Posted by med_empowered on October 18, 2005, at 3:59:50
In reply to Re: Anyone else find the walls interesting?, posted by Phillipa on October 17, 2005, at 18:56:21
I guess...you could first accept what you're feeling. Fighting it--thinking "oh, I shouldn't be doing/feeling this" or "I **should** be doing/feeling this"--is only going to make things worse. Then, try to divert your attention--to TV at first, maybe later reading, writing, etc. Then try to focus on what it is in your life you *do* like--what your value are, what your personal strengths are, what your goals are. Try to focus on those, and creating an existence that kind of conforms to those (ex: i like kids--pursue training in childcare). Reach out to other people--it may be hard at first, but social interaction is **vitally** important, and the more engaged you can get with other people then (eventually) the better you'll feel. I find that one thing that helps is to flip the question around. For instance...instead of "I want to kill myself" (and I think we've ALL thought that one a bunch of times), I try to ask myself "why HAVEN'T I killed myself?" Its like the logotherapy technique..figure out what's important to you, whats keeping you going, and then try to work on accentuating that instead of foucsing on your pain. Also, like I said..sometimes, for me at least, its best to accept a certain amount of suffering; I find that, increasingly, the best thing (again, this is for **me**) is to focus not so much on **feeling** better but on **doing** better. So...I can focus on being more productive, or being more assertive, or accomplishing goal X...whatever. It engages my mind, produces results (which boosts mood and self-esteem), and jumpstarts the healing process for my underlying problem. For some people, having the right med(s) is important, but its also important to remember that human suffering and misery has been around for as long as people have existed. Prozac, valium, adderall--these are all **very** recent arrivals on the scene. They can make things easier, but the meds aren't going to really "fix" anything--its best to put faith in one's self, not one's prescriptions. Good luck!
poster:med_empowered
thread:567980
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051017/msgs/568438.html