You Can't Do Nothing
I have 1 rule when it comes to mental health that I would consider myself uncompromising on. And it is: The only thing you can’t do is nothing.
That is my one rule, or heuristic if you will, when it comes to mental health and how it needs to be dealt with.
People’s mental health and conditions take on countless forms, but I think that this is something that can apply across the board. By no means is it revolutionary, but I think its simplicity helps to reframe what we are trying to accomplish, that is — feeling better.
So if the only rule is that you can’t do nothing, what does that mean? I think it means that there is a world of options someone can take to help manage their mental health and that it is necessary for each person to find what works best for them and their situation.
For some, this might mean some type of therapy, for others it might mean meditation, for even more it might mean exercising more consistently. There’s no great way to know beforehand what works best for each individual. The same heat that softens the carrot, also hardens the egg.
Now this does not mean you get to do whatever you want. Sitting on the couch, watching endless TV does not count. This heuristic exists to help us find the thing that works best for us as opposed to the one-size-fits-all approach that can sometimes exist in any healthcare domain. However, we are not going in blind here, we have other people’s experiences to help inform our decisions here. We can be reasonably sure that eating only junk food and never working out will not greatly improve your mental health. But there’s reason to hope that eating healthy and working out could improve your mental health. You won’t know until you try. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. If that’s something that works for you, that’s awesome. If it’s something that doesn’t, don’t get discouraged it just means it’s time to try the next thing, whatever that may be. The only rule is that you can’t do nothing.
In the case of severe mental illness this advice might be a metaphorical bandaid on a metaphorical bullet wound. Yet there is still something to be said about not doing nothing. In more acute cases, it is not necessarily reasonable for people to simply mediate or exercise their way out of their condition — unfortunately it’s not that easy. In this case, not doing nothing might mean finding more professional help. Therapy can be a godsend for so many in helping them to manage their mental health. Still others might opt for a prescription suited to help them. None of these paths are mutually exclusive. The point remains that finding what works best for you and your health should always be the priority.
Each person is on their own journey, each of which is in a different phase. Some might just be starting out while others have been at this for most of their life. Some conditions are more chronic than others, while some might rear their heads now and again. Whoever you might be and whatever you might be going through, find what works best for you. The only rule is that you can’t do nothing.
One for the road
I may have lied at the top because I have found myself lately developing a second rule: No win is too small. I use this to try to still give myself credit for doing some of the little things —those things that are the first to go when you aren’t feeling right. Maybe for some it’s picking clothes off the floor or for others it’s their typical nighttime routine. The point here is that when you’re in the midst of feeling a certain way it can be easy to discount the value of many things in your life. Don’t get discouraged. No win is too small.
Very nicely written, Matt.