5 mental health goals for 2022

Mental health has always been important to me... especially after my mental health diagnosis in 2017. If you haven't been around since then, I was diagnosed with Bipolar II, OCD, ADD, and Anxiety. Fun, huh? Well, after my diagnosis, I started taking my mental health more seriously. I went on medication to keep me cool and for awhile I was doing a-ok.

Well, cue COVID... and low and behold, I went off ALL of my medication. Yes, I was VERY depressed during the whole ordeal, but you know what? I actually started to get better. In essence, I became a social recluse (who wasn't during 2020?), but I also didn't clean my house often. Meaning- no people coming over made me happy not to have to Spring clean anything. I was ok with it... but my hubby was not ok with it.

So after dealing with everything for a long period of time, I decided that it was time to get back on my life-saving cocktail of medications. I can proudly state that I have been medicated since August 2021 and I have never felt better. So today, in light of everything that went on, I am going to talk about my 5 mental health goals for 2022.

1 | Take all of my prescribed medications

I know what happens when I stop taking my medications... I get depressed and then I don't want to do anything. Or I want to do everything, and then cleaning turns into the ADD cleaning, and nothing gets cleaned- I've just created a big mess. I don't want the sort of thing that happened in 2020 to come back to bite me again, so taking all of my medications seems like a worthy goal for 2022.

I do know that some people chose not to medicate, and that's ok; but I am one of those people that owes their life to medication and that's ok too. To each their own.

2 | Keep up with my psych appointments

One thing that caused me to go off my medications in 2020 was the single fact that I did not keep up with my psych appointments. I would make an appointment and then cancel it, thinking I would be ok. Spoiler alert- I wasn't. AND the doctor never called to check up on me either. WHY? Well, because they are so darn busy, they don't have the time to check up on every single one of their patients. Duh. In 2022, my goal is to keep up with every appointment and if I have an online appointment, remember to call the office to schedule my next appointment. I really don't want to run out of medication.

3 | Focus on self care

Self care is so important... especially when you have mental health issues. I like to take time to enjoy little things like painting my nails or taking a bath when life gets to damn hectic for my taste. Focusing on self care also assures me that I don't get into a depressive episode; or if I do, then I can do little things to bring me back out. Cause depressive episodes are a little bit scary...

4 | Keep up with the blog

This blog has been my outlet for a long time now, and even though I don't have the readership that I used to have (before I took a hiatus), one of my goals is to keep up with blogging. I love to see my stats go up and it always makes me smile when readers comment about how my post helped them to. I also like the feeling that I get when I help someone.

Instead of just posting about beauty and mental health stuff, I have also started posting about my reading hobby. In truth, I love to read and I like how posting my Thirsty Thursday series makes me accountable for the things that I read. LOL

I have been also making myself accountable by bringing back my letters from the editor series, the series in which I recap the previous month in a high/low fashion. I have finally accepted that it's ok to have lows in a month, as long as you have highs too.

5 | Keep fu*kin going

Language, I know, but it's actually warranted here. In 2020 and most of 2021, I was close to the edge. Yes, I wasn't medicated and I was full of self loathing and hate, but I honestly NEVER want to be in that place again. I love my family and I love my life. Sure, my job could be better some days, but I love it too. My last goal of 2022 is to keep going and if I feel myself stepping towards that edge again, then I need to get my psych doctor on the phone.