Stress relief
How do you cope with stress? Meds?, exercise? spirituality? Sheepie-snuggles? I take anti-depressants to help deal with my panic attacks, and have anti-anxiety meds for emergency use. I also use a bit of meditation and visualization, especially at shows, when the public starts to get to me. My dogs, the forum, and reading help cope with all the rest!    |
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I like retail therapy  Although at least 75% of what I buy seems to be for my sheepie  
Curling up with a glass of wine, my sheepie and a good movie/tv show/book if great too |
| Exercise is always great for stress...some good cardio or an hour of yoga.
Curling up on the couch with a good show and some ice cream (Chubby Hubby or Phish Food) is always good too! And after that, I'll probably need the exercise!! |
| Boy! do I know how you feel. I have had the panic attacks since 1982.
Got into therapy (did not help) I got hooked on Valaium and finnally tossed then down the toilet. That was hard to do but got through it. I use xanax if needed and did I did take I forgot the other but my Dr will not except this new health plan I am on' so I now take nothing. I can't say how I deal with it but the way I found is not good for me. but it works. In my life the last 2 yrs of pure HELL and sometimes I want to end it all. Who would care. NO ONE. I feel drugs mask the proublems. |
| I like to be outside. Take walks...For me, exercise really helps. It takes your mind off things for an hour or so and then the endorphins from the exercise elevate your mood. Things like yoga are really good because you have to concentrate on the moves and concentrate on your breathing and stuff.
Retail therapy is good too...and wine, I second that! |
OES Mommy wrote: Boy! do I know how you feel. I have had the panic attacks since 1982.
Got into therapy (did not help) I got hooked on Valaium and finnally tossed then down the toilet. That was hard to do but got through it. I use xanax if needed and did I did take I forgot the other but my Dr will not except this new health plan I am on' so I now take nothing. I can't say how I deal with it but the way I found is not good for me. but it works. In my life the last 2 yrs of pure HELL and sometimes I want to end it all. Who would care. NO ONE. I feel drugs mask the proublems. Ok Deanna.... I'm gonna be kinda blunt with you....only because I DO care  
If methods you have tried haven't helped...then try different ones. If one med doesn't help....keep trying others. SOME meds can just mask a problem, true, but others can help you stabilize to the point that you can deal in other ways. They are just a tool. If you are at the point where suicide seems like an option....get yourself to a DR...health plan or NOT. If you can afford new appliances etc, then you can afford to take care of yourself!!!! Of COURSE someone would care!!!! We would, Your dogs would, your family would! What about that new grandchild? What a way to start life, without your Gramma!  |
| I started my life not wanted because I was a girl not a boy, also my grandma took her own life due to her step father sexual abuse. My mother took her life 6 weeks after my dad died (I was 17).( They both were only 48 yrs old) I have been in a mess for so long and have had 20 yrs of trying all kinds of meds. The only one that worked was Zoloft. But I o-zoned for hours. Dr said take it at night. I did, and then they would not pay anymore unless I when generic. OK I did. They stopped working. I am sick of being used. So no more meds. As for the other no I am not there yet. I pray that things will change and hope it will. Thats it! |
| Deana, just lean on us if you need to. I love the fact that we all are so different, but we all are there when we need it most.
I felt you all were there for me when Todd's mom died this June - and my whole extended family was so impressed that "computer friends" were that wonderful.
