By Rachel Kelly
 
Whether you battle with depression or simply need the tools to deal with life’s everyday stresses, writer Rachel Kelly’s sanity-saving tips will help.
 

 
As someone who has suffered two breakdowns and battled with depression, you might wonder at my offering guidance on how to stay sane. But it is precisely because I have known the deep anguish of several depressive episodes that I have spent the best part of a decade devising strategies to keep well. I now believe I have my ‘black dog’ on a firm lead. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I have moments of despair, but I’ve never revisited the kind of severe depression that saw me hospitalised and considering suicide.
 
Recovery has required resilience and old-fashioned hard work – not to mention two psychiatrists, several GPs, three therapists and numerous psychological courses. But I’ve left no stone unturned in developing my own strategies, too. Why shouldn’t those susceptible to mental ill-health attempt to learn to look after themselves?
 
I routinely practise these guidelines, but never more so than when I feel that depression is returning. The first clue is insomnia – now I am alert should I have trouble dropping off, staying asleep or a tendency to wake early. The second is when instead of moving on from life’s vicissitudes, I begin to obsess. Such obsessive thoughts, if unchecked, can become catastrophic. And thirdly, physical signs appear: a racing heart, breathlessness and feeling sick. Then I know it’s time for my stay-sane tips.