What do you do for mental health?

[Elgee]

Is this something any of you think about, and or do something about?

 

It's not something that's ever really been in my lexicon, but long story short I've been going through a tough phase mentally and emotionally. I haven't even wanted to be on DM, even though I want to be on DM. Can't explain that contradiction, really. My world has just grown more insular by the day. Classic burnout / depression, I suppose?

 

Anyhoo, I've always loved artwork and pictures, and I'm sure most of you are aware that I love posting pretty pictures at the various sections of the WT/W.

Lately I've been messing around with an AI app type thing called Smile (don't hate me, Cross). I've found it soothing and even energising mentally.

Never really thought about it but there was mention on the radio news of some tennis player who took a 2 year mental health break and then it dawned on me - that is what I do for mental health. I withdraw from everything except 1 or 2 things that bring me pleasure. That helps me to ride the wave until I come out at the top again. It also dawned on me that I should stop feeling bad and guilty about this. If it's necessary for other people to take mental health breaks, then why not for me?

 

So ... who can relate?

[Elgee]

Also, I will start flooding the WT/W with the results of my latest project soon 😛

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

I think it is fantastic that you take care of yourself. Everyone needs periods where they recharge the batteries so to speak. 

 

I kinda wish I had something similar. I just find myself withdrawing and then getting to a place where I cannot concentrate on or enjoy what I am doing as it is not productive enough, or well enough done, or I don't take it seriously enough, or I spend too long on it, or I'm not being friendly enough, or being too clingy; preferably where I can beat myself up for being too much or too little and bonus points for being able to do both. 

 

Then eventually I get enough rest and fed up enough of my own **** that I get out of the pit I was in. I'd love to be productive in there, like write a novel while tripping like Hunter S Thomson, but as of yet I most do stupid stuff because I'm too busy to start anything or too tired to commit to anything but have hours to read comment sections on the Internet. 

 

So in short, even though I'm fantastically bad at it, I fully support and encourage people to take time to look after themselves. 

[Cairos]

I can totally relate too especially in my line of work. I have seen births and also seen tons of death. For me, I usually play video games, read manga/watch anime, and talk to my husband. I also have some close friends that I can talk to about things. I know some people go to therapy to help with depression and burnout. 

 

I am also here if anybody need to talk or vent. I am here with an open ear and a good listener as well. 

[Delenn]

I can completely relate to this. I also tend to shut the world out and even my closest friends will start to loose touch. I would love to say when I withdraw I am doing something productive but honestly I think I just shut down. And that is at the best of times. I think it has something to do with my adrenal disease. When I get stressed it also shuts my body down, so I become poorly as well. Not always in an identifiable way, but more subtle things like not being able to eat and sleeping almost constantly to the point of being unable to wake up. These are of course signs I am heading towards an Adrenal Crises and need additional doses of my medicine but I often don't see what is happening unless some one intervenes. 

 

I have had steady friends over the years that have helped to pull me out and eventually I realized that I needed to be sure to maintain my friendships, as they were the only things that seem to counter act it. It's why I returned to DM after so many years away. The connections and playing about on the boards, the deeper, more thoughtful conversations we have here together remind me of who I am as a person. It's a bit ironic that the very thing that tends to help me is the very thing I pull away from but the energy just stops being there. 

 

I am also not much of an abreactor. Challenging me won't get a response. But if something or some I love or care about is hurting or being hurt I will set aside everything to try and fight for them. Unfortunately, even that will exhaust me physically again until I just don't have it in me to even do that sometimes. I have come to the idea that I have to have some sort of support network that helps me feel alive again and then I start looking for fragments of who I had been prior to the depression starting (usually started by an event or series of events). Then when I find them, I try to start putting the pieces of whats left of the person I remember back in place. 🤍❄️

Edited April 26 by Delenn

[Cross]

Throughout my life art has been the constant space in which I’ve been able to deal, to process. Expressing feelings into pages, letting my line work speak the words I can’t. For a time even that had been taken from me. That joy and release because I’d been made to feel inadequate, lacking. And perhaps unironically my skill had dropped in tune with my mental state. Something I hadn’t realized until I began to miss it. Began to miss the confidence I had before. 
 

drawing, still provides part of my mental therapy, though more so for me, it’s storytelling. Writing, sequential art, expressing what I bottle up vicariously. I cant tell you how many times I’ve cried over my paper because what I was drawing allowed me to feel, allowed me to open that dam. The space between my hand, pencil and paper is sacred to me. 
 

aside from that, especially in recent years, I’ve come to cherish what few close friends I’ve kept through the years. My sister, my best friend, my cousin and my church family. People who genuinely care for me. (Which I still struggle with. Believing that people genuinely care) but I’m learning to lean on that, and open up to them more. It’s been a wealth for my mental health and strength. Privately also I’ve found that if I neglect my prayer life, my mental health begins to suffer. I need those quiet moments alone with God. 
 

also i make a point to spend one 24 hour period a week to not work. To disengage from that aspect of life and let my brain refresh
 

oh also…my dog. Stupid awesome for my mental health. 

[Wayward_fool]

I sleep. And eat. And try to enjoy the moment as much as I can. Life is short and it's been fully reminding me of this fact. So I try to keep it present and mindful. Otherwise, listening to music always helps.