For stress relief I walk - usually with our dogs, my daughter, sister-in-law and their kids. And my best friend Mary. We do lots of talking when we walk too, very therapeutic. It is a 10 mile drive (one way) for me to go to town and walk with them, but it is worth it! I also have always read. It helps me to escape for awhile. When I read, the whole world disappears! |
| Deanna,
I'm very sorry that you've been through so much in life, but I think it's really important to remember that our life experiences can influence our views and attitudes, but they don't have to define who we are. My childhood was far worse than any Lifetime movie ever made, and there's no doubt that it probably has something to do with some of the poor choices I've made in my adult life, but it does not define me as a person (and it does not make me any less responsible for my choices, either). I have gone through periods where I felt sorry for myself, and was determined to wallow in it, and during those periods all the therapy and medication in the world couldn't help. So much of it has to do with attitude. If you try yoga for instance, and go into it with the attitude that it's stupid and wont help, it almost assuredly wont help. But if you're open and hopeful, the chances that it might help are much better. There are no guarantees, and there's no magic pill that works for everyone, but I really think you should start all over again with a different attitude and try the many different options. If you tried Zoloft and it worked, then switched to the generic and it suddenly stopped working, I can assure you it was not the medication. As a clinical scientist in the pharmacology field, I can assure you that the generic versions of prescriptions are exactly the same as the brand names chemically. I'd suggest looking back to see what else was going on around that same time, and you might be able to get a better idea of why it stopped working. Also, just because you didn't respond to something in the past doesn't mean it's not worth trying it again now, our bodies continuously change. I took Paxil for post-partum depression and after my son Jordan died, and it worked great. 6 months ago I decided I needed to go back on antidepressants (thanks to Nick), and tried Paxil since it worked so great before. it was terrible and I had to stop taking it after the first month. I tried Prozac next, and it's been wonderful. Regardless of what you do, medication, therapy, meditation, exercise, etc... please seek professional help if you are ever feeling like suicide is a real option. If you feel you honestly can't afford proper mental health care, there are many sliding scale fee programs, or you could perhaps look for help with budgeting the resources that you do have available to you. And don't forget the sheepie hugs... they're been scientifically proven to help combat depression and anxiety... so get busy hugging those dogs  |
| I agree with you 100%. I use to walk on my treadmill everymorning for yrs. and at night too. I loved to read and could read a book in 1 or 2 days.
In 2002 I fell off a ladder at work and fractured my left knee so bad there is a 7"metal plate and 8 screws in it. I had to stop working, I like Darcy was a designer and loved my job. Our showroom was very busy and my leg could not stand on it long. So there went my job. I am 48% diabled. As for reading I can't seem to make my self get into it. My mind will not shut down. I think about everything that is happening to us . Richard has not worked in 9 months. We are living on my settlement from my job. Iknow that others have it much worse than me. Now our mortgage cop sold our mortgage to another and the rise in $ is so great. From 948 to over 3 grand. I have to sell the house so they don't take it. Now TELL me how to relax. Sorry I am just venting. I know God will be here for me. He always has been. Just feeling sorry for myself BOOOhOOO lol |
| Without divulging my strange issues, and believe me, I have multiple issues, lol, I also find retail therapy good, my son has soooooo much stuff.....a lot of times I don't even buy anything, though, just getting out of the house makes it better. I don't like crowds, but I don't feel as hopeless if I'm surround by people. I also have an unlimited long distance plan, and I give AT&T a workout every day! I've had depression problems ever since I was little, but I've never taken drugs, although there are days when they are very very tempting, but I'm such a control freak, I'm afraid to put these strange chemicals in my body. Finding a nice secluded place to literally scream out my frustration helps as well. So does shooting things.....target practice is great. It's kinda like breaking things, but not causing damage I'd have to say my biggest therapy is talking to people though.....especially my Dad, as he is the one who passed the inherited problems on to me, and the other issues, he just understands them. |
| KNITTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Hmm...where to start...
I take a lot of medications that seem to rotate every few years. I've been to so many doctors and back again. I go for massages every other week which helps that night. I stretch, I take hot showers, I snuggle my pups, I tell my brain to shut up....maybe I am crazy I would be lying if I said I've never contemplated driving into a tree, but even then I remind myself that there are people and animals who love and need me.
I've really struggled with fibromyalgia and allergies my entire 33 yrs of life which has led to depression and anxiety issues which waxes and wanes. It's a vicious cycle. Meds do work, but they all have side effects and the body develops a tolerance after some time. My Altered Art and scrarbooking really has been the only activity in years that I noticed did assist me to get out of my own head. However, the stress it creates in my upper body takes it's toll after being on a computer all day long. Wow..wasn't that uplifting. |
Here are some random, specific, relaxation technique that have worked for me. And believe me...at times... I needed help relaxing, SOOOO bad!  
When trying to get to sleep at night, work your way up your body from toes to head, tightening your muscles as MUCH as you can and then relaxing them. Saying: Toes! go to sleep!....calves! go to sleep!....etc. It works best if you can isolate as many different muscles as possible. My adopted mother taught me this one, when I had a rough time sleeping during the time right after they took me in 
When feeling panicky....try visualizing yourself as a "tree"...(I know it sounds silly) With roots slowly reaching downwards into the earth, and branches reaching up to the sky. visualize pulling strength from the earth, and expelling stress away into the air. Always remember to take DEEP breaths through your nose. A fellow vendor at a particularly stressful show taught me this.
