Key Takeaways
A chronic mental health condition would be a mental illness that persists for a long time.
The most common causes of chronic mental illness are genetic factors, negative or traumatic life events, and chemical imbalances in the brain.
Effective management strategies for chronic mental health conditions include taking prescribed medication, making healthier lifestyle changes, seeking counseling, and joining a support group. These strategies have been proven to be among the most effective forms of treatment, offering hope and a path to a better quality of life.
What is a Chronic Mental Health Condition?
A chronic mental condition can be a mental health illness that goes on for a long time. For any mental disorder to be termed as a chronic mental health condition, it would have to continue for at least three months or more.
Among the most widespread chronic mental health conditions are bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, borderline personality disorder (BPD), schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), process addictions, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Reasons for a chronic mental health condition include stressful situations, substance abuse, traumatic events, environmental factors, negative childhood experiences, biological factors, and other health-related issues. If you suspect you do have a chronic mental health condition, then you can fill out an assessment that will further help a healthcare professional to help in finding your diagnosis.
10 Ways to Manage a Chronic Mental Health Condition:
The journey with a chronic mental health condition can be long and challenging, but you are not alone. Over 970 million people worldwide are impacted by different mental disorders, with chronic mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety disorders being the most prevalent. Today, you have various tools to make your journey easier.
1. Seek Therapy
Working with a professional with experience and knowledge about your condition can be a game-changer. They can help you understand your patterns and behavior, resolve personal problems and life issues, and reduce your symptoms. Remember, you are not alone in this journey; professional help is available to support you.
2. Track Your Moods
Once you get an all-in-one mindful app like DBT Coach, it will help you in various areas, such as providing positive mental exercises, joining a community with similar personalities, recording your thoughts, and more. A study has found that the popular interactive app has had a positive impact on patients who have borderline personality disorder (BPD), a chronic mental health condition.
3. Join A Support Group
You develop a bond and feel connected when you meet people who go through the same things as you. This connection can help you feel less isolated, and you’ll learn to see the world more positively. You can find advice, participate in meaningful discussions, and feel a sense of belonging when you join a support group.
4. Identify Your Coping Mechanism
Coping mechanisms are ways to manage stressful situations where you feel unstable or out of sorts. With the help of your therapist and your continuous counseling sessions, you’ll learn about your coping mechanisms, and then you can use them whenever you are in a challenging circumstance.
5. Take medication
After analyzing and completing the diagnosis, your medical professional will likely prescribe medication. As your doctor has suggested, taking your medicine can be a valuable and highly effective tool to manage your condition. Drugs like antidepressants and stimulants are among the most commonly prescribed medications for patients with chronic mental conditions.
6. Cultivate Mindfulness
Different forms of mindfulness help improve the day of a chronic mental health patient. Some popular techniques for practicing this peaceful activity include meditation, breathing exercises, and paying attention to your body movements.
7. Healthy Lifestyle Intervention
Making healthier lifestyle choices and balancing life between essential areas like professional life and personal relationships can help improve the patient’s condition. According to a study, some positive changes to make in your lifestyle that can help in managing your chronic mental illness like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are exercising, improving diet, and self-management activities.
8. Take Time For Self-Care
It would help if you treated yourself and filled it with the things or activities that make you feel refreshed and happy. You do not have to put pressure on yourself to do something extraordinary. But at least take some moments out of your schedule for a self-care activity like doing yoga, going for a facial, or engaging in your preferred creative hobbies.
Dr. Jasmine Ghannadpour, a board-certified clinical psychologist, quotes:-
“It’s just thinking about other things that bring you enjoyment and energy and help you cope.”
9. Practice Gratitude Journaling
Even while suffering from a chronic mental illness, there are some perfect things in the world for which you can pay gratitude for. Thinking about how grateful you are for the nice things in your life would shed a positive light on your day. This would remove some negative thoughts from your mind.
10. Take Part In Activities
Go through different activities to see which ones make you the most happy. These activities will help keep you engaged and fill you with a positive feeling and contentment. This will serve as a distraction and keep your mind busy.
You can complete the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care questionnaire (PACIC) to understand your condition and find tailored ways to manage it. It is an analysis tool that is given to patients with chronic mental disorders to know about their progress and see where their treatment can improve. After taking in the result, you and your healthcare professional can have a personalized program that helps increase the quality of medical care.
Conclusion
Chronic mental health conditions can be long and difficult. But with proper medication, treatment under a licensed therapist, healthy lifestyle changes, and other popular ways, you can not only successfully manage your mental illness but also thrive in various areas of life.
