Depression, Anxiety, or other Mental Health Conditions

Generally trying my best just to ignore everything that is happening at the moment, trouble is though, with being stuck in town yet again and with most things closed, i have very little to focus on and just feel empty. Warminster in January can be a bleak and desolate place anyways, but now it's even worse.

Still, i'm coping better than i did last time around, so at least that's something, and thank god for being given Assassin's Creed: Valhalla for christmas, love these ubisoft open world games.

Vermi Claus wrote:Still, i'm coping better than i did last time around, so at least that's something, and thank god for being given Assassin's Creed: Valhalla for christmas, love these ubisoft open world games.

They're not the absolute best games ever, but are probably a great thing to help right now; a big, nice looking game with constant progress and something to work towards.

Trelliz wrote:
Vermi Claus wrote:Still, i'm coping better than i did last time around, so at least that's something, and thank god for being given Assassin's Creed: Valhalla for christmas, love these ubisoft open world games.

They're not the absolute best games ever, but are probably a great thing to help right now; a big, nice looking game with constant progress and something to work towards.

I find i generally enjoy them far more than the games that are way more critically acclaimed.

Been a huge struggle this year. Girlfriend left me from other wisde of the world after being told going home to sae money for our travels was best thing to do, have been unemployed since March, got offered a job after a freelance contract only to have it taken away, brutally betrayed by ex after spending few weeks trying to sort things out, self isolation due to COVID over Christmas and New Year and now back into isolation after another positive result. The job being taken away was crushing, that was my chance to move to London and kick on with my life but now I'm back to where I was in April when everything fell apart.

Trying to keep moving forward and just stick at it but it's getting very disheartening. Should be over the ex thing by now, the betrayal shouldn't have affected me as much as it has, it's opened up mental health issues significantly like my Body Dysmorphic Disorder plus new trauma anxiety and I can't seem to put it behind me. I need to keep applying for jobs and eventually someone will take me. Annoyingly going to have to go for Junior roles instead of Midweight just to get something.

Just feel like I was so happy, like so happy with how my life was turning out and then it gets taken away. Just so quickly. After spending years to build it up and work at getting to that point.

Just a small vent.

I'm going to small vent as well because my hate for work and knowing that I have to go back in 2 days is sending all my other negative emotions into overdrive. The biggest one is just how lonely I feel, even with family and friends it feels like I'm always the one who has to try to talk first and if I don't say anything nobody comes to talk to me. I've realised it's sneaking into my time online as well where it feels like even though I'm always in a group of people having fun in the end it's always just me on my own and it sucks. I don't know why I feel like this. I've never hated being on my own before, but I think seeing everyone else get closer makes me feel like I'm drifting further and further away from everyone else and it feels like there's nothing I can do about it.

I'm going to seriously start looking for another job soon, because I genuinely don't think I can put up with it anymore. It's going to be hard, but at least if I look in the meantime something might come up.

Sounds like you feel stuck and isolated, which is similar but not necessarily the same as loneliness. You can be isolated within a relationship or any number of relationships. If you've been in the same situation for a very long time, one in which you're frequently unhappy with things, and then you have things like the pandemic compounding that, you might feel isolated, that makes sense to me. Definitely sounds like you need something to look towards, a change (it could be any change) that even just might improve the things you are unhappy about as at least this then gives you a goal. This helps you feel like you have some agency over your life. If you're unhappy at work then you're probably going to reflect that and be reflected in your environment and interaction with others because you probably feel you can't speak openly about those things you are unhappy with. Counselling might help, but goal-setting does. Maybe check out the new headspace guide to meditation on Netflix so you can learn how to view those thoughts at a slight distance and "allow" them while you work towards changing your circumstances and giving yourself some time to just "be" and take a few minutes out every day from thinking about how you want things to change. It's not easy at first but it does slowly help your brain develop those skills, giving you the time to relax a bit and reflect constructively bit by bit until you are on your way to changing the circumstances you're unhappy about.

I think everyone is in the same boat when it comes to closer friendships and such, I can't even remember the last time I saw a friend in person of late, and I've only really started noticing that recently! I mean if I didn't have GRcade and discord and one or two groups like that I'd be 100% out of contact besides my partner and my personal assistant.

