I was psychotic with delusions of grandeur for close to five years.

What saved me was a 9-month mindfulness based coaching course that taught me about presence, emotional self regulation, introspection, reflection and proper interpersonal communication. In the end they allowed me to see my delusions for what they were and that i had built my life on lies. These tools are now an integrated part of my personality and have helped me immensely in the years after, both in my personal relationships and in managing my mental illness (bipolar disorder type 1 and C-PTSD).

You should be able to learn the same techniques around emotional and reflective work if you look into certified MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) courses. Preferably in-person and at least 8-12 weeks long. Please note that these are scientific techniques detatched from the glorification and the muck that gets thrown around a lot in “spiritual” circles.

Today I’m studying public mental health work and do some work on the side of advicing researchers in the mental illness field, working to make training in these techniques into an integrated part of mental illness treatment.

I fully believe that if everyone was taught these tools as part of public education we would wipe out most of our political and societal issues withing a generation or two.

Other than that I’ve adopted a “listen to what the science says” mindset and make decisions based on what’s good for me such as getting regular exercise in ways that work and that i find fun and eating healthy within reasonable limits (the mind needs relaxation too, sometimes in the form of treats and indulgence). Getting an active dog has also helped me to secure a minimal level of activity for myself when things get tough.