One of my biggest issues with mental struggles is - when feeling well I don't feel I'll ever be ill again. This perception has proven me wrong time and time again and over a long period of time I've noticed a couple of telltales that are like warning lights in my head...I know a bout of depression is coming.
MY telltale signs are- I'm yearning for stimulation eg I'm bored, I feel the constraints of financial stress, I desire to be alone more often (like I want to hide) and feeling anger with revengeful thoughts (that are never acted out).
If I don't act on the above issues and let them go, more often than not within 2 days or so I'll be depressed and the effort to reverse the slide will be much harder.
So, having identified my triggers or better still "telltales" I put a plan into action. eg being bored is an easy one for me to counter...I set about making a project in my shed using secondhand materials, a garden seat, a caravan (my latest project) this makes me active and actually makes my mind focus on that one activity so much so I rarely have my music on. Financial stress is harder. But my wife and I now tackle that well. Some time ago we drew up a budget, aimed at eliminating credit cards for debit card and put money each fortnight into our power account etc. No surprise bills in this house now. Feeling I want to be alone. This can be overwhelming but rather than walk from our house and cause my caring wife concern I tell her that feeling is there and she knows to make herself less "in my space". She just plans her day a little differently by being more illusive. Once that feeling subsides we share a coffee.Feeling revengeful is the toughest of them all. It comes about by thinking of the past way too much. I suffer guilt badly and want often to fly a time machine to the past to apologise to all those I've wronged. How can I possibly counter those thoughts? Well, again its a case of keeping busy but also mixing it with being realistic. Telling myself it isn't productive to want to stew over the past, the past is gone, life isn't perfect and finally telling myself that most people wronged others by far worse actions than I have. I was young then, I'm much older now...I was misguided and lacked wisdom.
Find your telltale signs. Read them, acknowledge them and try to counter them. Having professional medical people manage your struggles is great but there are some self help ideas that might just help you.... stop your slide.
Tony WK
