Mental Health Checklist
Where to Focus Your Efforts
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and none of this should be misconstrued as medical advice. I am merely an inquisitive cartoon on the internet with a strong interest in mental health. You should consult with a medical professional before making any changes to your life and should not disregard their advice because of things read here.
I remember being asked a set of questions when I visited a psychiatrist. The line of questioning was heavily geared towards things that had happened in the past and missed a lot of things that I’ve found to be useful and relevant in my studies. I think that with the explosion of health information, eventually new questions will find their way there. For now, however, they’re not. I believe mainstream psychiatry is missing a lot of pieces of the puzzle that are relevant to mental health and emotions in general— like nutrition, media use, pornography, environmental exposure, and more listed below. On top of this, if these things were to be solved, psychiatrists would lose out on a lot of clients for antidepressants and armchair therapy.
Below is a list of things that I would personally vet myself for if I found myself in a depressed or anxious state and I thought that you readers may find value in it. I’ve included things from my personal experience and also from traditional thinking. I want to note again 1) that this “checklist” is not intended to be used for medical purposes or in substitution of a visit to a psychiatrist and 2) I am not a medical professional and this is not medical treatment. This is meant for improving emotions in a personal sense, not in a medical sense.
It’s very hard to pinpoint what someone’s exact problem is sometimes because there’s such a wide variety of things that are relevant (especially in modern society). Also, I think people have a tendency to misinterpret their problems as stemming from one thing when it’s something entirely different. This checklist aims to cover a wide variety of relevant factors with a brief overview on each and has some further resources listed you to study if you choose to do so.
My Checklist for Anxious and Depressed States
Nutrition
The food that you consume is intimately tied to how you feel on a daily basis. If you lack proper nutrition, you are going to go through life as a shell of what you could be. This will lead to decreased energy, lower emotional states, and a greater susceptibility to health problems. Processed foods, sugary beverages, inconsistent meal times, and lack of animal protein are your worst enemies here. For a complete breakdown on this one, see my article below.
Recommended Resources:
• Food and Mental Health by Cultivating Chi
• The UltraMind Solution by Dr. Mark Hyman, M.D.
Sleep
Sleep, along with nutrition, is one of the most important pillars of your mental state. Without adequate and quality rest, your brain and body isn’t able to recover from the stresses of life. When people entered a depressed state, their sleep quality is one of the first things to suffer. This then creates a loop of feeling bad, getting poor quality sleep, feeling worse, and so on. Taking control of your sleep has an extreme ROI.
Recommended Resources:
• Fix Your Sleep, Fix Your Life by Cultivating Chi
• Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
Friends & Family
How your social life is going will influence you as well. Do you have someone that you can truly talk to? Or just drinking buddies? The people around you will either lift up or drag down your emotional state. Family, as well as friends, is another common source of stress in people’s lives.
Recommended Resources:
Super Spreaders of Emotion by Cultivating Chi
Romantic Life
Trouble in one’s romantic life is another culprit here. These problems are hard to deal with. If you are going through a difficult time with a lover or ex-lover, a negative response is natural. This becomes a problem, however, when it takes up all your mental power and dominates your thoughts for continued periods after.
Recommended Resources:
The Human Magnet Syndrome by Ross Rosenberg
Trauma
Our past experiences color our current reality. However, we are not condemned to a current state because of things that have happened in the past. Resolving traumatic experiences that manifest in the body is something worth looking into. I do not consider myself experienced or extremely well-read in this topic and would recommend the resource below for an in-depth analysis and overview.
Recommended Resources:
The Body Keeps Score by Bessel van der Kolk
Environmental Exposure
This is an important section and one that’s often overlooked. Chemicals and heavy metals have found their way into everything around us in modern society and these guys cause some serious problems. When you try to treat a biological problem with psychotherapy, it’s like trying to treat a broken bone through meditation— it ain’t gonna work. For example, in this study researchers identified mercury poisoning associated with anxiety and depression. Solving this, while it could appear on the surface as traditional anxiety and depression, would require a completely different approach.
Recommended Resources:
Estrogeneration by Anthony G. Jay, Ph.D.
Chronic Stress Crisis by William G. Timmins
Exercise
Regular exercise is another fundamental. Unspent energy can manifest as anxious thoughts. It’s your body’s way of trying to shed off that energy. For an example of the energy use of thoughts, think of that famous example of grandmaster chess players burning up to 7,000 calories in a day of playing. Your thoughts consume energy. In addition to this, regular exercise has been studied to be an effective antidepressant.
Recommended Resources:
How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy by Paul Chek
Hobbies
Activities in your life can be a tool to create joy. Hobbies like sports or music enable you to tap into a source of positive emotions. For a life filled with positive emotions, dedicating time to things that create joy for you is necessary.