My mental health has greatly improved thanks to setraline and engaging with my employee assistance program's counselling service. And... the Dreamegg D3.

I have explained previously about my misophonia, phonophobia issues re neighbour noise etc. In particular a trigger for me is the sound of my neighbour's tumble dryer setting off an entirely unreasonable reaction in me. It would send my anxiety through the roof.

The dreamegg is a white noise machine which actually has the sound of a tumble dryer as one of the options (:lol:) it completely neutralises the sound of my neighbours one and because its a sound I control it has entirely reduced my anxiety. It also has other nature sounds and general white noise sounds which can help you sleep.

Might be something worth considering. The model I purchased is here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B088WNCRZX/ ... .Fb5REQH9F

Great to hear that mate, long may it continue.

Are you able to describe concisely how the dream egg actually works, what it does and how you (as in Prototype) use it?

Drumstick wrote:Great to hear that mate, long may it continue.

Are you able to describe concisely how the dream egg actually works, what it does and how you (as in Prototype) use it?

Of course.

It is a portable noise machine. It literally is a speaker with in built sounds. A quick Google of the machine will bring up a fuller review as to the sounds that it has.

Basically I put it on when I go to bed for 60 minutes and it sits right beside my bed and makes whatever sound I select. I give it just enough volume so as not to disturb anyone else and it counteracts the rumbling from downstairs. So instead of being triggered by my neighbour putting their machine on at night, I hear my own sounds which helps me sleep.

You can ocassionally hear the dryer in the living room and I'm hesitant to use the dream egg around my child as I dont want her growing up with my anxiety issues, but if I put it on in the living room it does help me "tune out" of any noise outwith my flat.

It sums up the unreasonableness of anxiety that the sound made by my own device doesn't wind me up, yet the sound by my neighbours does.

Awesome. Dat control :datass:

This is very similar to what I do with my google assistant speakers, but you can use any smart speaker. It has things like, "play forest sounds" or "play wave/ocean sounds" or "play rain sounds" and that really helps me with my more anxious moments and also for masking noise outside or inside the house.

Sound really does have remarkable therapeutic effects when used strategically. ANd yes, that includes me playing death metal whenever I have a lot of repetitive, focused work to be doing, like heat pressing the T-shirts for 4 hours straight. And in my cellar workshop, nobody can hear me anyway :datass:

Green Gecko wrote:This is very similar to what I do with my google assistant speakers, but you can use any smart speaker. It has things like, "play forest sounds" or "play wave/ocean sounds" or "play rain sounds" and that really helps me with my more anxious moments and also for masking noise outside or inside the house:

Yep. I was going to use my phone and Bluetooth speaker but these headspace apps generally drain my phone battery. The dream egg also has the auto off function.

The therapeutic results for me have been entirely noticeable. May vary for different people I guess, but I'd definitely recommend a white noise machine if you've experienced issues similar to myself.

One of the things i've found to help a great deal, is actually the new Taylor Swift albums, their chilled out vibe really helps me to relax and unwind.

Is there a drug that helps you to concentrate a bit?

I've developed a massive inability to concentrate on stuff. It's almost certainly linked to (diagnosed) anxiety, but I will literally, uncontrollably and repeatedly, open web browsers instead of doing work that I'm supposed to be doing. I even find I get stuck in a loop of opening the thing, 'having a word with myself' closing it, waiting a second, then doing it again. Earlier today I navigated to outlook.com to look at my private email several times in a row, despite it being entirely junk mail.

I lost my job last year and was very lucky to get something lined up just before the pandemic started.

I've got a large proposal that needs finishing by tomorrow at 2pm and I've spent more time on Twitter today than I have working on it.

I really need to strawberry floating focus. Anybody got any tips/advice?

Poser wrote:Is there a drug that helps you to concentrate a bit?

I've developed a massive inability to concentrate on stuff. It's almost certainly linked to (diagnosed) anxiety, but I will literally, uncontrollably and repeatedly, open web browsers instead of doing work that I'm supposed to be doing. I even find I get stuck in a loop of opening the thing, 'having a word with myself' closing it, waiting a second, then doing it again. Earlier today I navigated to outlook.com to look at my private email several times in a row, despite it being entirely junk mail.

