Self assessment Questions

[startingnew]

I find that an important part of 'recovery ' is to do a self assessment.

Im wondering if anyone has any questions to ask oneself to self assess where we're at, how far weve come, where theres still room for improvement.

any help/advice is appreciated 🙂

[Elizabeth CP]

Hi Sez & Startingnew, I started the weekly planner as a way to help me prioritise what needs doing & help me work towards goals. This helps me feel more in control. It also allows me to list things I need to do but haven't got time to do immediately which stops me worrying about missing things & allows me to concentrate on what needs doing now. I can get overwhelmed with all my competing demands. (I care for my husband & like to help/ spend time with my adult children as well as trying to find time to do things to care for myself.

My psych encouraged me to use it as a way to keep track of my progress. This can mean just ticking off the things I have done which helps me at the end of the week see that I have been successful. I also write down the extra things which are done. For example if my husband gets sick & I am unable to carry out my plans I write this down. This helps me manage my tendency to feel like a failure when I haven't achieved enough. I keep my notes brief to avoid burdening myself more. I have found when I don't do my weekly planner or when I don't fill it in during the week I feel out of control & more useless which affects my MH.

By including activities I find help my physical & mental health on my list I am reminded to do them which helps me.

[Just Sara]

Hey Elizabeth;

I'm impressed by your commitment! Taking notes would be helpful for assessing at the end of the week. I get the relevance now...thankyou.

I use my phone's calendar app which unfortunately doesn't have an alarm setting. If it does, I haven't found it. I've attended appt's only to find I'm a week early or late. I have to laugh, otherwise I'd feel like a fool.

I knew a woman yrs ago who suffered with a disorder that left her with no energy and bought on depression. She changed her diet to vegan and created new recipe's which she wrote down in a beautiful book while she was cooking. On the opposite page, she wrote poetry or inspiring notes telling of how she felt as she cooked.

When I read it I cried. They were the most amazingly inspiring and tender words of comfort and joy; not a negative word among them. I tried to encourage her to publish it, but the thought of this made her upset. It was a very personal message to herself and those she loved. I felt humbled that she'd allowed me to look at it.

Her diet and positive outlook gave her back her life. What a wonderful woman indeed.

We all find what suits during recovery, and words seem to be top strategy that helps us cope. Both Elizabeth and I agree that looking back over our words is productive for self assessing. If we do this with 'learning' and 'coping' in mind, we can achieve great personal advantage over our situations.

I hope others engage on this important topic. Thanks SN for creating it. 🙂

Sez xo

[startingnew]

Ahh thank you for explaing that Elizabeth. That is actually a good way to remember things, im a carer as well and often find that I cant remember what I done on a particuar day or why I didnt do something so that is a good suggestion.


I find goals handy too, I not long a go wrote out a few in both long and short term. Do you have long and short term goals too or how do you organise your goals ie daily, weekly




Sez, thats pretty special. What an amazing woman for doing that. Im glad it helped her and she seems like she enjoys her cooking and it got her through her dark times too.




Ok so what about progress over time?


Say since the start of this year until now or the end of the year. So through the course of the year.


Would that be to look back through your journal and weekly planning notes or what do you think the best way to check progress over a period of time?

thank you everyone for engaging here too 🙂

[Just Sara]

Hi SN;

I get what you're saying about your end of year assessment. That's a review of your treatment plan and will include assessing where you go from there. I used to take my journal into my psych and read from it, then discuss if it's relevant to my treatment plan.

A journal isn't a diary; that's more of a day to day, play by play of what's happened. Journals contain a diary's info plus our innermost thoughts and how we feel at the time, or even confessing stuff we don't feel confident in saying to others. We can write in it as many or as few times as we like. My intent was/is to find 'myself' and heal my mind.

It should ideally be a style that benefits your recovery which of course is very personal. The way I write might not suit everyone. In 20 odd yrs, I've filled around 18 journals. Some only have a few pages, and some have writing on the back cover due to running out of space.

About 8 yrs ago I decided to use A4 office style hard cover note books; optimum space for my rantings. I can write whatever I like including swear words or drawings which may not be viewed by others as 'appropriate'.

I 'speak' to myself, unless I have a bone to pick with someone and make it like a letter addressed to them. There are no rules except what you make for yourself.

Some of the most productive work I've done is a sort of 'automatic' writing style. I don't think or plan...I just write. After a sentence or two, words flow in a specific direction that seems to come from the subconscious. Very interesting stuff!

SN...I know you write very deep and extensive info about yourself on here, mainly alerting others to your pain or how you're feeling; you're reaching out for answers. A journal's reaching in. It makes us accountable for ourselves, helps to learn the art of self reliance and understanding who we are and why.

Using BB this way is obviously helping you to feel heard, acknowledged and connected to others. A journal is to feel these things 'with yourself'. If you do both, I'm sure you'll find a deeper connection to all in time. Then, assessing 'you' will be more beneficial.

You can fill it with poems, complaints, love, pain, disappointment, joy and anything that's 'you'. As you're sharing space with others, doing it on your laptop can supplement a book for now.

I hope this helps you understand better.

Warmth and kindness..

Sez xo

[startingnew]

ok thank you for explaing that. i just thought of a journal the same as a diary so thank you for explaining that better. makes more sense the way your talking now about it.

so journalling should be channelling on the inside, whatever is swirling around on the inside at the time im writing and expressing it well for me on my computer but others paper. more about connecting with myself rather than others? am i going in the right direction with this or am i missreading again?

[startingnew]

how do i just write my thoughts without the emotions?