What helps besides medication?

I think mental illness should come with a toolbox. A toolbox that helps you survive your conditions on the daily with softness and yes, discipline. I received therapy for my conditions, so I'll try to help gather on this page what I find useful or not.

PLEASE, keep in mind that I'm basing these on my experiences only and that if we share similar traits, you might find what I posted useful. Otherwise, please refrain from doing whatever you might not feel safe for you just because we happen to share the same condition. Everyone is different, remember!

AUTISM

Autism is annoying. It comes into many shapes and forms, and mine are not pretty. I have violent outbursts if I'm pushed to the limits, also known as autism meltdowns, and these tend to happen often in crowded spaces and public places like transportation. What are the solutions I've found to live with autism better? Let's see!

OUTSIDE OVERSTIMULATION: This thing can happen a lot. If there's too many people, or people around me, or behind me in the street (especially if they're loud or smoke), it enrages me. What helps is whenever someone I trust is with me, and acts a shield or an emotional support. I've also found that sitting in public transportation rather than staying on my feet also helps. I feel bad whenever I "steal" a seat, but if I don't, the consequences might be dire. Playing a game on my phone, or listening to a Youtube video helps me turn my focus towards something else. I also try to breath slowly, and close my eyes a bit. Sadly, there's not much I can do about people living their lives, so I'm trying to adapt the best I can. A little caffeine helps, too, like a coke or coffee, for some reason. I'm taking antipsycotics to regulate these outbursts.

WEIGHTED BLANKET: Like many autistic people, I love deep pressure and compression. I love hugs and being touched (with my consent), as well as feeling all cozy. I have two weighted blankets, and they do wonders for my mood and calm. Putting them on my body feels like a big hug, and the feeling is truly heavenly and can appease me whenever I've had a stressful day.

FOOD: I do not have the pickiness other autistic people have regarding food. I'm not much of a picky eater, but some triggers include: raw meat touching the raw meat of another species (like, if raw chicken is touching raw beef), dirty plates piling up (URGH, my most irrational trigger), and industrial chicken. The taste of industrial chicken without any seasoning is awful to me. Other than that, I'm definitely a big eater and love most food, including the ones with weird textures. I'm a food adventurer!

OTHER SENSES: I hate bright, white lights, so I often wear sunglasses inside malls. Speaking of which, I hate malls and conventions. Too many people, smells, and stimulation! I try to build some resistance to it, but most of the time I just do a list of things I wanna buy and only focus on these then I leave. I have an impressive sense of smell, and I can recognize my friends and colleagues by their smell only. So as you may imagine, perfumery is my personal hell. I can get bad headaches with smells that are too potent. Loud noises are also a no-no, like the sound of a gun or a crowd, but I love thunderstorms and fireworks.

ROUTINES: I have a very strong sense of routine and I deeply hate when plans change or if I don't know how things will go in advance. I've learned to become more adaptable as time goes by, but it's one of the things that can make me feel a bit cranky if made at random, or more rarely make me have a meltdown. So I've told my close ones to describe me precisely how things are supposed to go, and this technique seems to appease me. So yep, not a fan of brutal changes of plans, but some are unfortunately impossible to change so for these I try to let go as much as I can.

SOCIAL CUES: I've good pretty solid social cues, but I'm also a deeply honest and sometimes oblivious person.