Staying well

Simple quote that is helping me

replies: 4

Hi, Just wanted to share a quote I came across recently that has been helping me get through feelings of being overwhelmed by what I feel needs to be done on a daily basis. Sometimes just getting the energy and motivation to do the mundane things is ... View more

Hi, Just wanted to share a quote I came across recently that has been helping me get through feelings of being overwhelmed by what I feel needs to be done on a daily basis. Sometimes just getting the energy and motivation to do the mundane things is difficult that it makes it hard to think about the 'bigger' things in life. Anyway, the quote..."Start by doing what's necessary, then do what's possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible". St Francis of Assisi. This has helped me get into motion so to speak, once I just start what is necessary, such as doing the boring washing up or laundry, it sets forth a momentum. Of course, it doesn't always help but it's been useful for me over the past week. When I have gone through serious episodes of depression or anxiety, I even had to write a list of the process of getting myself ready for the day, such as having shower, getting changed, breakfast etc. All mostly necessary, and once done, set forth a process of motion even if that was all I was able to do for the day. If anyone else has an inspiring quote please share.

What do you do on a bad day?

replies: 5

I'm having a bad day today - anxiety is super high and mood is super low. Literally all I feel like doing is putting my head in my hands and just staying like that all day. how do you cope on a bad day? What do you do to make yourself feel better? View more

I'm having a bad day today - anxiety is super high and mood is super low. Literally all I feel like doing is putting my head in my hands and just staying like that all day. how do you cope on a bad day? What do you do to make yourself feel better?

Who are we? What are we?

replies: 4

Recent insights showed me that the person I actually am has almost never been recognised, but when it was, it was regarded as unacceptable. My existence is not acceptable to my birth mother. My talents were not approved of by my adoptive parents. The... View more

Recent insights showed me that the person I actually am has almost never been recognised, but when it was, it was regarded as unacceptable. My existence is not acceptable to my birth mother. My talents were not approved of by my adoptive parents. They refused to acknowledge anything I achieved. My school refused to see my undeniable scars from domestic physical violence. This insight has deepened my understanding of the extent of the damage done to abused children. People are quick to condemn a perpetrator when he/she is finally outed. But in my view it is society itself that commits the greatest evil, by failing to protect its children from mental and physical violence, including sexual abuse. For this reason, I have concluded that our society is, at heart, a barbaric and hypocritical culture sheltering under a thin veneer of civilisation. And it has the result that many of us (not only the physically abused) at some point subconsciously detect that there is an enormous invisible gap between the illusion provided by our social conditioning, and the actual reality which we experience. Few want to recognise the reality that mental or physical cruelty is perpetrated every single minute on the small, the young, the elderly, the non-conforming and the vulnerable. In my view, it is the unacknowledged existence of this gap, between the story we are supposed to believe and the reality we experience, which is the cause of many symptoms which are generally labeled as signs of mental illness. If you tell someone (especially subliminally) that their bruises and scars don't exist, isn't that a good way to demonstrate that you think they insane, delusional or lying? And if a child/person is told enough times that their perceptions are wrong and their wounds are non-existent, what effect will that have on the person? They will doubt their own sanity, won't they? And then they will worry, and deep anxiety will follow, with depression inevitably following on. If our society would just stop lying about its own "wholesome" nature, and take a long hard look at itself, perhaps we could come up with a more realistic description of who we really are. And who we, as a society, want to be. And start making the changes. Maybe then the gap would shrink. Until then, the outlook for the pharmaceutical companies seems to be rosy.

Tips for concentration, motivation and focus at work

replies: 6

Hi everyone. I desperately need help concentrating at work. I have a highly intensive workload, I am a publicist for a publishing company. I have been seeing a psychologist for almost a year, but only diagnosed with depression about a month ago by my... View more

Hi everyone. I desperately need help concentrating at work. I have a highly intensive workload, I am a publicist for a publishing company. I have been seeing a psychologist for almost a year, but only diagnosed with depression about a month ago by my GP and I've been on SSRI antidepressants about three and a half weeks. I felt minimal side effects to begin with, a bit queasy, a few sleepless nights, but soon felt back to normal. Only problem being normal is completely unmotivated and unable to concentrate. For almost two months I have come to work and just sat at my desk doing absolutely nothing, flicking through online shopping websites, social media etc. I am getting the absolute bare minimum done, replying only to emails that are urgent, and letting the rest slide. My job requires me to work several months in advance which means I I am going to be feeling the impact of letting work slide for a while. Every morning I wake up and tell myself today is the day I am going to get it together, yet I arrive at the desk and sit down and feel like there's a huge wall in front of me. It feels like I'm stuck in a jelly mould and don't have the energy to get out. Does anyone have tips for staying focused at work?

