ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Your Personal Mental Health Plan

Updated on November 12, 2019
Alaina Macdonald profile image

Alaina is a qualified suicide prevention educator and former youth worker. She has a MA in Anthropology/ Participatory Development.

Creating a Personal Mental Health Plan for Young People

Although online and pop culture focus on mental health has never been more pinpointed than it is today, and stigma is being addressed through the media and in schools, government funding hasn't caught up in many places around the world to provide greater support for people needing health care assistance. It can be a time consuming, soul draining minefield to navigate, in spite of the often great intentions of people who work within clinics, not for profits and hospitals.

Just one idea for a prevention or stop-gap project is making a personal mental health plan. This is a series of books, tools, resources and strategies just for you, that are researched and can assist to make psychologist wait times, stressful school months and hard times that little bit more bearable. When feeling vulnerable, this is the list of things that can help you. A PMHP can also be used to look after already-robust mental wellbeing as self care.

You probably have different strategies already, especially if this isn't your first experience with mental health, long wait times or feeling under supported. It's important to note that this isn't a replacement for medication, medical care or mental health care, but it is a good way to practice self empowerment and self management between appointments. Here are a few more ideas, or some to get you started on your journey:

1. Meditation Youtube Channels

There are many great content creators who focus on sleep assistance through meditation. Videos that are tailor made by qualified yoga instructors, counsellors, music editors and therapists are all over Youtube. This can be useful for anyone who has trouble getting to sleep or dealing with stress at night time. Two examples are included below:

Music only: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFcSrYw-ARY
Beginner Guided: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8LIbeKQ60U

2. Mindfulness exercises in the morning or evening

Just 10 Mindfulness meditation can assist with stress prevention, feelings of anger and concentration. In a Tedtalk by Andy Puddicombe, he outlines the benefits of this exercise and the changes it can have on your mental wellbeing.

Here are some exercises: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/mindfulness-exercises/art-20046356

More information on Daily Mindfulness:

3. Knowing your National, State and local helplines for suicide, mental health or abuse

Knowing a helpline is great for any crisis that might arise in life. Even if you are confident of your mental health and your family's, it's never a bad number to add to your personal mental health plan, just in case.

4. Good relationship with your GP

Your GP may not be a psychologist or there for talk-therapy, but they do have access to referral services for local clinics, NGO's and support groups you may not be aware of. Having a GP with your full health history is also very important for general health and wellbeing, plus any medication needs.

5. Contact with local or online support group

Support groups for a variety of issues, including depression and anxiety, PTSD etc. are a good way for those who live in larger cities to access anonymous, affordable support from a structured session with other people experiencing the same concerns. There are online options too. Even having the contact details can alleviate feelings of isolation. Be careful to check they are associated with a legitimate organiser or not for profit foundation.

6. Contact for Family or Friend Support Person

An emergency contact for a crisis is important, but so is a Vent Person, who can support you, (and maybe you them in return), during the tough times. Having a friend to talk to can make all the difference when they are discreet, supportive and non-judgemental.

7. ASMR Podcast or Channels

ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response and is a fancy term for videos or podcasts with relaxing soft speaking or sounds that can help people relax and sleep. Channels have specific themes, including Positive Affirmations, Insomnia help, Self Esteem boosting and other help.

Some good channels to begin with could include:
GentleWhispering
KarunaSatoriASMR
Ephemeral Rift
Batala's ASMR

With the addition of these small resources, maintaining mental health or self empowering during long wait times may be made a bit easier- or more organised. There is a chart below as an example of how to record the information in table format if you like to see things laid out on screen or paper.

It is important to note however, that sometimes we just don't have the capacity to spend the time or emotional labour on projects like this one, even if we want to. And that's ok. There will be another time to make changes when life is a little less hard.

This is part 1 of 2 in a series about this topic, please check back for more tips in our second article, where we will talk in depth about other resources to add to your PMHH and use mine as an example.

Resources for Personal Mental Health Hub

Helplines
Friends/Family numbers
Youtube Channels
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Write down your list of Hub resources for easy access

This content is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for formal and individualized diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, and/or dietary advice from a licensed medical professional. Do not stop or alter your current course of treatment. If pregnant or nursing, consult with a qualified provider on an individual basis. Seek immediate help if you are experiencing a medical emergency.

© 2019 Alaina Macdonald

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)