Seth has 5 great ways to fight depression and a bonus way. I added to his list.
These are just a few. One more way is to lower expectations to a healthy level. We are constantly admonished to raise the bar, expect more you will get more, step up, reach up, do more, if you can dream it you can achieve it. One of the difficulties is I reach the point that nothing satisfies, nothing is good enough, can't possibly reach such unreasonable expectations. Revamped my expectations for Thanksgiving dinner. My goal is everyone will have plenty to eat. Hopefully there is something for everyone. The only reason to walk away hungry is to choose to walk away hungry. I can meet this expectation. I don't have to have every dish perfect, I'm not competing for Iron Chef.
Another coping tool is an end date. In 9 more days Thanksgiving and black Friday are all over. My sister, Judy taught me the concept of having an ending date. One of the things that make depression so difficult is the feeling is that the dark hole I am in is all I get, forever. Yes, I recognize that this forever thinking is an unhealthy behavior.
I also need to plan time for MMV - Mini Mental Vacations. Thanks Judy for this one too. A few minutes on Pinterest, taking grandkids for a walk, share something funny on Facebook. A few little moments of taking time for yourself. I need to put mini breaks planned into my schedule.
Allow myself to fall asleep at the computer if I need to. When I am feeling anxious, I tend to neglect myself. Allow myself to sleep where I can and worry about niceties of bed and regular hours after Thanksgiving events are over.
I can do this. Go team ME.
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| Marching to my own drum beat |
2 comments:
Being parented by people who were always raising the bar or changing the rules makes it hard to accept that being less than perfect is OK.
Now when I build things and they are a bit "wonky" I'm happy to say "I made that!"
Of course, as an adult, I realize my parents made mistakes too, they just never admitted it!
I believe you made a great point. Our parents held us to a standard higher than they did themselves. We learned many coping skills that we now put in place.
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