If you love to read, but can focus due to stress, try books on tape. Choose old, comforting favorites to listen to while you do housework, or take a long drive, or even use headphones to listen while going for a walk. Take up some kind of creative hobby. I feel that stifled creativity is a major source of stress for many people. Write, draw, knit, embroider, sew, felt, paint, make music,design jewelry, etc, etc...there are HUNDREDS of choices!  |
| Way back when I was in my 20's I suffered panic attacks. However, at that time nobody knew what panic attacks were! I really was convince, I was insane. Fortunetly, I found a therapist that knew what was happening to me, and after a couple years in therapy, I was free of the panic attack hell. It primary was due to 2 deaths of people who were very, very close to me (my mother and a very dear and near cousin) that I never truly grieved properly. And a tramatic experience...lets just say, a force sexual experience. Thank G-d I haven't has a panic attack in a couple decades. But the memory of the horror of them still live within me. Yes, I have anxiety (I have a terrible fear of flying), but I have learned to cope...even if I experience them, which I do everytime I fly, I know what they are, and that they will pass. I am blessed now, that I live a fairly peaceful life. For those of you who suffer from panic attacks...there truly is hope. And I will pray, that you find your peace. |
| My hat is off to all of you who can get themselves to find a way to cope. All the things you do I have done one time or another. I knitted for my kids and grandkids. Did arts and all kinds of crafts to to tune we got a DBA and went to craft shows. I think I burned myself out trying so many things. I love plants in my home and at one time had over 150. lots of work. I hate to garden now, The ONE thing I still LOVE to do is cook. I can cook all day for days on end. Just put the TV on in the Kitchen and I relax so much. I just got through with a 2 day cooking ECT, I give alot of meals to my neighbors because they are very old and ill. Rose is 86 and jo is 91. I love to help care for them as does my hubby.They do have a nurse 24 hrs a day. but they do,t cook nice meals. I was on the phone last night with Elissa and told her about the damn girl who would not get up off her big fat as s ,,,,Jo was in bed and was crying , I went in and all she wanted was to have her night gown on. I had to pull her up and help her with her shirt and bra, got her gown on and got her walker so she could stand to get her pants off. That girl never moved to help her. I got her back in her bed and put the gard rail back up. Gave her a hug told her I loved her and off to sleep she went. That helper should be helped out the door for good!!!!. Sorry this was so long. Oh did I say they want to bull dose my home to make room for a motel!!! |
| Deanna-- I am so sorry you are going through this..but I do know how you feel..........
I too had panic attacks after my Grandmother, Aunt and MOM passed away within 3 years of each other...mom was a shock..she had an anyrusm (spelling?). They were my whole support system as we all were very, very close. I was a mess. My therapist told me visualize a rose bud and slowly open the "flower" which of course opened my whole self so the panic attack would dissappear... I really worked for me........ I also wore a rubber band on my wrist and when I felt anxious...I would pop it to bring to me the here and now. This also really worked for me and sometimes I will slap one on when I feel tense... I really hope you will feel better soon, I feel like I am getting to know all of you even though I have not been posting long...and I do care about you all................. |
| Deanna.... See??? Those people you cook for, THEY would miss you and your kindness. WE would miss you. And I'd be willing to bet there are a lot of other people who would too, people you probably wouldn't even think about. As far as feeling sorry for yourself, I'm not sure you qualify, because you really do have very real stress going on right now. (I hope you didn't think I was saying you were feeling sorry for yourself, I really was referring to myself). When I have my pity parties, I typically am over-reacting and making a mountain out of a molehill I've been feeling a little sorry for myself lately, but not to an extreme, but I got lucky, the Prozac has helped me tremendously.
I wish I had your green thumb... I can barely keep silk plants alive 
Maybe cooking is your therapy? You know, I could always send you some tupperware to fill up and send back |
| Thanks for your concern. My attacks got so bad I would not leave the house. When on the meds and got out and had a attack like in the store shopping for food and had one I had to leave the cart then and get home ASAP.
