Answer

Wellness Recovery Action Plan

Personal Mental Health/ Wellness Goal

There are a number of important steps that I intend to implement in my day-to-day life to safeguard my wellbeing and enhance my mental health. For instance, I plan to manage my stress levels and maintain a positive attitude at all times. I also intend to practice meditation, exercise regularly, and ensure that I get enough sleep to promote positive health outcomes.

Wellness Tool Box:

• Listen to soothing music for relaxation
• Write a journal
• Go to the gym
• Practice Yoga and deep breathing exercises
• Surround myself with positive friends and relatives
• Listen to positive and inspirational messages
• Rest

My Strengths:

• Responsible
• Energetic
• Caring
• Good sense of humor
• Honest/ Trustworthy
• I am able to relate and empathize with others

Daily Maintenance List and

What I’m like when I’m feeling all right:

• Cheerful
• Talkative
• Peaceful and Calm
• Friendly reasonable
• Enthusiastic optimistic
• Fun to be around

Things I need to do for myself every day to keep myself feeling all right:

• Sleep for a minimum of 7 hours
• Meditate at least twice a day for 20 minutes
• Listen to my favorite music
• Go for a walk
• Eat at least 3 healthy meals per day and fruits
• Avoid stressful environments and situations
• Visit close friends and relatives regularly
• Go to the gym
• Avoid negative news at all costs
• Engage in personal reflection at the end of the day
• Engage in a peer-support groups
• Write my thoughts, achievements, and progress in my journal

Additional things I might need to do (or that would be good to do):

• Watch an exciting movie or comedy
• Read a good and engaging book / Comic
• Plan a vacation
• Go for swimming
• Help with the house chores
• Sing and dance to my favorite songs
• Smile and laugh more
• Go for shopping
• Have some personal time

Triggers

Things that, if they happen, might cause an increase in my symptoms:

• Stressful environments and situations
• Excessively loud music
• Negative news
• Inadequate sleep
• Pressure from work, school, friends, and family
• Too much solitude
• Lack of personal time
• Illness
• Lack of physical exercise
• Being criticized or put down

Action Plan: Things that I can do if my triggers come up to keep them from becoming more serious symptoms:

• Meditate
• Implement the steps in my daily maintenance program
• Identify the trigger and look for an effective intervention
• Ask for help from my peer-support group
• Self-talk
• Leave the uncomfortable situation
• Pray or read something spiritual

Early Warning Sign

Some early warning signs that others have reported and/or I have observed:

• Increased anger and irritability
• Breathlessness
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Feelings of hopelessness
• Constant worry and fear
• Moodiness
• Lack of interest in social activities
• Increased isolation
• Loss of appetite for food
• Increased negativity and feelings of unworthiness
• Restlessness

Action Plan: Things I must do if I experience early warning signs:

• Implement the action steps in my daily maintenance list to stop or mitigate the symptoms
• Ask for help from close friends, family members, or my peer-support group
• Meditate for at least 20 minutes including the breathing exercises
• Monitor and control my thoughts and feelings
• Personal reflection
• Talk to my therapist
• Go for a walk, run, or swim
• Go to the gym

Things I can do if they feel right to me:

• Listen to music
• Read an inspirational or comic book
• Volunteer
• Cook and eat my favorite meal
• Go for shopping
• Go for a retreat
• Treat or spoil myself with a gift or something rewarding
• Go for an event

THINGS ARE BREAKING DOWN OR GETTING WORSE

Signs/symptoms that indicate that things are getting worse:

• Unable to sleep
• Easily irritable
• Become restless
• Spend excess money on unnecessary items
• Become obsessed with negative thoughts
• Loss of appetite
• Insomnia or changes in sleeping patterns
• Over indulgence of food in some instances
• Panic attacks
• Depression
• Become extremely withdrawn

Crisis Planning

Action Plan: Things that can help reduce my symptoms when they have progressed to this point:

• Get back to my routine check daily maintenance program
• Self-reflection and regular breathing exercises
• Working the yard
• Do a task that is involving both physically and mentally
• Seek help from my peer-support group and implement their suggestions
• Visit a friend or relative and share my experiences with them
• Meditation
• Medication to mitigate the loss of appetite and sleep, as well as , depression

Signs that Others Need to Take Over on my Behalf

• When I become a threat to my safety and that of others by engaging in destructive behavior such as physical or substance abuse, just to mention a few
• Refuse to eat for days
• Become isolated and extremely withdrawn
• Stop showing up for peer support groups or social events
• Experience suicidal thoughts

Help that I can get from others

• Social support
• Financial assistance
• Encouragement and motivation
• Shopping and help with the house chores such as cleaning and laundry
• Prayers

