Three Tips for Living with ADHD and Depression

Hey friends! Exactly one year ago today, I posted up a storytime video on my YouTube about how I became diagnosed with ADHD and Bipolar II. I didn't think it would get such a positive response but it has actually turned out to be my most viewed and engaged video in awhile! Check it out below:

I am so grateful for all the love that video has gotten that I've decided to follow up with some tips I've used to help my own ADHD and Depression this past year. Without further adieu, here are my three tips!

1.) EAT BETTER

Although it may be hard to fight stress or comfort eating when depressed, or fight the temptation with ADHD, I really felt a major change after deciding to change my diet. When I hit rock bottom last year, I decided to ask the almighty Google what diet would be best and after much research, the Keto Diet is what kept popping up the most.

At the time that I decided to give Keto a shot, I was desperate for anything as medical help was not a viable option. I had no health insurance except for MediCal and the appointment I had set was too far into the future. Eating was something I had to do and could easily change. 

I started my strict keto journey in July 2018 for 3 whole months and quit all "bad" foods cold turkey. When the Holidays hit, I admittedly fell off and noticed the difference entirely. I now follow a loose Keto/Flexible Dieting technique in tandem with Intermittent Fasting and it has still kept me pretty stable. Watching what I eat in general has really helped me to understand how I react to certain foods and be more conscious of what I'm putting into my body.

Aside from some scientific, biological reasons why keto is recommended for bipolar (that I may go more in depth with in another blog, but not today) the main reason why I think it's helped me out so much is how it changed my mindset.

Being on keto made me appreciate what I could eat vs. what I couldn't eat. Having this mindset helped me to apply this in all aspects of life which leads us to my second tip:

2.) LOOK BETTER

No I don't mean physically, although Keto will help you lose a bit of weight if that's a goal of yours, however I meant to look at the positive side to things. At the end of 2018, I found Esther Hicks aka Abraham Hicks who taught me that every subject is two subjects: The wanted and the unwanted. Most of us who are depressed tend to look at the opposite end of the stick that is all about the unwanted. We don't look for what could potentially make us happy because we are too fixated on what isn't making us happy. Most of the time, we don't even know what would make us happy because we don't give ourselves the space to think about it. Once I started looking at all the things I didn't want and looked at the opposite end of it, I was able to identify the things that would make me happy and come up with a game plan on how to get it.

I became more solution oriented. I stopped looking at the problems and started looking for the solutions. Anytime something bad would happen, I would look at the lessons I am able to learn from it and find the good in anything and everything. It was definitely difficult in the beginning but like everything else, it takes practice. 

3.) LEARN & LOVE YOURSELF

Before I could start the work needed to improve myself, I had to learn my triggers, my shortcomings, my downfalls and be open to admitting to these things that I would normally loathe. Instead of using them as an excuse to be a miserable human being, I used them to study why I was this way and how I could get to the opposite end of it. 

For example, I always lose my keys, my phone, wallet, and pretty much everything else I own. I used to get so frustrated with myself and replay a slew of negative comments out loud as well as in my head every time I would misplace something. I've since found a few solutions to this, such as getting into the habit of putting things in the same place. Organizing everything to have a home. Putting Tile on everything. You name it. I also try not to get mad if my methods don't always work. I just look at it as an opportunity to find a better solution. 

We should be constantly evolving anyway and the only way to do that is to make mistakes and learn from them. Don't compare yourself to anyone but you. Doing this helped me to be less harsh on myself and help myself out along the way.

I've summarized these tips in my Mental Heath Update video below. Check it out!