 

Also, when I can, DM.

[LilyElizabeth]

I happen to teach a class on self-care, if anyone is interested, I can try to run it here. 

 

For me, it's music (my commute to work is sacred - don't interrupt my music time), playing on DM, playing Sims, time with my furbabies, and my therapy, but therapy is more challenging to me. 

 

Edit - I forgot the most soothing thing to me - spending time with my family. 

[Cross]

40 minutes ago, LilyElizabeth said:

I happen to teach a class on self-care, if anyone is interested, I can try to run it here. 

 

 

1000%!

 

be a good thing to do in the yellows!

[LilyElizabeth]

I'll see what I can do. It's all on Word docs right now.

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

1 hour ago, LilyElizabeth said:

I'll see what I can do. It's all on Word docs right now.

Well if you need any help don't forget about your friendly neighbourhood aspie 🙂

 

I'm told I have a deft touch with boring menial tasks 🙂

 

[LilyElizabeth]

Thanks, Heavy!

[gigglemonkey]

On the advice of my Dad, I've started meditating for about 15 minutes a day before I go to bed, it usually works. I get a good nights sleep and don't get bogged down in obsessive thoughts about things in the past I can't change (I still obsess a little but less than I used to) or things in the future which haven't, and may never, happen.

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

1 hour ago, gigglemonkey said:

On the advice of my Dad, I've started meditating for about 15 minutes a day before I go to bed, it usually works. I get a good nights sleep and don't get bogged down in obsessive thoughts about things in the past I can't change (I still obsess a little but less than I used to) or things in the future which haven't, and may never, happen.

 

Meditating is something I always mean to get into. I took part in a trial for mindfulness as treatment for ADD but I never really got into the habit. 

 

My brother also said it is the thing that has helped him most with his chronic physical problems that no doctor can diagnose since he was knocked off his bike and suffered back injuries.

 

It is just... stopping thinking. My brain views such new-fangled nonsense with suspicion. But it is is prepared to think about it, lol.

[Wayward_fool]

I have a different way of meditating. Instead of clearing my mind and trying to not think of anything (which is as good as telling me not to think about a pink elephant), I take whatever thoughts come into my mind and learn to recognise it, set it aside and move on. Basically not focus on it in an irrelevant way, I do that before I sleep, just to let it wash over me and then file it into a corner. It also helps if you can focus on your breath and a point slightly above your navel.

 

But I never manage to do it for long. After a while my mind starts to wander again. Usually in a very disturbing and slightly worrying direction.

[HeavyHalfMoonBlade]

51 minutes ago, Wayward_fool said:

I have a different way of meditating. Instead of clearing my mind and trying to not think of anything (which is as good as telling me not to think about a pink elephant), I take whatever thoughts come into my mind and learn to recognise it, set it aside and move on. Basically not focus on it in an irrelevant way, I do that before I sleep, just to let it wash over me and then file it into a corner. It also helps if you can focus on your breath and a point slightly above your navel.

 

But I never manage to do it for long. After a while my mind starts to wander again. Usually in a very disturbing and slightly worrying direction.

Good advice 🙂

[Cross]

6 hours ago, Wayward_fool said:

I have a different way of meditating. Instead of clearing my mind and trying to not think of anything (which is as good as telling me not to think about a pink elephant), I take whatever thoughts come into my mind and learn to recognise it, set it aside and move on. Basically not focus on it in an irrelevant way, I do that before I sleep, just to let it wash over me and then file it into a corner. It also helps if you can focus on your breath and a point slightly above your navel.

 

 

that is actually the way in which you're supposed to meditate. its not about emptying your mind of all thoughts, but being able to recognize and dismiss them. 

[Elgee]

Feed them into the Flame?

 

I want to thank you all for sharing here. It really is such an amazing realisation that there are other people whom I love (y'all) who are going through similar things.

 

Lily, I think it would be awesome if you could share that with us and at the Yellows, as Cross suggested 🙂

[Elgee]

On 4/26/2024 at 7:32 AM, Delenn said:

I have had steady friends over the years that have helped to pull me out and eventually I realized that I needed to be sure to maintain my friendships, as they were the only things that seem to counter act it. It's why I returned to DM after so many years away. The connections and playing about on the boards, the deeper, more thoughtful conversations we have here together remind me of who I am as a person. It's a bit ironic that the very thing that tends to help me is the very thing I pull away from but the energy just stops being there. 

 

This. So much, this.

[Elgee]

This is the thread I made about my picture obsession / therapy:

 

[LilyElizabeth]

I emailed my self-care class to my home computer, and I will start figuring out how to post it (probably just c&p) while I'm recovering from surgery and have nothing to do. 

[LilyElizabeth]

13 hours ago, LilyElizabeth said:

I emailed my self-care class to my home computer, and I will start figuring out how to post it (probably just c&p) while I'm recovering from surgery and have nothing to do. 

 

Lesson 1 went up today. I know the author of the book this is based on (Dr. Gloriana Hunter) and she taught the class in its entirety to behavioral health professionals, then gave us permission to use any part of it with our clients. I created 8 lessons from parts of the larger work. 

[Elgee]

Thank you, @LilyElizabeth!