What do you do to maintain or improve your mental health?

To be honest I have many and i don’t know if that or those are even the answer to this question. For starters I like to fish. As much as I like to catch fish cook and eat believe or not I don’t come home with anything LOL. Being on the Kayak and fishing to me is the main reason I have not thought of other things that may not end well. There are days that it is hard to not think about life itself. The news or media damn sure doesn’t help, but for me just being on the water floating down the river is great. Sometimes its too relaxing where you start to fall asleep when the sun is just rising and your oh crap i’m in the brush or in the middle of the ocean or fog rolls in. Lord only knows how long you have been knock out LOL….

Everyday I seek to find humor... it helps me out tremendously. The trick is to login to RP early enough to see all the memes and ridiculously false stories about whatever politician is the biggest moron of the day! Never dissatisfaction.

Golf.

I stop smoking, drinking and eating meats I also purchased and exercise machine
I no longer drink soda beverages and watch my sugar intake, I have alot more energy, lost a few pounds. I think everyone should try this method I am now 68 years old

I focus on 3 things: 1. Proper rest. I do everything I can to get the same amount of sleep, at the same time, every night. This is much easier now that I'm retired from the USN. 2. Daily physical activity. I think this does without saying. 3. Daily mindfulness/meditation.

i play games on computer like board games, and puzzles

I do crossword puzzles, sudoko, and the daily Wordle to keep sharp.

Medicate.

I practice breathing techniques with heart, try to continue doing my PT exercises, spend time with my wife and focus on the things that I can control. And then, take it one day and some times, one moment at a time and try to remain positive.

Daily walks in nature help me find my center each morning. Everything is easier to handle after I have had that quiet time to reflect. Late at night when I’m having to trouble dealing with nightmares or invasive thoughts, I take myself to my workshop and do some woodcarving or furniture building. Getting out of my head and being productive allows me to distract myself instead of entering that negative spiral of emotions.

If all else fails, I reach out to a veteran friend or veteran family member just to talk about unimportant things. It’s a reminder that my problems aren’t actually all-consuming.