What do you do on a bad day?

[Lookingforpeace]

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?

[Stormgrl101]

Sorry to hear you are having a bad day, as am I.

Sitting out in the garden, in the sunshine, cuddling my pet rabbit Charlie and having a cry seems to be helping at the moment. 

Hang in there

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Lookingforpeace,

I'm sorry you are having a bad day.

There are lots of things that I try to do even though some days are better than others.

Here are some anyway:

- Have a good cry.

- Try to go outside for a bit, even if it's raining or too cold.  Sometimes just getting some fresh air helps.

- Have a shower and change my clothes.  Wear some nice perfume or jewellery even if I'm not seeing anybody that day.

- Journal.  I really like writing things down as it helps me feel less overwhelmed.  Sometimes I just write things down and tear it up and other times I like to write and draw a little.

- Bake.  This is just one of my favourite hobbies and even on my worst days it's nice to see that my mini-accomplishment can be just baking a cake.

- Go on Pinterest. I like to make vision boards and find that Pinterest is a good tool.

- Listen to music.

- Talk to someone.  On my bad days I don't feel like being on the phone but sometimes just texting a friend and saying hi can be enough, or going on Facebook for a little bit.

- Watch TV.  This is not that helpful but sometimes I just have to let a bad day be a bad day.  There is always tomorrow.

Hope this helps and you start to feel better soon 🙂

[TheSteve]

Hi LFP. Sorry to hear that mate. It has been a while (although there were many in the past) but a real bad day where I can't lift my funk - first I'll force a smile on my face. I'll make myself hold the smile at least 30 - 60 mins. At this point, I am reversing the cause-effect chain (as opposed to my thoughts making me frown, I am deliberately smiling to color my thoughts). Once I feel the effects kick in, I'll have a laugh. A very hard, long, deep laugh. I'll shoot for 30 minutes, perhaps a funny movie or TV show or some past event I remember. 

By the end of it, my day is a rainbow. Much better. And it lasts. Take control over your mood, force happiness from the outside in.

All my best to you.

Steve

[thisaquarian]

Hi Lookingforpeace, sorry that you are having a bad day.  I hope that today is different and you can find a reason to smile from the inside out.

I've recently discovered W.R.A.P. You can do courses out there on this.  If you search online "W.R.A.P. Mental health" you will find out more about it... but this knowledge has come to me at the right time, as I was wondering if there was a strategy I could use when I was having a bad day, and then suddenly my work was facilitating courses in this! (We are a mental health provider).

In the course they discuss developing a Wellness Toolbox. A list of things that you can do when you're not feeling well.  This can be anything.  Some of mine include: reading a book in bed, going for a walk in a nice park, driving to the beach, going to the markets on Sunday, bubble bath with nice candles etc.

I'm still in the learning phase of when I'm having a bad day, building awareness that I am not going okay, and knowing that I have a range of things I can turn to, people I can turn to, to help turn it all around.  Of course there are days when I just need to shut myself off from the world and stay in bed... and I tell myself that's okay as long as I am able to get up tomorrow and work towards something. 🙂  Best of luck with developing your list.

[Lookingforpeace]

Hi thisaquarian 

Wow I just logged on to the forums having not been on for a while (having another bad day) and there was your message! Creepy!

What a great idea. Ill definitely try that, I do know of a few things that always make me feel better.

Thanks so much