Over the yrs they have changed, Like I can not sleep sometimes for days. I try but wake up with in 30 min. and so I get up and on the computer, try again to go to sleep might get 30 mins and up again.That was a yr ago. This last 3-4 month I could not go out to the mail box for mail because there always was something bad in the mail. I know its in my head. It just happens. I will put no judgement on anyone. We all live in so many hells that no one knows about. I love to all of you. I never had so much support from all of you when my puppy Fergie died in my arms at 6 1/2 months old. I still can't look at her pics with out crying. The pain is so deep in my heart as many of you feel about your lost dogs.!!! |
| Wow what a great thread...thank you Laurel.... lately I have been going thru a pretty rough time. At this time I can't divulge it all. I have had to do a lot of soul searching....I have had a great deal of stress (lost 35 pounds in 45 days) and if it wasnt for a very special friend...I dont know that I would be here to tell all of you. I virtually have shut out everyone from my life. I had to....its called self preservation, I had to focus on ME. I had SO much to deal with that one more thing would have pushed me over the edge.
I am a bit better now....I am a very strong and determined person. And I have the support of a very special friend. This friend means the world to me. |
| 2 years ago I was suffering from depression. It only lasted for 18 months thank goodness, but I cried every day for a whole year. I don't want to go into all the details but lets just say every area of my life went very wrong. Every time I closed my eyes I could see myself at this awful place. The moment I ended my relationship I felt I was falling into a huge chasm, I could see the guy I loved at the top, dissappearing from view. Day by day I fell deeper as everything in my life went wrong. The muddy brown walls were towering either side of me and I could not get a grip on anything stable. Eventually I hit the bottom.
In my real life I found myself living in a room in a frightening city far from home with a guy I hated who was forcing me into a marriage, into a foreign country and a religion and culture I didn't like or understand. My health was terrible, I was only awake for a few hours a day for 8 months and because I was so sleepy, fell asleep at the wheel and crashed my car on the motorway. I was trapped in my car with the traffic coming towards me around a bend in the fast lane, cars going at 70 & 80 MILES an hour were missing me by inches. The door was crushed in and the other side of the car was squashed into the barrier. Somehow I threw my bodyweight against the door, after several times I managed to force it open enough to squeeze out. That whole day I was in total shock, I looked in the mirror and my pupils were so small I couldn't see them, I thought I was dead
BUT I started to realise how precious life is. Even my life. I can only describe what happened over the next 6 months (and still happening now) as the work of God. Gradually I began to break free from the relationship I was so unhappy in. It was a very frightening time but slowly I found things to cling to and began the long climb out of the darkness. In my mind the chasm was further below and I could find the strength to get to the top. The light was blinding up there, I had been depressed for so long I forgot what it was like in the light. I had forgotten daylight. I had some friends who went to church and they helped answer alot of my questions. I started to read the Bible cover to cover just out of curiosity. Suddenly I felt a huge hand pull me up higher than I had ever been. I got back with my wonderful boyfriend who I had left a year before (tears of joy this time!) managed to finally get medication for my thyroid problem and the rest of my life has been sorted out (better than I could ever wish for) too. The last year has been so, so amazing. I have been filled with the Holy Spirit, I am constantly worshipping Jesus who I now realise was fighting those demons for me all the time and was the hand that pulled me up. Everyday I am lifted higher and higher, I have that happy butterflies feeling in my tummy every day. I am stronger than I have ever been, I have witnessed so many miracles within my family and friends but won't bore you with those here! I didn't take any medication for my depression, I don't know if that was a mistake or not. I'm sorry this is such a long post, I could say so much more but the point I'm trying to make is, IT DOES NOT HAVE TO LAST FOREVER. Find the thing that will pull you out. I know you will find something. Sorry again for long post |
| wow |
| That is such nice answer. I to have God in my heart. I am a born again christian. I have not gone to a service in over a yr. Our pastor is more interested in building one of the biggest churches Ihave ever been in. Yes our other church was a bit smaller and we have grown so big. He had to have 3 services on onen Sunday and one at 6:30 at night. But this new one has cost many millions of $ to build. That money could have helped so many. He has also bought a pc of land to build a sports park. I think this one is good, Kids need a place to go with good help. I have lost the closeness antmore at this place. We are looking for a much smaller church around here.I have read the bible ( King James 3 times) I also have it on computer and can stop it a ask questions about something I did not understand, It is a great help.
I know he is putting me through thid for some reason, something I must need to learn. But WHAT. ??????????????? |
| In that case oes Mommy, I would say, if you can, get to every service!! You are obviously missing it!
