My Popsicle Stick Jar: Mental Health Toolkit

It’s an unfortunate truth that chronic illness and mental health issues go hand in hand. For me, an illness like chronic hives can be even more debilitating because I feel like there are so few people with the condition who truly understand the things I’m going through. It feels incredibly isolating.

I am no stranger to depression and anxiety, and along my journey, I’ve developed a few things that have really helped me cope. I’ve shared in a previous article that I use sewing as a coping skill and today I want to share with you another coping strategy I have.

Searching for ways to cope

A few years ago I was dealing with some really bad depression, to the point that I took a hiatus from my job and spent a few weeks doing intensive day treatment to help me cope. One of the things the program pushed was coping skills and developing strategies for dealing with negative thoughts when they do pop up.

One evening after class, I was contemplating all of my coping skills and wondering how I could best utilize them. There are lots of different tools I can use, but I sometimes find it difficult to reach for those tools when I’m in the throes of depression. It’s hard for me to think clearly past the swamp of feelings and emotions going through my head. So, I thought I would make my tools tangible. I gave them a place on the shelf that I could reach for when I needed something to distract me, and thus I developed my popsicle stick jar.

Chock full of coping strategies

I went to the store and grabbed myself a nice porcelain jar with a lid, and a bag of popsicle sticks. When I came home, I made a list of all of the healthy ways I can distract myself or occupy my mind that isn’t dwelling on negative thoughts and emotions. I like to work a lot with my hands, so I have things on my list like crochet, putting together a puzzle, playing with clay, or playing with dough. But there are also intangible things on my list, like calling a friend, writing a letter to my future self, and going to the movie theater. I put each of these coping skills on a popsicle stick and placed them in my jar.

Taking the guesswork out of it

Not only do I have a variety of things to choose from, but having them all written down removes the process of thinking through my coping skills when I need them. I have them all written down and easily accessible. All I have to do is reach into the jar and pull out a coping skill. It takes the guesswork out of it, takes the critical thinking out of it, and makes abstract skills tangible.

I keep things like puzzles and clay on hand all the time to make sure that I have them ready if I ever need them. It’s been a few years since I created my jar. I should probably go through it and update some things, remove some that are no longer relevant, and brainstorm some new ideas.

If you had a popsicle stick jar, what kind of activities would you have on each stick? Let us know in the comments.