The Stay Well Points Plan
September 10th, 2007I’ve come up with a plan for maintaining health, which I’m calling the Stay Well Points Plan. I’ve seen it before for maintaining balance in work activities, but not for depression. I’ll be experimenting with it myself, so I’ll keep you posted. I hope others will also try it, or at least critique it in the comments.
The basic idea is to identify things that work well for you in your fight with depression. Things like taking your prescribed medicines, therapy sessions, exercise, meditation, massage or relaxation. There are many possibilities.
In my Points Plan I’ve also included things that are reliable triggers for my depressive episodes. These are having a bad argument with someone (major trigger), not getting adequate sleep for days on end, or any kind of very stressful situation.
As you can see from the table I’ve allocated points to items according to their impact on my health. The only exception is medicine, which I’ve downgraded even though it’s crucial for me. It’s too easy to pick up those points each day.
The maximum amount of points in my table is 140 each day or 980 for the week. This is before deducting points for the triggers. I’ve set my aim for the week at 50% of total available points. If I can reach this then I’ll increase it next week. It might be worth adding in a reward for some motivatation.
I honestly think if I can consistently reach such a target, then I am well on the way to more stable health. And by relying on a range of positive strategies, I won’t be pinning my hopes on any single one.
So I’m off to do some exercise - something I haven’t done for months now - but it’s at the very top of my list.
If you want this simple template I’ve saved it for download as a Microsoft Excel file.
September 10th, 2007 08:26
Excellent initiative, would change taking lunch or add taking breakfast. That’s what most people in The Netherlands forget. Alcohol should also be part of it, not more than 2?
Regards Dr Shock
September 11th, 2007 11:20
Sounds like a smart thing to do. I may try it. Thank you for sharing.
September 11th, 2007 13:34
Wow, I really like this idea! Thanks for sharing your idea and for letting everyone download the file. Do share if you notice any changes as you work on your points plan.
September 14th, 2007 10:07
This is fantastic! I am very involved in support groups for people with symptoms of depression and bipolar disorder. May I have your permission to use this with them? It’s much less complicated than many other tracking methods I have seen.
Thanks!
September 14th, 2007 19:09
Of course! That’s why I posted it. I’m really pleased that you think it’s helpful. James.
January 26th, 2008 05:51
I was just talking about doing some of these things. I think the most helpful thing for me is to see my goals on paper. I need to see them written down instead of trying to remember them all the time. When stress is high the last thing I can do is think straight. Having a list such as the above that includes my safety plan has been quite helpful over the years. I need to get that list out again, post it where I can see it..make it in hard copy form not on the PC or anything.
Tx
Austin
January 26th, 2008 05:52
I meant to add that I really like the name of your site.
Austin
January 28th, 2008 13:09
I’m going to try this. I tend to get bogged down trying to make too many changes at once.
March 25th, 2008 17:41
Love the idea.
I would add that the quality of our personal relationships plays a huge part in our overall wellbeing, so I would include:
1. Meeting new people;
2. Spending time with friends;
3. Spending time with family
Best of luck with this!
March 26th, 2008 15:05
I will try to follow this.
March 28th, 2008 08:55
I believe giving thanks 3x a day also helps the brain orient toward more positive.
April 13th, 2008 23:56
The only issue with your setup is the weight item.
It is measured weekly but added daily?
April 14th, 2008 01:35
Whoops. Perhaps there should be a bonus prize at the end of the week instead. Chocolate?
October 8th, 2008 04:32
Things that worked for me to keep my depression under control and eventually cure it:
~ Think positively - in every situation try and see something positive. Even what is seen as failure is a valuable learning experience.
~ Get things done, be active - do chores, achieve small things every day, take small steps at a time doing things, learn something new and do it every day.
~ Focus on what you have achieved - and not on what you still need to do. Every day see what you did get done and be proud of it. Celebrate the victories.
~ Get out and meet people - is related to being active, but also on focusing on someone else, takes your mind of all the negative thought patterns.
~ Set a goal and take one small step towards it every day. Learn a new language, take classes/education, write a novel. And every day, do a small step, achieve something, see your progress, focus on the progress, focus on every step that’s completed and take pride and joy in it.
~ Eat a healthy solid breakfast - I’ve found the days I skip breakfast I lack energy, am more prone to bad moods, lack motivation to do things. All which in return enforces my bad moods that comes from not getting things done, all that enforces my feeling of being down because I don’t have the physical energy to get things done.
~ Find beauty in your surroundings - gaze upon a flour, enjoy the scents and beauty, see children play and laugh, watch a cloud and how it moves, feel the sun on your skin, study your palm and see it for the first time. Spend time every day focusing on something beautiful and focus only on that and be amazed again over how diverse and fascinating and beautiful life and nature actually is.
~ Meditate - spending a time every day focusing on your breath, emptying the mind, letting go of all thoughts and feelings of worry, sadness, helplessness, hopelessness and so on. Just exist in the moment, focusing on it.
~ Live in the now and appreciate the now - this is a difficult one and to me it came after I had broken a lot of bad thought patterns and behaviours. When I take myself in thinking about the past (bemoaning what I didn’t do, what I lost, the pain or whatever) I focus on the now and what I have, what I have achieved, of the steps I’ve taken and feeling proud of where I am right now. When I take myself thinking of wishful dreams or good things to come, while doing something in the now, I force myself to focus on the now and appreciate the now (like watching my daughter play and be happy, I have a tendency to tell her what will happen of fun things tomorrow. Which is utterly silly since she’s perfectly happy living in the now and enjoying it. We should not mare the enjoyment of the now by distancing ourselves from it and focus on what might come in the future).
~ Look in the mirror and accept yourself. Tell yourself that you accept yourself, that you are proud of yourself, that you are capable, that you will achieve your goals and dreams if you work hard enough for it, that you are an amazing person, that you are beautiful (all people are beautiful), find the most appealing trait you have and be proud of it, tell yourself that you love yourself.
~ Do things fully. If you’re working on a task, give your best to it, do it as well as you can. If you’re doing annoying chores, give your best, dedicate yourself fully. By the end of the day you can look back at what you have done and know deep inside that you did your best, that you could not have done better in the situation. That breeds acceptance of yourself and what you do, it lets you know that even if you didn’t get a big success out of a task, you did the best you could do and learned from it.
~ Take action. Every time you begin to complain (to yourself or others) about how things are, take action to change the situation, set a goal of how you want things to be, work out a plan on how to get there, and start going there. The things you don’t want to change (for all things can essentially be changed, but many we won’t out of consideration to others), accept that it is your decision that you won’t change it and move on.
Heh, this became a longer ramble. Some of these things can easily be put into your schedule, and are only meant to be additional suggestions to what you already have. I hope it’s useful for you.
Good luck with your project. I know that one day you’ll truly be happy and live a life without depression.