How would you take care of your mental well-being?

After ~4 years of doomscrolling, I finally uninstalled Twitter and Reddit from my phone (just minutes ago).

They were taking up 80% of my time, focus and energy while hardly adding 20% value on top of what I already know. Even if it weren't the case, delving into an activity would give infinitely more returns than reading yet another discussion on it.

I'm expecting to eliminate all infinite feeds from my daily routine by the end of this month. including HN.

Neither.

Option 3: Opt for a long-term plan involving a counsellor trained in Adlerian psychology. It's not about delving into past life experiences but about working on emotion regulation, promotional thinking, etc. about the present and future.

Sounds like you might be working on a product here. I can't find good Adlerian psychologists/counsellor and I am willing to pay for a good one.

Working on my mental health involves the following:

- healthy, fresh food

- regular exercise

- no alcohol or drugs (none)

- staying on good terms with family and friends

I think counsellors can be helpful if you're in the early stages of a real mental health issue. But once you've learned something like ACT (The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris) they aren't really necessary anymore.

On-demand single session is not personalized for you, so you will just get mostly boilerplate advices. If you want to go that route, go for the long-term as you can start getting personalized advice and root cause identification.

Off topic, on the question about my plans... I started cooking three years ago and that turned out to be an awesome mental exercise and mental well-being routine that takes you away from the screens.

1) It has many mindless tasks - chopping/cutting etc so your brain can still dream, 2) With advanced techniques and recipes your brain is completely shut-down and you have to be present in order to do something good, 3) Once you get to know the basics, cooking boosts your imagination as you can start combining and changing things your way. 4) teaches you patience, especially if you start baking...

Just start cooking and thank me later. + you'll eat healthier

Last year I stopped using Reddit and that was good for me.

This year I plan to spend more time riding bicycles which I think will be good for me too.

Nice one!

Short answer: I am currently doing option 2.

Long answer:

I would say it depends on your mental condition(s). There are some conditions, specially transient ones where you could get some "as you go" counseling, apply the recommendations and review if needed. Others like depression, ADHD, GAD, etc I would recommend (based on experience as ADHD+GAD patient) to stick to a long-term commitment.

Taking myself as an example, currently I have a "subscription model" with my counselor/therapist where I pay in advance for a specific number of sessions and get 20% discount from normal session price. It is important for me to really identify the deeper issues as well organize the inner complications of living with ADHD + GAD, also important for accountability as in my case the therapist gives some "tasks" to me in a weekly basis.

You asked about working with a therapist. I’ve only ever opted for long term commitments - from one to years at a stretch. Many of the patterns that emerge now are well-worn over the course of your life; and that takes time to unearth in therapy.

I would choose neither. I'll personally deal with my problems myself, and I find that most of the time a few hours of being present and doing nothing helps improve my mental state by a ton.

I should probably do 2 but I haven't as of yet.

> In the new year, do you have any plans to enhance your mental well-being?

I feel like up until recently I've been trying to be perfect and hide myself out of fear of judgement. But now I realize that it's healthier to be judged, occasionally be embarrassed, but be seen for who I am

This sounds really superficial, but it feels a lot better to confide the embarrassing stuff (the more embarrassing the better) and have fewer things to hide

i'd like to get back into treatment but it seems futile at the moment. i've been trying to find treatment for many months to no avail. one receptionist laughed at me even - that was fun. i'm dealing with untreated bipolar2 and various anxiety disorders at the moment. it makes reaching out difficult, but i've been trying my best.

i prefer a long-term plan with the same care provider. i need some time to warm up to a provider. on-demand and remote doesn't mesh with me at all. i have the means; the problem is availability. since the pandemic things seem to be slammed...

in the mean time i've been trying to stay busy with my personal software projects. i'm planning to hike and exercise more, improve my diet, and cut back on my drinking. white-knuckling bp2 ain't no fun, i cycle quickly. hence the drink. but i know that is but a band-aid; a sometimes destructive band-aid at that. religion, stoicism, friends/family, etc alone ain't going "fix" me. unfortunately i need medication for life or my life falls apart.

i wish anyone else struggling nothing but peace. much love. ya ain't alone.

My preference is not to pay, and not to work with a counselor.

I’m vaguely suspicious this is market research smuggled under an Ask HN post also.

I’ve been reading Alan Watt’s The Way of Zen in an attempt to unlearn the incredibly unhealthy thought patterns I’ve developed. Routing therapy has really helped so far, but I think having some sort of spiritual grounding might be helpful too.

> How would you take care of your mental well-being?

Practicing/developing own philosophy, similar by the vibes to stoicism/buddhism, so I don't get broken enough to require a mechanic to fix me.

I find it very funny that nations who brag about having "science" and "technologies", proudly dismiss religion, but yet unable to come up with anything comparable to philosophical or religious systems, not talking about 100x improvements that terabytes of "scientific knowledge" bring.

I take care of it by largely ignoring it.