That is what my therapist told me. He said I had the tools now to handle life, and the nasty tricks my brain plays on me. I hope he is right, because I can tell I am headed towards a rough patch.
Funny how quickly my brain can turn on me. Just a few days ago, I was filled with joy and happiness, galivanting through France. I celebrated my birthday by feeling bone-deep gratitude for my life and my friends and family. Just 3 sleeps ago, I spent a sunny day at the pool watching a bunch of 4 year olds and their silly shenanigans (seriously? how do children do it? They found HOURS of fun running around a fountain and playing with foam toys in a foot of water!) and I thought my heart would burst with the simple sweetness of it all.
And then the reality of my life kicked in. Anxious about my performance at my job, feeling swamped like I can’t successfully tread water, always getting sucked down by deep currents of a work-flow I can’t keep up with but ought to be able to. I clench my Ritalin bottle, and pray those pills do their magic, and wonder why they don’t – maybe I am stupid, afterall. My room is a mess. My dating life is “interesting”. I feel my personal life start to slip out from under me – too many important errands that I can’t seem to get to, anxiety piling up like the piles of unfolded clothes on my bed. The aftermath of Brexit, the horrors of Trump’s utterances, Turkey. No happy puff pieces in the news – only pics of Kim Kardashian’s cleavage. I used to pride myself on appreciating the simple moments in life, like those kids playing in the pool, but its been 3 days and I can’t see any happiness anywhere. Worse, when I look at little videos of those children playing, the same videos that made me so happy a few days ago, I am filled with apprehension of how badly our planet, with its all its problems, will wreck those childrens’ lives. Talk about a flip-flop in world-view!
I recognize the signs – my is brain throwing all the colorful filters out the window, and drenching everything in shades of grey and anxiety.
So I look into my tool box:
- Ritalin. To regulate my concentration, and impulse control. It isn’t working, or else the side-effect of increased anxiety is undoing any impact on my ADD.
- Exercise. My therapist told me to never go more than 2 days without exercising – to view it as seriously as medication, that without it I would eventually need to medicate my brain’s inability to keep my emotions in check. Funny that when I need exercise the most, I feel like doing it the least. I get paralyzed by all that I have to do at work, and working out feels like a vanity. I blink, and 3 hours have gone by with nothing to show for it other than crippling anxiety about my unproductivity, and I stay late at the office to try make up for it, and skip my workout.
- Diet. A well regulated diet, without too much sugar, helps keep my mood swings at bay. Like any female, anywhere, when I am emotional, I live off of bread, chocolate, and alcohol. Not because that is healthy, but because my soul demands it in exchange for not burning the world to the ground.
- Friends. When I get into my funk, the last thing I want to do is to inflict my moodiness on any of my friends – besides, they are all so busy with their lives, they don’t have time for this.
- Writing. I have writer’s block.
- Sleep. Anxiety takes care of that, real good. I flip-flop between insomnia and overwhelming fatigue, and needing 12 hours a night.
My tool box looks feeble. I wish it looked like Batman’s bat cave.
So I am going to knuckle down, and make a list, and do breathing exercises to stop myself from crying at the sheer length of it. And then I am going to tackle one thing at a time. I will go exercise one hour a day, even when I don’t want to. I’ll eat a veggie or two. And I will pray that this will pass.
#mentalhealthisajoke
#Iwontcryatmydesk
#Oreattoomuchchocolate
#thatlastoneisalie
Discovering ratchet 
Sounds like your therapist has great suggestions. I got to thinking about my own anxiety, and there is one thing missing from my life that I never realized was a cure – exercise.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is essential. Sometimes it is the only thing that gets me through the day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m sitting here shaking my head, because I know it works but I had stopped and now it stresses me thinking about doing it again…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahaha, i see your brain is also a champ at silly catch-22s.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m an effing super anxiety freakazoid.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Btw, going back to your comment about anxiety of starting exercising again.
Technically my therapist’s order is that I move 30 mins a day. Walking outdoors counts. It is in fact my favourite go to exercise. Because it requires minimal effort, I can do it for a long time, listening to music, and it somehow always manages to quieter the noisy voices in my head long enough for me to sift through them.
And I am not sweaty afterwards!
Don’t underestimate the benefits of 30 mins of continuous walking a day. And phrasing it as “getting some fresh air for your brain” is way less anxiety inducing than “I need to start exercising again how could I have been so stupid/lazy/uncaring/other to have stopped now it is going to be so hard to get in shape again I always do this I am not consistent in anything blah blah blah wtv your specific anxious voice tells you”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, I like the spin. My brain can use some fresh air for sure.
LikeLike
Hang in there. I know what it’s like to have run-away thoughts and emotions.
My solution is to just take life one day at a time. Don’t look too far ahead.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is some very good advice. I’m impressed. And you can always hang out here and get great support 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will hang out and get inspired on how to live life with assertiveness and gusto. 😀
LikeLike
Sorry to hear you are going through this. I understand all too well the ups and downs of life (currently coming out of a down).
Something that has helped me is grattitude lists, or for myself in particular I suffer from really low self esteem so writing out achievement lists helps me.
I find that just as our minds can pick up the negative filter and start seeing everything that is wrong in the world, it can also start to see the beauty and then suddenly beauty is everywhere!
LikeLike
That is excellent advice!! I used to do that, and it really helped me navigate some of the darkest moments of my depression. Funny how easy it is to forget the simplest tricks.
Thanks for that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
and thank you! Because I often forget these things myself, unless I use these little tools often.
A gratitude or achievement list probably would have been helpful about a month ago, but I didn’t think about them.
My decision to start blogging again has opened me up to a whole community of people that are on their own individual journeys, and its helped to remind me of things long forgotten.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey b&b – I just wanted to write you before I disappear into the mess to make myself a cup of tea… about you having writer’s block – I love your blog and when I check the Reader in WordPress and see you’ve posted – I read it straight away. I love the day to day stuff too, it doesn’t matter to me if you’re blogging about you staring at your own wallpaper. Hope that doesn’t sound like stalker-alert! But keep writing and keep healing. It’s weird but by blogging you kind of become interested or concerned about certain people which I didn’t expect. Maybe like a distant friend or something but I hope you feel better soon. But then… if this is normal, sometimes it’s OK to feel a little down because you need that to make you realize how great the other stuff is. I just hope you’re okay. Take care.
LikeLiked by 1 person
hang in, sister. I’m here with you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Heart emoticon.
LikeLiked by 1 person