Alcohol, Caffeine, and other substances
The abuse of alcohol is has been clearly linked to depressive states. Caffeine, however, is often overlooked because it’s one of the most common drinks. There’s this hustle culture around it where “coffee is my lifeblood” rings from hardcore coffee drinkers. When abused, however, caffeine create states of anxiety. Sometimes people don’t put together their coffee addiction and states of anxiety. I would vet any substances you use and consider if you have developed a dependency on them.
Recommended Resources:
Caffeine Blues: Wake Up to the Hidden Dangers of America’s #1 Drug by Stephen Cherniske MS
Media Consumption
Your media (aka information) consumption impacts your worldview. This will dictate if you see the world as a scary, violent place or one filled with hope for the future. Social media can be the greatest connective and educational tool or a time-sucking, emotion-draining leech on your life. Most “mainstream” TV shows and music are filled with glorification of violence, drugs, money, and other things of the like. I want to note here as well that a lot of the news today is intentional fear-mongering. Many of the problems that the news deems important and “worthy of your attention” are occurring thousands of miles away and are completely out of your control. There’s almost no reason to tune into these things.
Recommended Resources:
Vet Your Media by Cultivating Chi
Goals
Do you have goals set for yourself? Goal-setting is an art that everyone should dabble in. By setting goals, you give yourself something to work towards and create an anchor in the future as I like to call it. On top of this, you are probably aware that the dopamine (the pleasure chemical) is released in response to the pursuit of goals, not the attainment of them. By setting long-term goals, you set yourself up to be constantly releasing dopamine as you work towards these. I will have an article on goal setting coming soon.
Further Resources:
S.M.A.R.T. Goal-Setting System
Career and Financial Life
The satisfaction level that you have with your current career is important as well. Are you in a field you truly want to be in? If not, are you working towards something you want on the side? In today’s world, people all too often give up their dreams in exchange for money and the illusion of security.
Sunlight Exposure
Sunlight is responsible for a whole variety of things like setting your circadian rhythm, vitamin D levels, endorphins, etc. Sunlight is one of the best (and free) antidepressants out there. Finding a way to incorporate regular sunlight exposure into your day will raise your baseline mood.
Technology Use
In today’s world, we all have our phone glued to our sides 24/7. This is both a blessing and a curse. Spending too much time on your phone or computer will obviously weigh down on your mental state and connection to the real world. The average American spends sometime around 7 hours everyday looking at a screen. On this, I would also recommend downloading blue blocking software on your devices. If you are chronically in front of screens, your mental state will suffer.
Pornography Use
Pornography is truly one of the greatest problems of our time. Chronic pornography use will lower your dopamine levels. Our goal is to elevate your baseline state. Pornography, on the other hand, artificially creates a state like no other. You have access to things that your ancestors wouldn’t even have dreamed of. This will relatively make your baseline state seem like a low point.
Recommended Resources:
Control Over Thoughts
“People don't have ideas. Ideas have people.” — Carl Jung
If you feel like you have invasive thoughts that you can’t control, it’s necessary to engage in some sort of release activity or technique that allows you to identify them. Personally, I’ve found a journaling practice is extremely high ROI for this. From this, you can identify recurrent thoughts that you have (whatever they be about) and look at them on a piece of paper outside of your psyche. This will give you a tangible grip on all the ideas bouncing around in your head.
Recommended Resources:
Name it, Blame it, Tame it by Cultivating Chi
Stress
Identify your sources of stress. This could be things like work obligations, physical activities, poor nutrition, health problems, etc. From there, engage to either solve these problems, work towards improving them, or release the imaginary stressors. We often like to create problems in our head to create a sense of stress. In addition to this, if you are feeling stress internally, you will look to things outside of yourself to justify this stress.
Recommended Resources:
On Stress by Cultivating Chi
Chronic Stress Crisis by William G. Timmins
Religion or Spirituality
In many cases it’s at people’s lowest points that they connect to some sort of greater good or connection to source. At these points you are willing to entertain ideas and schools of thought you previously wouldn’t have. If you find yourself at a low point, I would recommend to consider dabbling in some religious or spiritual material at least to check it out. This can become a bedrock in your life.
Recommended Resources:
The Untethered Soul by Michael Alan Singer
Levels of Energy by Frederick Dodson
Letting Go by David R. Hawkins, MD., Phd
I truly do hope this checklist for unwanted emotional states provides you with some value. As always, feel free to reach out or ask any questions below.
Cheers friend,
Chi
All of this is underrated man.
Many things are common sense and knowledge in certain spheres - but people realistically don’t actually attack and manage the problem with the solutions they are given and just remain in their habits.
Having a checklist puts these things in perspective for creating a roadmap for many to tackle their state of health and mind like they do their typical external tasks. I think helps many including myself.
One thing I like to do is use an index card every morning - write down EVERYTHING that needs to be done for an optimal day of health, personals, and business and I can throw out the card and go to sleep only when it’s been accomplished. So a “checklist” resonates with me.
Enjoyed this man, keep it up glad you’re writing so much.