Hey Pandas, What Mental Hacks Have You Come Up With That You Think Others Can Benefit From? (Closed)

Oh! Second thing. I have clinical insomnia, and I've had huge trouble falling asleep for years. It turns out that there's a way to help this- not eliminate it, as there's no way to actually eliminate real insomnia- and its pretty simple. If you're like me, you probably try to sleep for hours, both completely exhausted and unable to actually fall asleep. What helps is waiting until you're actually sleepy- not tired, because, again, if you have insomnia you're probably always tired- and only then trying to fall asleep. Before that, stay off your phone, read a book, maybe sketch if you're an artist, etc. Don't be active, but don't actually be in your bed/wherever you sleep. It doesn't eliminate insomnia, but since I've been using it I've started falling asleep hours earlier (11/12 versus 4-6) and getting better sleep. I hope this helps

I have anxiety that, when I was younger, showed itself as severe insecurity. I was getting suicidal because of the severity of my self-hatred about a year in, and when I realized that something needed to change, all I did was change my type of humour. I'm serious. Prior to this, I had been using self-deprecating humour often, and I just changed that to self aggrandizing. It's been around a year since then and that kicked off a chain of events that led to me eventually stabilizing and becoming pretty mentally healthy and way more confident than before. Of course, the humour wasn't the only thing, just the starting point. I've gotten to the point where my ego is probably damagingly large and I'm starting to deal with that, but it's a hell of a lot better than being suicidal.

Tldr; ironic self love eventually turns into real self love, trust me

I have generalized anxiety disorder (likely with a touch of ASD). Meds and counselling have helped, but I stumbled upon a hack that turned out to be a game changer.

Borrowing from the concept of "thunder jackets" for pets, I picked up some athletic compression shirts. Turns out, they've made a world of difference! I'm calmer, more self-assured, and less likely to catastrophize bad news.

I shared this finding with my therapist and gave her permission to share this information with other patients.

While I hope this information will help other Pandas, I also interested in what hack you came up with to cope with a psycho-emotional challenge. If you think it might help others, speak up!

I have ADHD and have trouble organising and keeping things tidy.
Like ( for example) when I do laundry, there are so many piles ( Me , kid 1 / kid 2 / kid 3 / kitchen/bathroom / and so on and so on) that I lose track.

So, I now do, what I call my two-hands method. I grab whatever is closest. Can be pair of socks in one hand and a towel in the other. That, I put away.
Return to the laundry basket, and repeat...and repeat until the basket is empty.
So I don't have a zillion different piles on my bed and panic over; now what.
Things get done - takes a little longer - and if I get distracted, I don't find half a zillion piles back on the bed whenever it's time to go to bed.
I can leave the chore, without having a mess :)

View your body as a separate entity, one you need to be kind to and care for like your pet. It’s really helps with my body image and taking care of myself.

Also, breathing exercises. I know everybody will tell you this, but it REALLY helps with anxiety. Just focus on big, deep breaths.

When I have a hard time sleeping, all I have to do is think about "something to have to do before I fall asleep." Then I tell myself I'm about to fall asleep and no joke I sleep almost instantly almost every time. I know it's weird but it's true lol

I have ADHD, mild anxiety, and sensory issues, so if something feels wrong it's the first domino. I find that tensing up my muscles and then relaxing helps to calm me down, and to focus a little.

Side fact: If you didn't sleep enough, take your Adderall and do NOT have coffee. It'll cause chaos.

It’s simple, but if you dislike something, like a smell, just make yourself believe it’s great. When you lie to yourself enough, eventually you’ll believe it.

I am autistic, and I used to have staring contests to get better at eye contact. Except, in my staring contests, the first person to break eye contact loses, but you can blink as much as you like. I also tend to look at other spots on people’s faces like foreheads, hair, between the eyes, etc. I have also learned that people like it when you react to their feelings with similar feelings, so I mostly copy people’s expressions to validate them.

For insomnia, sometimes melatonin works better when you take two gummies instead of one. Stating the obvious here, but I forgot that it was a vitamin and not a sleeping pill for a while, so I didn’t take enough of it and it didn’t work.

For all my fellow trichotillomaniacs. It’s hard to quit. I can’t do it, so I allow myself one part of my body that I can pull the hair from, and I leave the rest of my hair alone. I don’t have eyebrows, but I don’t have bald spots either.