When living with a mental illness or brain disorder, you can be so relieved when you are doing better that you can forget, or prefer to ignore, that you may struggle with your mental health sometime in the future. I certainly made that mistake many times. Eventually, I learned that relatively good mental health periods can be valuable because you can make plans and share them with your caregiver if you have one, in case you fall ill again or begin to do so.
In my case, a relapse of my schizophrenia is preceded by some red flags that I have learned to take seriously. Stress is one red flag and can be brought on by too much excitement or even good news, just as it can be by bad news. I combat the stress by slowing down as much as possible, meditating, and indulging in activities I like and find restful, like playing the piano. I have a list of red flags and a list of activities that seem to alleviate them. Taking on too much of the wrong type of activity has, in the past, helped to pull me down. By taking a look, when you are doing better at what helps to make you sick, you can enhance your arsenal of tools to stay in better health.