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2030769 tn?1343647674

what does healthy mental health look like?

i just am wondering if someone can tell me what exactly it feels like to be mentally healthy?  Also, is there a way to keep your moods stable, (i prefer good) naturally, without taking pills?  Diet and exercise has been drilled into my head as a solution, but where do u start if you feel so down all the time?  Any suggestions would be totally appreciated.  I am trying to live without medication or any mood altering drug for the first time in at least 20 years and i cant stand how i feel now. I just want to see if i can beat this depression and at least have a stable mood for one full day straight.
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Avatar universal
Mentally healthy.....  Everyone has problems of some sort.  It's how we deal with those problems that makes a difference.  

I think some of us try to paint this picture of what it must be like to "be healthy".  From everything I've ever read, I can tell you this.  Every one of us has some kind of problems and or issues.  It's how we dealt or not dealt with those problems that makes the difference.  Maybe envy has something to do with this, but I don't know.

Being mentally healthy, I believe, is a personal matter.  It depends on who that person is, how his/her problems have been dealt with and where they stand now compared to at/near diagnosis.  I know that I am far mentally healthier now than I was 1,2,or 20 years ago.  I know who I am and I know that I have more work in front of me.  I'm trying to ever improve.  I'm trying to learn new things.  I'm about to get back in the gym again.  I know that when I exercised I felt better.... it helped my self esteem.

So, mentally healthy is completely dependent on the individual.  I know a guy who on the outside looks and seems to be a very normal person.  Turns out, the man is very obsessive/compulsive.  He can't touch anything without sanitizing his hands.... to me, that isn't so "healthy".  I bet he loses sleep over it....  That's his battles and I have mine.

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Avatar universal
No there is no test to check the chemicals in your brain.
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2030769 tn?1343647674
thank you so much for your response.  My reason for asking is because its my moods.  They change soooo many times for no reason throughout the day and it IS affecting my life.  I feel like I am always in fight or flight mode.  I would rather be just steady depressed then this up and down stuff.  It confuses people around me but it really confuses me.  I dont think there is anything wrong with medication, but I just really am scared of it now because Effexor was so hard to get off of and I gained so much weight from it.  It also made me live on autopilot with no emotions at all.  But I can say my moods were at a stable place.  So it must have been doing something.  Do you know if there is bloodwork that a doctor could do to check the chemicals in my brain?  
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480448 tn?1426948538
Well, there is no standard, molded "right" way to be mentally healthy, that will of course vary a bit for everyone.  As a general rule, if your moods, anxiety, depression, etc...start affecting your daily life, or you feel worse more than you feel better, then I wouldn't consider things to be okay.

You should be able to go through your day without feeling overwhelmingly sad for no obvious reason, if you're feeling irritable, jumpy, not content, emotionally labile (where your moods are up and down), if you don't have a lot of interest in things that would normally make you happy, if you isolate yourself and withdraw from social situations, then you're likely depressed.  I think it would be safe to say you already know you are.

SO, million dollar question, why do you feel you have to do this without medications?  You obviously have taken meds before, did you have a bad experience, or is this one of those self determination things, where you just WANT to do it without the help of meds?

I'll tell you hon, I totally get that everyone is different when it comes to their viewpoints about medications.  But, I DON"T understand why some people think it is some kind of weakness, or that they shouldn't "need" medications.  Maybe yes, or maybe no...but if there are medications out there to take away all of those doom and gloom feelings, why NOT take something?  And, who CARES if you have to take something for the rest of your life?  You wouldn't bat an eye if you had to take a pill to control your blood pressure, would you?  Well, mental health is just as important as physical health, if not more so.  Meds have literally given me my life back on several different occasions.  If I could WORSHIP them, I would, lol.  I've gone through rough moments with meds too, side effects, etc...but every minute of that was worth it, IMO.  I know they aren't always a cake walk, but again, the pros definitely outweighed the cons for me.


This is just my opinion, but my POINT is, do you REALLY have a GOOD reason for not wanting to take meds?  They can significantly improve your depression and/or anxiety.

And, yes, I WILL say that plenty of people have treated their depression without meds.  Therapy is a must either way.  There are natural approaches (which I know little about).  You are already doing the diet and exercise, which is big.  Just give it all some thought, and decide how important sticking to your guns about the med issue is to you.  For ME, it's a no brainer (no pun intended, lol)...I'd rather have to take a pill to feel content, anxiety/panic free, and able to enjoy my days a little bit.

Keep us updated hon!
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