Inspired by work people have done on madness maps and mental health first aid kits, I decided to make a checklist/flowchart to use when I am having a particularly hard time or am in crisis. It was a good process for me to make because it helped me to really think about what has helped me or caused me trouble in the past. I really like that we can make these sorts of tools for ourselves instead of relying on more general (often judgmental) dos and don’ts or advice from people who never know us as well as we know ourselves.

Tags: anxiety, art, BDSM, beauty, body, checklists, comfort, counseling, crisis, crisis checklist, depression, eating, emotions, enjoyment, exercise, fear, flowcharts, friends, games, hormones, hunger, hypnotic, illness, injury, insomnia, isolation, journaling, laundry, loneliness, madness map, madness maps, manageability, massage, medication, meditation, mental health, mental health first aid kits, messy apartments, misanthropy, museums, music, pain, painkillers, panic, parks, pets, projects, psych meds, psychiatrists, QueerMentalHealth.org, responsibility, rest, restlessness, self-fear, self-harm, self-help, self-help books, sex, showering, sleep, sleeping environment, snacks, social activities, stair climbing, stress, supplements, support groups, symptoms, task management, tea, The Icarus Project, therapists, therapy, tools, vulnerability, withdrawal, yoga

HALT: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. You should never make any important decision when you are any of these things.

Tags: Against Me!, alcohol, ambien, anger, angry, asking for help, blame, burnout, CBT, clarity, clearheadedness, confusion, critical thinking, decision making, depression, drugs, emotions, friends, HALT, hunger, hungry, Laura Jane Grace, logic, loneliness, lonely, prevention, rash decisions, sedatives, self-blame, self-harm, self-injury, sleep, sleep apnea, sleep deprivation, Snickers, stop, suicidal thoughts, suicide, support, tired, tiredness, transgender, Yoda