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Many people exert their minds in order to get things accomplished--things they feel they must do. Some, after a day's work, will hit the alcohol to get a buzz and let off some steam. However, most mentally ill people should not drink any alcohol, because it has a bad, in fact, sometimes deadly interaction with psychiatric medication. And, relying on booze to relax is probably not the best way to go. 

I sometimes rest my mind by creating happy thoughts and writing them down. Or, I let my mind go into a fantasy of being a millionaire, or perhaps the President. In real life, if I became President, I'd resign before completing the first day. That is, assuming I even got as far as the inauguration--doubtful. (But that scenario could be a fantasy as well.) 

So, I have a vivid fantasy life. That's my current form of getting mental rest. If I played ping-pong with someone, or if I hiked at a reservoir, it'd be better. 

I don't remember what year it was or how old I was when an art instructor said that the schools were cutting all the programs that could relax the minds of students. That visit seems timeless, because it stands out, partly in how I do not remember what age I was, whether I was in Southern California or the Bay Area, or any of the other circumstances of my life at the time. 

Relaxing the mind has value. It doesn't mix well with a crisis. Usually, if we feel threatened by something or someone, it will not be possible to rest the mind. Yet, I think about this, and I think that my mind finds little ways to play games with itself that give some relief. 

The human psyche has self-protection mechanisms. Sometimes these mechanisms, when they are left over from a situation that no longer exists, become a problem of their own. 

If a person has a psychotic type illness, psychotic symptoms could be seen as a method of escape from facing hard difficulties. That could be one reason why many psychotic people find it so difficult to let go of their delusions. When we do go into psychosis as escapism, it ruins consciousness and makes us go farther into "decompensation." (I hate that word even though I'm using it.) 

As a teen and young adult, I was in the habit of doodling. I'd come up with some very bizarre doodles, usually on notebook paper with pen and ink. It was a better form of art than group directed arts and crafts in the context of mental health treatment. 

With current world events, the need to sometimes relax the mind is more applicable now than it ever was. You can't work frantically 24/7 for months at a time (such as if you are a nurse on the front lines) and expect to come out of that mentally intact. And if you are a Coronavirus patient, for example, if you had a severe case that necessitated a ventilator, the level of suffering is unfathomable to me. To rehabilitate people whose psyche's will inevitably become damaged by either of the above, people will probably need to do a lot of fun, distracting, simple things. 

This is equivalent to WWIII, except that the enemy is not a country, it is a pathogen. And, just as in other world wars, the front-line veterans who take the brunt of the fight are the bravest, and the most likely to become a casualty. If we can rid ourselves of this horrible disease, the aftermath will be like the aftermath of other wars--people and economies will need to recover over a long period of time. 

And, part of this recovery needs to be relaxing the mind, with a hike around a reservoir or a game of badminton.