Your Wellness Toolbox, the cornerstone of your WRAP, is a list of tools you use to help yourself feel better and to stay well. This article addresses having tools for especially difficult and unexpected situations. I have them in the When Things are Breaking Down (Avoiding a Crisis) section of my WRAP.
I have been hearing from lots of people who are trying to figure out Wellness Tools that they can use in the hardest of times – times when it is really hard to access anything you can use outside of yourself, when you don’t have access to or can’t use any physical “prop” like a pen, a computer, a television, a book or even a special place. For example, I once suddenly found myself in the intensive care unit of the hospital connected to various tubes and machines that made intermittent noises.
You might be in jail or prison. You might find yourself marooned on public transportation that has broken down. Or perhaps you have lost your living space and all your belongings. You may be in a war situation or in a place where there has been a disaster. I would consider this the “When Things are Breaking Down” or the “Avoiding a Crisis” section of my WRAP. It is incredibly challenging and it can’t be anticipated. We never know when we are going to find ourselves in a situation like this.
I think that, without “catastrophizing” (spending a lot of time thinking of the worst things that could possibly happen), we need to plan for these times that we hope will never happen by having some tools in our Wellness Toolbox that we can have ready if they do happen. I have spent a lot of time considering this, thought about what I did when I was in this situation, and have reached out to others for ideas.
When I was in this situation, where I was in a hospital bed, scared, and couldn’t move, I:
A friend who was incarcerated in solitary for a time with nothing to read and nothing to write with said that he:
Following are some other Wellness Tools for these times that people shared with me on Facebook:
If you have other ideas, please send them to me via social@MentalHealthRecovery.com so I can share them with others. Also, please send your experience of using these tools in these times. Thanks.
Looking for More Information on Wellness Tools? Check Out these Great Resources:
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