Barriers Experienced when implementing the wellness plan

• Inconsistency
• Lack of self-discipline
• Giving up easily

Ways the Assignment May Influence my Perspective

• I will be in a better position to help clients develop an effective wellness plan
• I will be able to guide them in case they experience any difficulties or barriers during the implementation process
• The assignment will help me identify warning signs on patients and know whether the wellness plan is working or not

Reflection Journal

My personal mental health and wellness goal was to remain healthy and maintain a sound mind.  I did this by maintaining a healthy lifestyle which included regular exercise, enough sleep, a healthy diet, and managing my stress levels. In this regard, the regular exercises were significant in helping me keep fit and retain a healthy weight. Having sufficient sleep was also essential in managing stress and improving my mental health. Similarly, eating nutritious and healthy foods such as vegetables, fruits, and adequate water, just to mention a few, played a key role in promoting my positive health outcomes. However, keeping a positive attitude was sometimes difficult, particularly, when I was feeling unwell, criticized, or unable to adhere to my wellness plan.

Components of My Wellness Recovery Action Plan

My wellness toolbox was composed of various items including listening to music in my free time, writing a journal, meditation, going to the gym, and surrounding myself with positive people. In this case, I listened to soothing music for relaxation whenever I felt stressed. I also wrote my thoughts and feelings on my journal at the end of each day. In other words, keeping a journal helped me monitor my emotions and some of my triggers. It also played an essential role in helping me identify some of the interventions in my daily maintenance list that were effective. Meditation also helped me calm down in stressful situations and environments. The process included regular breathing exercises for at least twenty minutes per day. Moreover, going to the gym and surrounding myself with positive people assisted me in maintaining a positive attitude.

My daily maintenance plan was meant to enhance my mental health and ensure my wellbeing. It included at least 7 hours of sleep per day, going for a walk, personal reflection, meditation, proper nutrition, and participating in peer- support groups, among other activities. The peer-support groups were useful in promoting my mental health and well-being in various ways. For instance, they gave me an opportunity to learn and share my personal experience with others. I was also able to implement some of the suggestions from my peers groups in my daily maintenance plan such as personal reflection which was effective in monitoring my thoughts and feelings.

Identifying my triggers was significant in helping me find useful ways to manage them efficiently. Some of my common triggers included lack of sufficient sleep, illness, negative news, stressful environment, and being criticized or put down, just to mention a few. In this case, implementing my daily maintenance program was one of my action plan. I also asked for help from some of my close friends and family members, as well as, my peer-support groups in some instances. In this regard, their encouragement and social support played an important role in helping me adhere to the wellness plan. However, my inconsistency and poor self-discipline were among the primary factors that limited me from implementing and adhering to the wellness plan effectively.

Identifying the early warning signs helped me manage my anxiety and stress levels. Common examples of the warning signs included moodiness, increased anger and irritability, breathlessness, lack of interest in social activities, and loss of appetite, among others. These symptoms were a clear indication that things were getting out of hand and that something needed to be done quickly. In this regard, an action plan was necessary to minimize or manage the symptoms. Some of the interventions in my action plan included implementing my daily maintenance program, meditation, listening to music, or writing a journal, going to the gym among other relevant steps. These approaches were useful in managing the symptoms. However, some steps such as going to the gym was not efficient in some instances due to time constraints thus causing me to adjust my wellness plan or implement other strategies.

There were a number of symptoms that often occurred when things were breaking down. Examples included physical or verbal abuse, panic attacks, insomnia, restlessness, and depression. In this regard, an efficient action plan would include meditation, asking for help, implementing my daily maintenance plan, and personal reflection, just to mention a few.  The meditation was very useful in helping me remain calm in stressful situation and minimizing my anxiety or panic attacks. Similarly, the personal reflection assisted me in monitoring my progress and identifying factors that affected me negatively. However, asking for help from close friends and family members was sometimes not enough to calm me down because some of them would criticize me or give up easily when I became abusive in some instances. In this regard, adhering to my daily maintenance plan was useful in alleviating the symptoms. 

In conclusion the wellness and recovery plan was useful in helping me understand my thoughts and feelings. It also assisted me in identifying my triggers and effective methods to mitigate them. Similarly, it was significant in pinpointing my early symptoms for stress and anxiety, as well as, an appropriate action plan. One of the factors that influenced my adherence to the wellness plan included support from friends and family, and peer-support groups. On the other hand, inconsistency and poor self-discipline hindered me from adhering to the wellness plan as required. This homework will enable me to help clients develop a good wellness plan in the future and guide them appropriately in case they experience any challenges during the implementation process.