And the answers will all come in time |
| I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason... and that every person who enters our lives is there for a purpose.....but sometimes its so hard to find what that reason or purpose is.... we have to let go and trust.... |
WizardMerlin wrote: I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason... and that every person who enters our lives is there for a purpose.....but sometimes its so hard to find what that reason or purpose is.... we have to let go and trust....
Absolutely!!!! Sometimes that purpose (I feel) can be as simple as making us able to offer real understanding to someone else when bad times hit. At this time, for me, life is good, good, good....but there have been times in the past when its been VERY rough. I hope no one thinks I'm just being a "pollyanna" when I say it WILL get better. For me, its all just fodder for funny stories now ....I can tell funny stories about situations that might curl your hair!!!
That which doesn't kill us, only makes us a LITTLE bit weird!  |
| I suffered from panic attacks and sever depression for years, but the one thing that kept me from ending it was that my fuzzies needed me more than anything. I did not think that anyone would want them if I was not around. I changed doctors and I found out after years of suffering with it and medical problem, I had a sever thyroid problem. Had that sucker out and almost all my depression disappeared.
Now I have a different job and different fuzzies, and believe that if you reconize that you have a problem, you should keep looking for the solution. If it was easy you would have found it already. So you have to work on it. Not harder, just work on it. Just because that it did not work in the past does not mean that it will not work now. We all change in our bodies, minds and socially. Try again, ask different people. See if there is something fun for and not particularly constructive. I love to clip my dog in strange and odd manners, then dye him with food dye. Fun and not constructive.
Darn I am not signed in. I is me, liz |
Anonymous wrote: I love to clip my dog in strange and odd manners, then dye him with food dye. Fun and not constructive.
Darn I am not signed in. I is me, liz Whew!  Thank goodness its you, Liz....I was afraid that there was somebody ELSE out there dying their poor dog green!!! |
| Wow! I'm so glad I'm not the only goofy one here! I've had the urge to spike the fur on the top of Pirate's head and "dye" it pink! The only thing that has stopped me, is that Tony would kill me if I did that to his "boy"! (But I still think it would be adorable!) |
debcram wrote: Wow! I'm so glad I'm not the only goofy one here! I've had the urge to spike the fur on the top of Pirate's head and "dye" it pink!
The only thing that has stopped me, is that Tony would kill me if I did that to his "boy"! (But I still think it would be adorable!) Can you dye it a more manly color? Like a dark purple? |
| But! Pink would look so cute with his one china blue eye!!!! |
| I say as long as it isn't pastel, you should be able to dye his hair any color you like (from the girl who LOVES to decorate her dog but is stopped by her husband). |
| My husband suffers real bad with sever depression, ocd, anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia. They took him off all meds to start over and of course this makes everything worse for everyone, and as of today he starts fresh. Meds I find may help in some ways like anxiety but numbs out what you should be feeling other emotions, so when you come off some of this it is very hard to manage normaly, At least with Dave. He does therapy every two weeks only works if he follows through. Which he does not (can't) right now life for him is sleeping eating and tv. So any ideas out there from others like this would help, but to get him to do anything is real hard plus I have to work and look after the house. So to be there is hard. |
| I don't mean to be flip. Well, ok, maybe just a little...
Take a blanket, go for a hike, do what comes naturally. Hey, it's therapy. It might even be covered under your national health care. |
| Ron's idea isn't bad, actually!
In my opinion, based largely on living with a number of people over the years who suffer from severe depression, is that I'd make sure there was something he HAD to do. Responsibility for something is a good way to stay focused in the here-and-now, and not on internal stuff. Every year, we go through something like this with my employee (who lives with us)....he has severe depression and insomnia, and when our busy season ends, he goes into a tailspin  Its starting now....I got a note left for me this AM saying he hadn't slept all night. My challenge now, is to find him enough to DO to stay on an even keel, till our next busy time arrives.(oct-dec.)
good luck...thats a nasty combo of issues! Hang in, and dont let YOURSELF get too wiped out! |
| hmmmm, lots for him to do, just will not do. Angry then becomes a problem hopefully when new meds kick in some of that will change. |
ej wrote: hmmmm, lots for him to do, just will not do. Angry then becomes a problem hopefully when new meds kick in some of that will change.
Hmmmm.....it IS helpful that I'm Nate's BOSS, not his spouse ...of course, that means that Ron's suggestion is out, for me! |
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