Question: If you use a mood tracker or mental health journal, how has it helped your mental health? We invite you to participate by sharing your thoughts, experiences, and knowledge on the HealthyPlace Facebook page.

From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

• Why People Suffering from PTSD Consider Suicide
• How to Honor Someone Who Has Died by Suicide
• How to Use Writing to Cope with Suicidal Ideations
• The Importance of Supporting Anxious Loved Ones
• How Shame Feeds Suicidal Thoughts in Complex PTSD
• Taking Care of Yourself After a Suicide Attempt
• Healthy Coping Skills Can Help Prevent Suicide
• Staying Grounded and in Your Power During Verbal Abuse
• Anxiety, Guilt Are Normal When a Loved One Attempts Suicide
• How Blogging Helps My Mental Health and BPD
• How to Calmly Deal With Suicidal Thoughts
• Providing Support to a Suicidal Friend
• 12 Strategies to Use When Someone with DID Is Suicidal
• Successful People, Suicidal Thoughts: No One Is Immune
• If Your Friend Is Suicidal, You Need to Understand This
• Breaking Down the Stigma of Attention-Seeking Behavior

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

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Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

1. Stigma Against Schizophrenia Prevented Me from Being Honest
2. Intrusive Thoughts, OCD, and Anxiety
3. How Our Expectations About Self-Harm Recovery Sabotage Us

If you're not already, I hope you'll join us/like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

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Mental Health Quote

"Wake up, smile and tell yourself: 'Today is my day'."

Read more mental health quotes.

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That's it for now. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this onto them. You can also share the newsletter on any social network (like facebook or stumbleupon) you belong to by clicking the links below. For updates throughout the week, follow HealthyPlace on Twitter or become a fan of HealthyPlace on Facebook. Also, check out HealthyPlace on Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest, where you can share your mental health pins on our Share Your Mental Health Experiences board.

back to: HealthyPlace.com Mental-Health Newsletter Index