The pace of modern life is getting faster and faster day by day, and it becomes harder and harder to maintain sanity. To be fair, I don’t believe that the world has finally become insane and hopeless. Crazy and irrational things happen, because we give negative and insane personalities too much power. But urban life and social aspect aren’t the only points that exert a big influence on my sanity and emotional well-being. Occasionally, I reflect on this topic and I’ve already come to a conclusion that much depends on my state of mind, contentment, attitudes, relationships and success of my private life.
I’d been living in the family with unfavorable emotional atmosphere for 16 years and I can state with assurance that chronic stress, anxiety and constant quarrels are real sanity killers. Sixteen years ago a terrible massive stroke turned my dear mom into a nervous and disabled person. During those difficult years of caring for my mom, I suffered from the fear of losing my sanity. Insignificant psychological disorders taught me to support my mental health as well.
Luckily, I’ve surmounted all barriers and made a very large contribution to my mom’s recovery. Now I’d like to share my pieces of advice and experiences on how to stay sane, even if your life isn’t a bed of roses.
1. I’ve assured my mind that my psyche is strong
Many people haven’t at least the remotest idea how human beings blow their tops, but the fear of losing sanity often closes the ears of their minds. Human psyche is strong enough and it can withstand almost everything. The only thing all people should do is assure their minds that it’s a true fact.
Now I’m not afraid of my thoughts, because they give birth to new ideas, help me find the solutions and broaden my horizons. As a person who’s already waved farewell to annoying OCD, I can state that such an unpleasant psychological disorder is the result of excessive interference with a thought process. It often happens to anxious and emotional personalities who tend to build endless algorithms of thoughts in their minds. Besides millions of solutions to various issues, their minds give birth to the fear of losing sanity and control over their lives.
Human psyche is like a race car that can gather speed in the twinkling of an eye. From time to time, it’s strongly recommended to calm the imagination and reduce the amount of information processed by your brain. I’m sure, you’ll never lose your senses, if you replace that terrible fear with total indifference and equanimity. As soon as this fear fades away, the chain of obsessive thoughts will be broken. Plus, it’s necessary to realize that thinking about different things is not a disorder, but a normal activity, peculiar to all people.
More: 5 Reasons to Stop Negativity and How to Do It
2. I give preference to natural remedies and self-analysis
Misfortunes always come in threes. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a trouble that’s always accompanied by a depression. The same story had happened to me. Half a year of taking antidepressants made it clear that such a therapy wasn’t good for me. But that bad news didn’t make me surrender to despair, because I understood that there were many other alternative solutions to such problems.
I realized that modern medicine was advanced and effective, but when it concerned my mental health, I decided to give preference to natural old school remedies. I promised myself not to take mind-altering medicines anymore, because their side effects seemed pretty dangerous to me.
When I was emotionally overexcited, nervous and worried, I always drank homemade lemon balm tea. That tea was the only natural thing that could quickly switch off my imagination and help me overcome insomnia. But herbal teas, massages and aromatherapy were not enough to solve all the problems at once.
I put an emphasis on self-analysis. I knew that self-analysis undertaken by a “layman” could damage my emotional well-being and lead me up the garden path, but I decided to find the causes of my psychological disorder in the depth of my subconscious mind regardless of various fears and apprehensions. Thanks Heavens, I’ve done everything right. Now I wholeheartedly believe that every human being can be a perfect self-psychologist.
3. I don’t communicate with crack-brained personalities
I’ve always believed that the circle of contacts is the reflection of human nature and character. But earlier, I didn’t realize that those people could have a pernicious influence on my mental health.
One day I’d accepted that truth and understood that it would be better to prioritize my well-being and safety instead of communicating with, at first glance, cool and funny, but dangerous friends who provoked me to act crazy and unbalanced. I came to such a conclusion, because I didn’t want to let emotional abusers, manipulators and insane people into my life anymore.
Now, I’m surrounded by friends who respect me, boost my self-esteem and bring joy into my life, instead of playing upon my heart-strings, like ex BFFs did.
More: 8 Rules You Should Live By to Have More Peace in Life
4. I try to be busy all the time
When I lived with my mom, I spent a lot of time at home. I didn’t like sedentary lifestyle, because I was an active extrovert by nature, but strained emotional atmosphere at home usually killed my desire to be on the move and communicate with others. When I was cooped up in those four walls, I started thinking too much about unnecessary things that plunged me into the ocean of depression.
A bit later, I found out that it was crucially important to get away from depression and change the scenery to fill my mind with new pictures, thoughts, emotions and experiences. I didn’t work like a horse twenty four hours a day, but I did my best to redirect my attention from emotional pain to different tasks and actions.
When I was reading a book, I tried to think only about its plot and characters. When I was playing with my funny dog, I usually waved goodbye to obsessive thoughts and enjoyed the game like a child. As a result, I had less and less time to suffer from the fear of losing sanity.
5. I don’t feed my mind with stress
Have you ever met people who can’t imagine their lives without stress? This world is full of thrill seekers who fill their minds with the content that keeps them on the toes and breeds both fear and anxiety in their hearts. These personalities often watch horror movies and give preference to TV shows dedicated to stressful and mysterious topics. I’ve also been one of them, but one day I decided to get rid of that habit, because I felt that the cup was full.
First of all, I minimized cognitive load and tried to keep away from mind-warping social media, because it seemed to me that the television and Internet had a bad influence on my psyche. Even today, when my life has become calmer, I still focus on positive things and I don’t have the slightest desire to get thrilling experiences and deal with fears, because the consequences of this entertainment are terrible.
6. I don’t take troubles to heart anymore
In my opinion, almost all women are more emotionally sensitive and perceptive than men. They often take everything to heart, fume about trifles and can easily make a mountain out of a molehill.
Unfortunately, this excessive sentimentality isn’t always good for us, because it’s always accompanied by positive or negative emotions and reflections. Those who can control and release inner emotional tension are unbelievably happy.
In my case, the situation was completely different. I was very sentimental and I couldn’t give an outlet for my emotional experiences. I reacted to everything with great sensitivity and just roamed alone in my dark perceptions. As a result, I absorbed other people’s troubles and their problems automatically became mine.
Self-analysis helped me realize that my habit of taking criticism, personal and social issues to heart was like a time bomb that could explode and steal my sanity one day. I decided to heal my mind with the help of physical exercises and healthy indifference.
More: 7 Things You Should Never Worry About Again
7. I work out every other day
Exercise helps significantly relieve stress and reduce the frequency of anxiety attacks. Every time I understood that depression and obsessive thoughts were conquering my mind, I dropped everything and took my dog Ralphie for a run along the quay to breathe in a gulp of fresh air and get away from it all. When I was running with Ralphie, I felt nothing, except easiness and joy, no matter what troubles took place in my life.
But jogging wasn’t the only thing that gave me a helping hand when I was deeply submerged in my own thoughts. My decision to join dance classes changed my life and shifted my focus from acknowledging the hard truths of that harsh and challenging world to the art of dance. This helps me preserve my sanity today.
If you’ve never done any physical exercises on a regular basis, try to work out every other day, because too much of a good thing can have negative influence on your overall health. Your muscles need some time for relaxation and restoration.
It’s difficult to agree or disagree that a modern world is harsh and insane, but I’ve understood the following important things. If you want to keep sanity and health, you should fill your life with the meaning and surround yourself with the people you love, understand and respect.
Furthermore, your home should be the place where you can relax both physically and mentally. I hope my personal experiences will come you in handy. What’s your secret of preserving sanity? We’d like to know your point of view.
