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

I do a lot of Crossword Puzzles, plan and Build Boxes and different crafts in my Head.

Gunther James MUmpower

Stay away from the VA.

I do religious reading daily with my oldest son from the book "God Calling". It's great for me and my alcoholic son - who is now sober for 9 years.

Walk my dog as much as I can.

Clean eating, exercise, CBT.

Therapy, breathing exercises, and an emotion wheel to identify how I might be feeling.

I keep my mind batteries at full charge by writing and "creating" every day and supplement that with a rigorous exercise program--at 84 years of age I exercise daily in a pool in spite of (or perhaps because of) bum hips and knees that restrict land mobility. Always keep the mind and body active.
John C. Tuffy
LTJG, USNR (1959-1962)
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Working out, reading, outdoor activities.

My main thing to maintain good mental health is to get outdoors every day, rain or shine. Love to witness the sunrise and sunset, and just breathe in the fresh air. I also strive to have positive interactions with others.

What do I do to maintain or improve my mental health? First, I bore my wife with old, very old stories of my experiences, exploits, mishaps and other "Facts" of my life in the military. Sometimes I may even show her some old photos to impress upon her the seriousness of the discussion. To provide my wife some relief from these "war experiences and PTSD Flashback stories" I regularly for the past 15 years persistently attend weekly meetings at the Swansea, Illinois Veterans Center at 1300 Hours each Wednesday. This meeting of camaraderie, sharing of present and past life foibles and frustrations, current information presentations by staff, receiving comfort and support from other military combat veterans suffering from all recognized and unrecognized disabilities, has been a lifesaving place for me. I also get to meet new and younger members from later eras than my own. Surprisingly, I can hear and see myself in their life recitations. And as a last comment, I see and hear other veterans who have and are suffering from physical, medical and mental wartime inflicted injuries that bring in to focus my own frailties and helps me realize that I could be worse off than I am. Thank you all for your sacrifices!