I struggle with depression and choose to deal with it without medication. I have a loose mental health routine… more like a list of things to do on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.
Daily:
Shower
Eat
Spend a minimum of ten minutes cleaning my space.
If not working, spend at least 20 minutes outside; preferably doing some kind of exercise, but just chillin’ is ok too.
Weekly:
Attend some kind of social event. Doesn’t mean anything huge. I got in to D&D and that takes care of that one most weeks. Regular social activity is important.
Monthly:
Clean the bathroom! (Preferably bi-weekly)
This is not a complete list of things I do to help my mental health, but they’re the ones I force myself to do even if I don’t want to. It helps.
I also follow a general guideline I learned in therapy. Keep track of things you’re doing and put them in to one of three categories: professional development, self care, recreation.
The goal is to spend your waking hours doing these things evenly. (I suppose sleeping counts as self care in the right situation)
I’m a former addict. Been clean for 4 years now. I learned these things in recovery and the whole time I thought to myself “This should be a high school course. You don’t need to be an Addict to benefit from this stuff.”
Anyway, these things truly help me and I hope they can help you too.
WWIII here we go