Wellness Planning and Maintenance

In order to understand what wellness means to you, you need to determine what you are like when you are well. You can start by making a list of your moods and feelings when you consider yourself to be in a state of wellness. Write down how these moods and feelings contribute to your overall recovery. For example, when you are well, you may feel more energized, which in turn motivates you to exercise. Exercising could be part of your daily routine to stay physically healthy, which is an overall component of your recovery plan.

Once you've identified how you feel when you are well, you can then begin to think of ways to maintain that level of wellness. Wellness strategies are things you can use to help yourself feel better. Most guided recovery programs identify these strategies as part of your "wellness toolbox."

Mental Health America's 10 Tools to "Live Your Life Well" is a good resource to help you build out a list of wellness strategies. Consider each tool, and then determine strategies within that tool that contribute to your everyday wellness. Once you have some strategies listed, think about how each one helps you reach your wellness goal.

Maintaining Wellness

To empower you in your recovery, it may be helpful to identify early warning signs and triggers (both positive and negative) that may affect your wellness. Share this information with individuals in your support network so that when your symptoms increase they know what to look for and how to respond. This isn't necessarily a "crisis plan," instead it is more of a plan of action that you can implement should someone need to intervene.

Answer the following questions:

What am I like when I feel great/when I am well?
What triggers will increase my symptoms and what triggers will decrease my symptoms?
What are some early warning signs for when I need someone else to intervene?
How do I want someone to intervene?