How does one find healthy coping mechanisms?

[HlGHNOON]

I’ve been struggling with depression for a rather lengthy extended period, and found that my coping mechanism is to lock myself away and not act as a functional human being.

I’ve never really known any other way of dealing with my issues, but I know that it’s not healthy and can’t continue on, as it’s making the problem worse. I have ADHD on top of (what I assume to be as of yet) clinical depression, and it’s very hard to stay motivated to keep on going.

If you have a suggestion, please let me know! I’d appreciate it to no end.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi HIGHNOON,

Welcome to the forums and thanks for reaching out.

This is a great question but I'm not sure that there's ever going to be one good answer. What works for some people isn't going to work for others - it can be a little trial and error.

What I do know though (and what you know too), is that locking yourself way is not helping. It makes total sense that you do that and I like to do it too - but in the long run, like you said it is making things worse. So what sorts of things have you tried that are the opposite of that?

Maybe it might be worth thinking about things that you enjoy that could be alternatives, whether that's going out for a walk or chatting with people. Here's a list of some ideas -

http://elishagoldstein.com/assets/183-pleasurable-activities-to-choose-from.pdf

Something that might be worth looking at too is what gets you to that stage of needing to lock yourself away. What leads you to that point? Being able to understand and then tackle that can help you avoid resorting to that way of coping.

Hope this helps,

[smallwolf]

Hi,

Welcome to beyond blue.

I would not lock myself away as you posted but avoiding activities is something that I did. This is the worst thing I could do. I spoke about this with my psych and doing that activity can act as a distraction. But it is hard to do the opposite of what your mind tells you. Again, been there.

There are many different types of activities you can do that are healthy, and that depends on what sort of healthy you are looking for - physical or something that is a distraction or gives you a feeling of accomplishment.

It is also good to read you notice that your current methods are not working.

For myself, I like walking, puzzles, reading, cooking.

What sort things do you like?

Tim

[DannyG]

I don’t have any answers for you HIGHNOON but I’m in the same boat as you. I hide, I cut myself off. I stay inside all day and dont go out.

So i understand where u r Coming from. I can tell you what has been suggested to me - excersise of some kind even just a walk, catch up with friends, watch a tv show or movie you enjoy.

[smallwolf]

DannyG,

How has that been working for you?

Tim