Quote:
Originally Posted by vivaldirules
Right, depression for me is just another room down the short corridor I walk all the time. I get behind on tasks, which lead to anxieties and stress, which build up until I have sleepless nights, which then lead to anger, self-disgust, and "Oh, what the hell does it all matter anyway?" depression (Yoda had it a bit wrong, in my opinion). At that point, they play off one another for weeks or months until I somehow dig myself out or reboot. The key for me is to avoid getting behind in the first place and to realize when stresses and anxieties are building and deal with them (how is still a bit of mystery for me) quickly. But if I do that, I can pretty reliably avoid all the other pains. I wish I had learned it all long ago.
By the way, comforting things like tea, chocolate, food, MobileRead (Ahem!), time alone, time with friends, music, reading, etc. do not help but make things worse for me unless they are done, of course, in moderation as brief breaks between periods of calm but efficient productivity. I have often let myself indulge in this or that diversion and before long the day is over and now I am yet another day behind with more people disappointed or pissed at me and the number and ferocity of the demons at night just increases.
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VR, you and I are twin souls. I'm still struggling with the problem of overdoing the "avoidance" stuff, particularly at work. But in moderation, the following do seem to help:
1 - Reading - usually SF or some other kind of speculative fiction. "Cozy" sorts are fine, but I actually prefer something a bit more challenging, as otherwise my mind still has too much time between words to spin on my troubles. This is my main way of dealing with stress.
2 - Talking with a friend - Particularly if I can sort out some of what's troubling me.
3 - Creative projects - as long as I haven't promised the results to anyone. (Otherwise it becomes another obligation.) Jewelry making, 3d art, fiction writing... all of it helps. Even
thinking about creative projects helps, e.g. if I'm trying to get to sleep and my troubles are nagging at me. This has become my main tool for getting to sleep if I'm stressed.
4 - Meditation... but sometimes it's hard to focus, if I'm really stressed. I have a biofeedback program (
The Journey to Wild Divine) that has helped with this a lot. That was how I discovered that creative projects help so well.
5 - Carbs - It used to be that I couldn't eat when stressed. That changed somewhere in my mid thirties, and I now weigh considerably more than I did then.
But sometimes when I can't get to sleep, a bowl of oatmeal is just the ticket. And my weight isn't excessive yet... just poorly distributed.
6 - Meds - I don't like this at all, but the anxiety attacks and depression got bad enough at one point that I had to really look at this option. I take a very low dosage of an SSRI, and that seems to have taken the edge off the depression. If I have a serious anxiety attack, I have a mild sedative I can take a small dose of. It does help with getting to sleep as well, but tends to make me even more drowsy the next day, so I try to avoid this if possible.
7 - Naps - This is pure avoidance. When I get depressed or stressed, I get drowsy. This doesn't help at work. I'm trying to develop better strategies. Generally if I can find a way to do something "clever" I'll have a lot more energy that will carry over into the rest of my activities, whether the clever thing had to do with what I'm being paid to do or not. So sometimes I'll let myself try to solve non-work-related puzzles while at work. It's an imperfect solution.
8 - Yoga - I find this very helpful, except that being in a large room full of people I don't know moving about is ironically very stressful. I'm still trying to figure out how to work around this.