PRACTICAL GUIDE · EVIDENCE-INFORMED
MENTAL
HEALTH
A guide for moving through difficult days with more information, fewer ready-made promises, and possible next steps.
For reading, reflection, and conversations with qualified professionals. It is not a diagnosis, consultation, prescription, or individualized treatment.
NON-LINEAR READING
CHOOSE A
PLACE TO BEGIN.
You do not have to read everything at once. Come back when it makes sense.
SECTION 01
THE BASICS
MATTER.
Mental health is not a performance task. Still, some everyday conditions give the brain and body a slightly steadier ground for dealing with stress, sadness, and anxiety.
Start with what is possible this week, without turning care for yourself into another demand.
Sleep
Notice timing, quality, and regularity. Needs vary; there is no universal eight-hour rule.
Movement
Walking, stretching, dancing, or an activity that fits the day can support mood and stress.
Connection
An honest conversation with someone trustworthy can be more useful than explaining everything to everyone.
Routine
Choose two or three anchors: waking, eating, bathing, daylight, or closing the workday.
Alcohol and drugs
They can worsen sleep, anxiety, mood, and impulsivity, and interact with medication. If this worries you, seek support.
Sometimes the basics are not enough. Inequality, violence, grief, pain, illness, discrimination, and overload are part of the story too.
SECTION 02
IF ANXIETY
HAS RISEN NOW.
The immediate goal is not to eliminate every sensation. It is to reduce the escalation enough to recover some choice.
SLOW THE PACE
Stop, place your feet, and name what is happening. If you can, reduce noise and decisions for a few minutes.
BREATHE MORE SLOWLY
Try a comfortable exhalation a little longer than the inhalation. Do not force it or count if that increases tension.
REDUCE STIMULANTS
Caffeine, nicotine, and some substances can feed tremor, alertness, and insomnia. Observe your pattern without blame.
DO NOT BUILD LIFE AROUND AVOIDANCE
Avoiding everything may help now and narrow life later. Gradual, planned, supported re-approaches are part of CBT.
NOTICE THE IMPACT
Note intensity, duration, triggers, and what you stopped doing. The impact on life helps decide the next step.
SEEK AN ASSESSMENT
If anxiety persists, returns often, or limits your life, speak with a professional. CBT is an evidence-informed approach.
CBT means cognitive behavioral therapy. It works with the relationship between situations, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors through defined goals and collaboration.
SECTION 03
WHEN
EVERYTHING
FEELS HEAVIER.
Low mood can appear as sadness, irritation, emptiness, tiredness, or loss of interest. The label matters less than noticing the pattern and its effect on your life.
- — less pleasure in things that used to matter;
- — different energy, concentration, or pace;
- — changes in sleep or appetite;
- — guilt, hopelessness, or isolation;
PAY ATTENTION
If you feel like dying, harming yourself, or harming someone else, seek urgent help now. Do not stay alone. Use the contacts in section 08.
SECTION 04
SLEEP IS
NOT A DETAIL.
Use this list for observation, not as a performance score.
The amount of sleep needed varies across people and stages of life. Focus, mood, energy, and daytime functioning are clues too.
SECTION 05
MOVING YOUR BODY
CAN ALSO CARE
FOR THE MIND.
The body is not a project to fix. Regular movement can support sleep, mood, and energy — including in small doses.
It is not a cure, does not replace treatment, and does not have to be intense to matter. Pain, limitation, or a health condition call for individual guidance.
START WITH WHAT IS POSSIBLE
- Five minutes. Walk to the corner, stretch while water boils, or play a song.
- With company. Invite someone for a short walk without turning the meeting into a workout.
- With repetition. Choose a time already present in your routine instead of waiting for perfect motivation.
- With adaptation. Sitting, in water, at home, or with pauses: accessibility is care too.
SECTION 06
IT DOES NOT
HAVE TO BE
MANY PEOPLE.
A support network can begin with three people — not necessarily the closest ones, but people who can listen, check in, and act with you.
Names stay only in this page while it is open. The guide does not send or store this information.
SECTION 07
IMMEDIATE RELIEF
IS NOT THE SAME
AS TREATMENT.
Alcohol and other drugs can soften a feeling for a while, but can also worsen anxiety, mood, sleep, impulsivity, and dependence. Mixing substances or stopping something abruptly can be dangerous.
ABOUT MEDICATION AND SUPPLEMENTS
Do not start, stop, or change medication without speaking with the professional who supports you. Supplements are not automatically safe or effective: they can interact with medicines and evidence varies.
If you use a substance to sleep, function, or not feel, that is important information to bring to an assessment — without shame and without moralism.
SECTION 08
DO NOT WAIT
FOR LIFE TO STOP.
You can seek care before reaching the limit. An assessment is not a sentence: it is a conversation to understand what is happening and agree on paths.
CONSIDER AN ASSESSMENT WHEN
- symptoms last, return, or become more intense;
- sleep, work, study, self-care, or relationships are affected;
- you are avoiding important places and activities;
- alcohol, drugs, or medication have become a concern;
- you want to understand better what you are feeling.
SEEK URGENT HELP
- there is immediate risk that you may harm yourself or someone else;
- there is a plan, access to means, or you cannot keep yourself safe;
- there is intense confusion, loss of contact with reality, intoxication, or severe withdrawal;
- a medical situation requires care now.
In Brazil: SAMU 192. Emotional support and suicide prevention: CVV 188. In immediate danger, go to a UPA or emergency service and call someone you trust.
SECTION 09
WHAT TREATMENT
REALLY IS.
Treatment begins with assessment and shared decision-making. The path depends on symptoms, history, preferences, risks, and available access.
PSYCHOTHERAPY / CBT
Structured conversations to understand patterns and practice change. CBT is one evidence-informed approach for anxiety and depression.
MEDICATION
It may be appropriate in some cases, always with prescription, follow-up, review of effects, and attention to interactions.
COMBINATION
For some people, psychotherapy and medication together make sense. The choice should be reviewed over time.
SECTION 10
7 DAYS TO
OBSERVE
YOUR ROUTINE.
Not a test. A short record to bring to your own reading or a care conversation.
SECTION 11
Remember
Remember: you do not have to reach the limit to deserve care.
A small change counts. Asking for company counts. Booking an assessment counts. When there is risk, asking for urgent help is protection — not failure.
SECTION 12
SOURCES AND
REFERENCES.
These references guide the page; they do not replace reading the full guidelines.
- WHOMental health — overview from the World Health Organization
- NICE NG222Depression in adults: treatment and management
- NICE CG113Generalised anxiety disorder and panic disorder in adults
- NICE CG115Alcohol-use disorders: diagnosis and management
- WHOPhysical activity — movement and health across the life course
- BRAZILMinistry of Health — mental health
SECTION 13
EDITORIAL REVIEW
Reviewed in August 2026. Next review: to be scheduled.
Guidelines and contexts change. This guide should be updated when a new editorial review is scheduled.
14 · CHANGE THE SUBJECT FOR A FEW MINUTES
A PAUSE CAN ALSO BE A CHANGE OF SCENERY
Not every break has to keep talking about mental health. Sometimes it is worth leaving the subject for a few minutes and entering another story.
O Código dos Ecos takes the reader to Aetheria, a world rebuilt after the Collapse, where survival depends on memory, records, choices, and the rules created to avoid repeating the same mistakes.