Adapting Habitica for Anxiety and Depression

Caveat
The information contained on this website and HabitRPG.com is not intended as, and is not, a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice.

If you are feeling suicidal or are worried you might harm yourself or someone else, you should seek immediate help by doing one or more of the following:


 * 1) Going to your nearest emergency room or
 * 2) Calling a suicide hotline.

The national hotline in the US is 1-800-273-TALK (8255). A list of state-by-state numbers can be found here, and international numbers are available here. If you don't feel able to talk aloud about this, you can chat online with trained volunteers at I'm Alive, and if you aren't in immediate danger of acting on your thoughts, The Samaritans provide support from trained volunteers over email. If you don't feel ready to talk to anyone just yet, this page explains why your suicidal feelings aren't your fault, and don't make you a bad person.

How can HabitRPG help with mental health?
One of the hardest things about mental illness is that, no matter how talented and capable we are, depression or anxiety can make it very difficult to care for ourselves, or just to get through the basics of everyday life. You might be a literal rocket scientist and still have trouble remembering to take your medication. You might be able to juggle fifteen knives that are on fire, but feel like you can't even get out of bed. You might take care of the other people in your life, but not make time for things that make you happy. You might not be able to think of any things that make you happy!

Just like with any other task or habit, HabitRPG can provide extra support to help manage the things that seem unmanageable. Know that if your habits include things like "eat three meals a day," "shower like a normal person," "leave the house," or "think of something I like about myself," you're not alone. HabitRPG has many guilds for Habiteers to support each other, with many suggestions about how the site can be used to help you cope.

It's also important to note that strategies that prove helpful to some may not be helpful for all. Everyone's personal level of success with these methods will vary. Sometimes, there may be more than one strategy for a similar concept; the important thing is to remember that what works for one player may not be the right strategy for another player. Play to your strengths! (above stolen from Adapting HabitRPG for ADHD with slight modifications)

Guilds
''Not sure when or how, but we should definitely consult with these guilds about what should be on this page. After all, that's how the ADHD page got started.''
 * Mentally Ill: " For those of use suffering from mental illness and trying to develop better habits to deal with them."
 * The Black Ribbon: "We're a guild dedicated to suicide-prevention. If you need help because you are depressed or grieving and/or have had suicidal thoughts, have attempted suicide, inflicted self harm, or are afraid you may do any of these, or anything similar, please join. We will help each other to get over these things. You are NOT alone, and you shouldn't have to fight this alone. You'll have tools and tasks to help you fight your pain, and our complete support."
 * Anxiety Alliance: "Do you suffer from anxiety, either generally or in specific situations? You are not alone! Diagnosed, undiagnosed, chronic or occasional, all are welcome to a supportive environment where we can talk about our experiences and share techniques for relaxation and anxiety management. "
 * Therapy Homework: "Whether you're in therapy or not, you probably have some mental health goals you're working on. Therapy Homework is for people who want to work to manage mental health issues like depression or anxiety, as well as working on things like improving relationships with other people, getting motivated to do things you're afraid of, and other life goals."
 * Homebound: "For those of us who live somewhat isolated lives due to illnesses such as agoraphobia, anxiety, physical issues or other reasons such as lack of funds/transportation. No matter the reason, if you are stuck in a small isolated world this is the guild for you. We will have challenges revolving around making the most of our lives despite the small size of our environments and finding ways to safely expand our circle"
 * Mastering Buddha: "This is a guild for learning how to manage emotions. Whether you have anger problems, been emotionally abused, deal with chronic depression, or just want to learn how to control your emotions better, come join this guild! The psychology we'll be mainly using is DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) when it comes to challenges."

Challenges
This area is very much a work in progress, and will likely change content and organization multiple times in the near future.

When battling mental illness, it can be hard to figure out where to begin; it may be easier to modify others' methods than create your own from scratch. There are many challenges created by the denizens of Habitica for this very purpose. Below is a selection of these challenges to get you started.

Methodologies

 * The BACE Method of Self-Care "The BACE [Body, Achievement, Connect, Enjoy] method for self-care is designed to help reduce vulnerability to negative thoughts and feelings. By completing at least one thing from each category every day, you become better equipped to deal with your mental illness."
 * Caring for You "One of the hardest parts of mental illness can be all the self-loathing and doubt. One way to begin combating that is to show yourself a little love. It's not about ignoring your flaws and faults, but acknowledging your humanity and being alright with it. This challenge involves no "punishments", because this is purely about taking care of yourself and maybe even doing a little pampering (though you can add your own negatives if you feel it necessary). Everything is rated as "medium" on the difficulty scale because this is often an uphill battle."
 * Self-Harm Recovery "Trying to stop self harming can be difficult so this is a challenge to try to help make it a bit easier."
 * BFRB Beating "This challenge aims to aid those with body focused repetitive behaviours begin to overcome their BFRB. BFRBs include trichotillomania (hair pulling) and dermatillomania (also known as compulsive skin picking), as well as excessive nail and skin biting, which can include fingers, insides of cheeks, and lip chewing. These disorders are linked to OCD and can often be very isolating and distressing."

Health

 * 3 Meals a Day "Whether you're recovering from an eating disorder, dealing with the loss of appetite from a mood disorder, or have some other mental health roadblock related to your eating habits, striving towards 3 meals a day is a great start on the road to a healthier life!"

Other

 * The Happy List Challenge: "Make a list of ten things that make you happy - then do at least one thing on the list every day. There should be a focus on small, achievable things, but you can include some big ones as well. See if you can make at least half of them cost little to no money :)"
 * The Easiest Meditation in the World: "Breathe in as much air as you can using only your nostrils, it is imperative that you keep your mouth close, and hold your breath for 4 seconds (count 1 elephant, 2 elephant, 3 elephant, 4 elephant). Then exhale all the air through your nose all while keeping your mouth close, when all the air has been pushed out of your lungs, hold your breath for 4 seconds then inhale and repeat. Do this whenever you feel stressed to calm down. Give yourself a + for every set of inhale, exhale that you do."

Body Care

 * Exercise
 * Eat Healthy
 * Proper Sleep (or go to bed/wake up by X o'clock)

General Habits/Advice

 * Start with small changes/habits
 * Morning routine
 * Talk to someone close to you
 * Meditation

Ideas for more habits

 * We should include advice on how to break bad habits associated with depression and anxiety.
 * Not doing negative behaviors can be a positive habit. For example, if you have trouble with alcohol, not drinking might be a real victory, and something you can reward yourself for (instead of just punishing slip-ups).

HabitRPG wiki links

 * Adapting HabitRPG for ADHD
 * Burnout
 * Antidotes: Overcoming Obstacles
 * Sites that can help
 * Methodologies
 * Tips and Tricks