Fellow forum members,

As the OP of this thread, I’d like to say thank you for the PM’s and support. I’m not one who easily asks for help, much less willingly accepts it, but you’ve made me realize that I am not alone and that there are many of us out there who just do their best to get through to the next day…sometimes the next hour.

I’m working thru the VA to begin talking to someone and I’ve shared a bit of what’s going on with me with my girlfriend. It does sometimes help to talk shit out, although most times I don’t want to talk about anything, I just want to press on.

I do tend to cut open a vein from time-to-time here, it really is a ‘safe place’ for me to vent and rant a bit, and I do not exaggerate when I tell you the the feedback and online friendships I’ve experienced here have in many ways helped me more than any conversations I could have with people in my own f’ed up circle of family here.

Thanks Para for providing this outlet.

All for now…

J

As a coda, let me suggest getting Professor Jordan Peterson’s books 12 Rules for Life, An Antidote to Chaos and Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life in audiobook format, and simply listen to him explain a great deal of why people are depressive. He also posits challenges to undertake to reassert order in your life.

I am very grateful to Para for mentioning him.

I'm sorry to revive this thread, but I wanted to ask how you're doing now. Reading through your words, I can't help but feel for you. Anxiety and depression are such heavy burdens to carry.

I can relate to some extent. Almost the whole world is in shambles now, and that's what I'm most anxious about. I used to have problems with falling asleep. It would take me hours because I couldn't stop thinking about wars and other bad stuff that's happening. This started to ruin my life because I wasn't functional during the day. The way I got better was with the Calmer app. I meditate with it for 15 minutes before I go to sleep, and it helps me get calm so I can sleep better. I use it as a guide because it helps me focus on my meditation better than other meditation methods you can find on YouTube and other sites.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mac_220,

quote:

Originally posted by mac_220:
I'm sorry to revive this thread, but I wanted to ask how you're doing now. Reading through your words, I can't help but feel for you. Anxiety and depression are such heavy burdens to carry.

Thank you for checking in. I’m better.

I’m in a healthy relationship and getting married again in December.

I’m drinking significantly less, exercising more and losing weight.

My job is still stressful but I now realize that I contributed to part of that stress by missing simple tasks that I had to make up for later. My depression likely contributed to those misses, but I know that it is a loop that only I could break.

I still have my moments, and I’ve avoided going on meds. My Garmin watch tells me I’m incredibly stressed everyday, I just don’t feel it as much anymore.

Since I’ve started working out my sleep has been better and my Garmin does not yell at me quite as much as it did.

Exercise and sleep appear to be the cure for many emotional ailments.

I struggled with getting help for mine for WAY too long and I can tell you that getting on meds, staying on my meds, and giving a voice to my feelings made a big difference. There are lots of things I opted out of: my weekly D&D group, running with friends, going shooting in matches on weekends. That was a bad call. I also let myself become a little bit of a hoarder. It sounds like you're off to a great start, so I'd like to give you a little homework:

- Work on sleep hygiene (get a sleep study, make sure you clear out your bedroom and making it a sleeping space only, make a bedtime routine you can stick with)
- Give space to your feelings (journal, say it out loud, talk it over with friends)
- Make a schedule of exercise that you stick with, with friends is even better.
- Let us know how you're doing!!

You have lots of friends on here.