![]() Having a great support system-ours certainly goes both ways-is hugely beneficial for identifying when we’re in depression/anxiety. He also enjoys meditation, uses medication, does talk therapy, and leans on me to help him identify when his brain is looping or exaggerating situations. He struggles with generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and, when his medications and strategies aren’t working, depression. Finally, I take medication and stay on it-even when I feel good, duh, that’s the medicine working-as my depression is, unfortunately, largely a chemical imbalance. (See my guide below) For me, finding stillness and solitude for 10 minutes has the same effect as a 2-hour nap. Meditation, when I can sneak it in without kids present, is life changing. In the past I’ve engaged in talk therapy which provided me some useful tools. I feel better and have more energy when I exercise but finding time and energy can be challenging - isn’t that a frustrating negative loop. Even if it’s the middle of the day and I have deadlines I might take a nap, because that’s what my body needs to get my brain right. ![]() So now what? I use a variety of methods to pull myself out of depression both briefly and long term. The pressure to get it right is significant and I need to be in a good brain space to do them justice. Once there, it’s another prolonged battle before I can bring myself to write, to write intelligently, to write passionately. ![]() I pull and scrape and drag myself to my keyboard when I’m deep in depression. It’s much harder to fake it for work, especially working from home. I’m able to fake it with my family-sometimes. The last one might be more the hyperfocus portion of my ADHD kicking in (I’m a fun grab bag of mental health issues…fun fact, you usually don’t get just one of the rainbow of disorders). I DO want to do what’s known as “numbing.” I want to get lost down every internet rabbit hole, in a game on my phone, in a completely garbage book, or in doing a puzzle or other random task that absolutely MUST be finished before I can do anything else. When depression has me locked down tight, I don’t want to do anything. For me, and so many others who let the condition slide and live with it until it does look like that, it takes a different form. Those feelings are what depression looks like in its very apparent and well-known forms. They think depression means being sad, glum, maybe suicidal. I know what it is, how it feels and when it’s got me in its grasp. With articles past deadline, more deadlines hot on my heels and Christmas looming, the chant has grown louder, Louder and LOUDER! I think the fact I can’t get it out of my head means someone besides me needs to hear what I have to say about not being OK. This article has been kicking around my head for weeks. Please.īy Martha Mintz, AAEA 2021-22 Board Member Even if you think you’re okay, read this article.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |