Overcoming Setbacks on the Road to Mental Wellness

Mental health setbacks occur when a person's mental well-being worsens after a period of progress or improvement. This is normal, and it does not mean that you are back at square one. However, it can still leave you feeling disheartened, exhausted, and stuck, especially after putting so much work into getting better. 

A crucial part of the healing journey is learning how to move forward after mental health setbacks so that you can continue to make steps towards thriving in your everyday life.

What Can Mental Health Setbacks Look Like?

Mental health setbacks can come in a variety of forms and present unique challenges that you may not be prepared for. 

You may notice a return of your old symptoms. For instance, if you are battling depression, you might experience a number of days where you feel happier and more hopeful, followed by a low period where you struggle to get out of bed. It can be confusing and frustrating to feel like things are getting better, only to feel stuck again.

Setbacks can also stem from a loss of interest in elements of your recovery process that are helping you heal. After some time, you may find yourself not wanting to attend your therapy sessions or losing motivation to take the steps necessary to improve your mental health. 

You may also subconsciously detach yourself from community and your support systems over time. Staying involved in social groups is a key part of healing, but it can be hard to show up on the days when you do not feel like it.

Sometimes, setbacks can occur when individuals fall back into harmful habits, behaviors, or thought patterns. This often occurs gradually and subconsciously, so you may not notice it right away. 

For example, let’s explore a hypothetical situation where a person with anxiety struggles with thought spirals. After some time, they may be able to work through those patterns and eventually develop strategies to combat their anxious thoughts. But after six months, those thought spirals slowly creep back in and worsen over time.

The person would likely feel discouraged after the work they have put in. However, just because the spirals might have returned for a temporary period, that does not mean the person has not made progress. Further, they know now that they are capable of getting to a better headspace. 

The Potential Causes

Setbacks on the road to mental wellness can have numerous causes. When a person has a mental health flare-up, it can be brought on by a trigger that is often influenced by past experiences. Three common types of triggers are:

• External triggers: These can stem from events or circumstances that occur around you. For example, a person might feel more depressed after watching coverage of war or hearing about children suffering in the news.
• Internal triggers: Sometimes, triggers are reminders of negative feelings from the past. An anxious person might be triggered by thought spirals during a stressful situation.
• Symptom triggers: In some instances, symptoms can be triggered by a change in lifestyle. If you normally prioritize sleep and then suddenly have a week where you are not getting enough sleep each night, it could bring on symptoms of your mental health condition. 

The causes for a mental health setback will be different for everyone. It is important to note that even with the potential for triggers, some mental health flare-ups happen for no reason. 

Embracing Imperfection 

When you experience a mental health setback on your road to recovery, it can feel like you are starting the healing process over or back where you were in the past. However, this is far from true.

A setback does not take away from your growth and all the hard work you have put into getting better. If you think of it like a race, a setback is like stumbling, slowing down for a temporary period, or stopping for a moment to catch your breath. Even when it feels discouraging, this is not nearly the same as starting the race over. You will still reach the finish line.

In fact, that pause is sometimes the very thing you need to drive you forward. Learning how to give yourself grace and the space to make mistakes is crucial in this part of your journey. Approaching setbacks with reflection, forgiveness, and self-acceptance can completely change your outlook on the experience and help you move forward.

Leave The Past In The Past

To continue on your road to improved mental wellness, ensure that you leave your mistakes in the past where they belong. In order to truly forgive yourself and move forward, you need to make sure that the past is not weighing you down. Instead, you can use your failures to push you toward future success. 

Evaluate what went wrong. If you were triggered by something, identify what it was that triggered you. If you slipped out of a healthy habit, try to understand how you got there. Once you take the time to reflect, you can prevent that mistake from happening again or be better prepared the next time you face a similar situation. 

Let’s go back to our race metaphor. If you stumble, it doesn’t mean that the race is over. Take a second to catch your breath. As you pause, identify what it was that tripped you. Maybe you stumbled because there was a rock in front of your shoe. Maybe there is a smoother path you can take to finish the rest of the race. 

If anything, this moment of pause can help you turn from what does not work so you can find your way to what does. The quicker you accept that something isn’t working, the easier it will be to move forward. And as you continue running toward the finish line, make sure you don’t look back, because it will only slow you down.

Support At Jackson House

Support is crucial throughout every step of your mental wellness journey. You are not alone in experiencing mental health setbacks, and we want to offer support every step of the way.

Contact us today for more information on the personalized mental health services we offer so that we can support you as you continue on the path toward thriving.