How do you manage your mental health with RA?

I'm getting pretty close to "remission." But my mental health is still not back to normal.... but I use this each morning. The morning sun hits our front porch. My Dear wife, our pet and I will go out at 9:30, with our coffee and toast. We'll sit there for 30 minutes each day, feeling the warmth of the sun's rays on our face, enjoying the bird songs, seeing the breeze flutter in the trees. Often, we'll not talk, especially if there is a lot of bird activity. But when we do talk, we'll discuss our plans for the day, peek at the weather forecast for the week, and consider our grocery needs. We've learned NOT to discuss politics because it now turns our peaceful morning into bile. Note that we'll repeat this same activity in the afternoon, on the back porch... unless the wind is blowing too hard and cold. So we'll sit inside, looking at the lake which is our weather gage. Waves rolling north, wind from the south, etc. I've included our typical sunset. This is from Vermont looking across the lake towards NY.

i feel strongly that the best way to manage one's mental health with RA is with distraction. i have a bunch of creative obsessions. i draw, sew, sort of crochet, and am learning how to paint. i also love to read. i'm addicted to jigsaw puzzles. i exercise. when a person has a lot of interests there isn't time to worry about pain and fatigue. even with my severe RA, and fatigue that i call the monster, as well as eight other chronic illnesses, there is always something i can do to distract myself and feel like i'm not wasting my life.

i also think companion animals keep me from being too focused on myself. i have five cats who are the loves of my life. they don't judge. they don't care how disabled i am. when RA robs me of my voice, they don't care i have to whisper.

i'm home 99% of the time. the pandemic is over for most people, but not for me. my doctors ordered me not to receive any vaccines. so when i go out, i wear my mask. unfortunately i find it better if i don't go out and risk any disease. i have lost friends because of this. however, my mental health has not suffered. i know what is best for me, and i carry on with all the optimism in the universe.

having a strong faith in a higher power can also help. i can't get to church as often as i'd like, but i know where my spiritual foundation is. i remember, too, never to ask why all this happened to me. the bigger question is always why not? why wouldn't this happen to me? illnesses strike anyone. it's nothing personal 😀

Yes, distractions. I wrote. I just finished two pieces, an Excel model to build business projections and a 13-page piece on the Holy Spirit. Now I am starting a piece on chemical and electrochemical oxidation. The other might, pain was out of control. I sat down and wrote on Business Plan models. While writing, I forgot about the pain. When I stopped writing, within 15 minutes, I was walking bent over. I went back to writing and pain went back on the shelf.
And yes, my buddies…three dogs.

I manage my mental health by helping others and doing mindfulness and meditations. I have a very good friend who is trained in mental health and is helping me understand and work out what's happened and helping me to understand it all.