I lost my job last year and was very lucky to get something lined up just before the pandemic started.

I've got a large proposal that needs finishing by tomorrow at 2pm and I've spent more time on Twitter today than I have working on it.

I really need to strawberry floating focus. Anybody got any tips/advice?

Adderal is prescribed for ADHD and aids concentration.

I have found meditation to be particularly helpful for training your concentration muscles and increasing focus naturally.

Poser wrote:...I really need to strawberry floating focus. Anybody got any tips/advice?

Hey, Poser, I often find myself in this situation, too. I think that the increasing number of everyday electronic devices (phones, smart watches, tablets, TVs, computers and more) all serve to diminish our concentration and they encourage a "just one more check" approach.

I think the best long-term resolution is to develop a self-management pattern of behaviour. Perhaps set times for checking/using certain devices, for example, "I will check my personal phone once every hour but no more" and "I will check my personal email when I arrive at work and leave, but no more". Obviously these measures will need to be set according to one's own personal situation.

Implementing any kind of behavioural change can be difficult and it takes time to get into that new way of thinking. It maybe worth considering a "reward"-based approach such as "if I keep to those two rules than I will treat myself to a chocolate bar tonight" (or whatever!).

This is something that I'm gonna try and do myself.

Poser wrote:Is there a drug that helps you to concentrate a bit?

I've developed a massive inability to concentrate on stuff. It's almost certainly linked to (diagnosed) anxiety, but I will literally, uncontrollably and repeatedly, open web browsers instead of doing work that I'm supposed to be doing. I even find I get stuck in a loop of opening the thing, 'having a word with myself' closing it, waiting a second, then doing it again. Earlier today I navigated to outlook.com to look at my private email several times in a row, despite it being entirely junk mail.

I lost my job last year and was very lucky to get something lined up just before the pandemic started.

I've got a large proposal that needs finishing by tomorrow at 2pm and I've spent more time on Twitter today than I have working on it.

I really need to strawberry floating focus. Anybody got any tips/advice?

Adderal is prescribed for ADHD and aids concentration.

I have found meditation to be particularly helpful for training your concentration muscles and increasing focus naturally. If you're interested I'd be happy to PM you some meditation materials.

Edit: is this the slowest double post ever? I opened my phone and the submission form was open so I figured I didn't post, then added the PM offer so I won't delete this.

I've definitely done the "spontaneously open tab with Ctrl+T and start typing random website when I should be doing work, repeatedly, watching my life unfold in front of me as I totally lose control of my impulses" many, many times. I use SelfControl for OSX to block basically every website that isn't work related. Including GRcade! I think there's a windows port but I'm not sure its any good. I used all kinds of website blockers including on routers or parental control software etc, I would just override them. This is the only one that works for me because I've successful managed NOT to find out how it works and allow the tool to work for me.

I also impulsively check my spam folder when I have no new email, for no reason whatsoever. Unfortunately our brains develop these reflexes which are usually triggered by too much notifications (resulting in ghost notification effect even when there aren't any notifications) and also FOMO (fear of missing out). I find it's particularly bad when I'm isolated and can't get help with something in particular because really I'm the only person who can do it, or fathom what needs doing, nevermind doing it!

I'd probably try some ADHD medication if it's available before performance enhancing (legal) drugs out there. Meditation should probably help.

Sometimes its important just to turn strawberry floating everything off and work on paper sometimes. It's not that hard to get it on computer again... especially if you consider how much time you might save not browsing distracting websites which can add up to hours!!

I also reward myself with beer and few squares of chocolate or things like that, if I manage to get into a flow for at least 1-2hrs of focused work. Might be less than that, it's still an achievement on those days where my mind is jumping all over the strawberry floating place.

I had my Autism appointment today, I have been told yep your autistic you'll get a letter in the post giving a breakdown of our findings and you GP will get a copy as well.

I'm feeling a bit relieved but a bit I guess overwhelmed as well.

If it helps you contextualise situations better and understand why you feel or act certain ways that's great kerr! Same for if it opens up any avenues of support. Just remember a diagnosis is only that, you're no different now then you were beforehand, so no reason to be overwhelmed or to feel a pressing need to read through what might be an overwhelming amount of information.

Depression, Anxiety, or other Mental Health Conditions

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