Hi Everyone

replies: 2

Life has been really busy for me lately. I have had some days where I was concerned I was about to take a huge step backwards, so I spent some early mornings and late afternoons out in the garden. We have multiple olive trees that need pruning after ... View more

Life has been really busy for me lately. I have had some days where I was concerned I was about to take a huge step backwards, so I spent some early mornings and late afternoons out in the garden. We have multiple olive trees that need pruning after not having been touched for 10 years! I have found the hard physical work and the fresh air to be very therapeutical for me. I have managed to prune about half of the trees so far and feel very pleased with my progress. At one stage I was feeling overwhelmed with the job, but had to change my focus. One tree at a time and I will eventually get there! I'm also studying and try the same concept with my study. One assignment or assessment at a time. Even if I can only spend half an hour on my study, that is half an hour more than if I had procrastinated, fussed and made myself anxious because I only had a half an hour to spare. At one stage last week I was feeling so overwhelmed that I wanted to cancel social engagements. Instead I tried to juggle all the things I needed to do or thought I had to attend to and decided to enjoy the time with family and friends instead of fretting about other things that needed my attention. Sometimes it is hard to find the balance! I'm very pleased to say that I have come out of last week feeling like I have coped reasonably well. It is so beneficial to find activities and strategies to help reduce and lower our anxiety, depression and stress. I hope you are all able to find that "thing" that helps you through your day. You may have a variety of things that help in different situations. Some days life seems really tough and confusing. I just want to encourage you all to hang in there and hope that your tomorrow is a lot better! Cheers for now from Mrs. Dools

Tips for staying well.

replies: 2

I found these on-line forums nearly 10 months ago and what a find! One thing which of late I've been able to do and it's helped me enormously is having and saying a positive affirmation to myself. Every morning, I wake up and tell myself that I am as... View more

I found these on-line forums nearly 10 months ago and what a find! One thing which of late I've been able to do and it's helped me enormously is having and saying a positive affirmation to myself. Every morning, I wake up and tell myself that I am as talented and as flawed as everyone else, I tell myself this same thing when I am cleaning my teeth, looking myself straight in the eye via the bathroom mirror. Sometimes during the day if negative self talk creeps into my mind, I go back to BUT I am as talented and as flawed as everybody else, and I say it as often as I need to , to be able to say it with conviction. Some days aren't as good as others, some periods of a particular day aren't as good as other parts but positive self talk is so much better than the alternative. Years ago, someone told me to "fake it until you make it" most of us do this anyway, covering up our true fears and anxiety, putting on a smile when it really is not how we're feeling. I don't know when I started doing the affirmations and I don't know why they work for me.....they just do. When my anxiety starts to rear it's ugly head, I stop, I breathe and I start with my affirmation. Sometimes, I only need to say it once, sometimes it's a mind numbing mantra which needs to be repeated 3, 5 or more times, when I've calmed down, there's another deep, cleansing breathe and a final...See, I told you, you are as talented and as flawed as everyone else! You are ok, just the way you are. All the best, Trish M.

How are you coping?

replies: 69

Hi everybody, Just a quick post to see how everyone is doing? Lifes been pretty hectic for me lately with uni and work, and i've regretted not being online on these forums more. I'm looking forward to being available more once my thesis is submitted,... View more

Hi everybody, Just a quick post to see how everyone is doing? Lifes been pretty hectic for me lately with uni and work, and i've regretted not being online on these forums more. I'm looking forward to being available more once my thesis is submitted, but in the mean time i'm going to do my best to set aside some more time to come onto the forums and be available to anyone who would like to talk through whats going on with you, coping strategies, or advice. I'm not yet a professional clinician, but I have a degree in psychology, am working towards a clinical masters and I'm willing to help in any way I can. So on that note, how are we all going? lets talk about what's going on for you. Cheers, Sawyer

Tips on Staying Well

replies: 6

Hello everyone Just wanted to know what are some little things that you do to stay well and healthy? Some of the things I do is: eat healthily, exercise and work out, especially in nature, write in a journal and the university newspaper (It's cathart... View more

Hello everyone Just wanted to know what are some little things that you do to stay well and healthy? Some of the things I do is: eat healthily, exercise and work out, especially in nature, write in a journal and the university newspaper (It's cathartic to me), gratitude jar (where I write things I'm grateful for) and 'Most Important Things' (MIT's)-where I write 3 things I want to accomplish daily to help me feel like I've achieved something that day. I sometimes listen to a meditation video on youtube, it really helps to clear my thoughts. So what are some thing you guys do to stay well and take care of yourself?? PositiveLyfe89

Balance- is there a middle ground?

replies: 3

Hi. I'm 34 and have a long history of depression and anxiety. I guess what brought me here is to find out from other peoples experience if this is "normal" or not. Whatever "normal" is. Last week I was really focused on my work projects and put in a ... View more

Hi. I'm 34 and have a long history of depression and anxiety. I guess what brought me here is to find out from other peoples experience if this is "normal" or not. Whatever "normal" is. Last week I was really focused on my work projects and put in a lot of extra hours. I couldn't focus long enough on TV or anything totally pointless because I was too restless. But goal orientated tasks I was flying through, tick, tick, tick goal achieved. I had heaps of thoughts and ideas and really moved ahead in achieving the outcomes I wanted. This week I am tired, have hardly any thoughts in my head, and really couldn't care about anything. I'm feeling rather indifferent. This makes continuing with last weeks projects difficult as I have no interest in the goal. Obviously I still have to go to work and get some work done but it is at a much slower pace. I never feel like a get enough sleep and often have difficulty going to sleep and staying asleep. Some sort of predictability and balance would be awesome. I'm exercising every day and taking all the weekend as time to rest. Anyone have anything to say?

For those of you who have stopped working because of your illnesses...

replies: 16

How do you spend your days? Do you have a pattern of peaks/troughs each day? Do you struggle to leave the house? I have been off work close to a year now and am interested to from people in a similar situation. Thank you

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A Bouquet for Pearls - share your appreciation for other members

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