Rate your current mental health level out of 10

[AFireInside]

Maybe a 2..

I've been trying to get out of this funk for quite awhile but I'm struggling. It seems impossible. My motivation at work is completely gone. I have trouble getting out of bed these days. I do because I have to, but it's taking everything I have. I have removed social media, hasn't seemed to make a difference, but it's only been a couple weeks.

I've had down times during my life but this time it seems much tougher to get out of.

People are noticing, and I just don't seem to enjoy anything anymore, and my relationships are suffering. I despise my job currently, though I know it's a good situation overall so I should be happy. I'm able to work from home a lot, and as a result in the past 2 weeks I've barely left the house other than to get groceries, but being productive has been a real struggle. I've just been absolutely miserable. I'm putting on a decent face, most people don't realize just how bad it is, aside from a few people who are close to me.

I know this can't continue but jeez has it been dark. I left out a few details that are contributing, but they are mostly just things that are out of my control.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by AFireInside

Maybe a 2..

I've been trying to get out of this funk for quite awhile but I'm struggling. It seems impossible. My motivation at work is completely gone. I have trouble getting out of bed these days. I do because I have to, but it's taking everything I have. I have removed social media, hasn't seemed to make a difference, but it's only been a couple weeks.

I've had down times during my life but this time it seems much tougher to get out of.

People are noticing, and I just don't seem to enjoy anything anymore, and my relationships are suffering. I despise my job currently, though I know it's a good situation overall so I should be happy. I'm able to work from home a lot, and as a result in the past 2 weeks I've barely left the house other than to get groceries, but being productive has been a real struggle. I've just been absolutely miserable. I'm putting on a decent face, most people don't realize just how bad it is, aside from a few people who are close to me.

I know this can't continue but jeez has it been dark. I left out a few details that are contributing, but they are mostly just things that are out of my control.

This is where stoicism as a mindset can help. All we can control is how we respond to things, but I guess that's sort of the issue for you at the moment.

I feel you. I get like this sometimes too, and I've also been feeling a little like this lately. It's also potentially part of the winter doldrums. Late February is the worst, especially because you've had a lot of low light and cold weather, and you still have another month of that to go in Calgary. It can be draining.

It might seem silly, but writing this out here or in a journal can be quite helpful. It at least gets the thoughts out and put down some place concrete. That allows you to let go of them a little once they've been articulated. It can also give you time to reflect on the reasons behind the feelings and start to cognitively process whatever is bringing you down so that you can begin to move through it.

Two things that I find helps when I'm in this state: Gratitude and meditation.

Writing down things you're grateful for, even something as simple as a hot cup of good coffee in the morning, or a peaceful place to live (in comparison to other parts of the world), can help to give you perspective. It won't make you feel good exactly, but it lessens the intensity of those negative feelings.

Meditation has lots of clinical evidence behind it now. Just 20-30 minutes a day can significantly increase mood and reduce anxiety. There are plenty of apps to guide you through meditation if you're unfamiliar with it. I do this on the regular, and it helps to also ease the intensity of negative feelings. Again, it won't fix everything for you, but it will ease your suffering to some degree.

[Fuzz]

20-30 minutes can be a lot for people, but you can start at 5-10 minutes and it's shown to be effective as well.

[Traditional_Ale]

I'm three years, four months sober.

I was broke and homeless. I now have my own apartment with a sweet view and a cool car. In the last two years I've also been to seven countries and seven US states.

At least when I was drunk and homeless I had company to suffer with.

1/10.

[Cheese]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

I'm three years, four months sober.

I was broke and homeless. I now have my own apartment with a sweet view and a cool car. In the last two years I've also been to seven countries and seven US states.

At least when I was drunk and homeless I had company to suffer with.

1/10.

Congratulations!! Keep up the fight!

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by Cheese

Congratulations!! Keep up the fight!

I'm not worried about relapsing. I'm just coming to grips with the idea that I never really had any friends, just people who kept me around to feel better than.

[BagoPucks]

Its also likely because you are an awesome person to be around. I would bet on that.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

I'm three years, four months sober.

I was broke and homeless. I now have my own apartment with a sweet view and a cool car. In the last two years I've also been to seven countries and seven US states.

At least when I was drunk and homeless I had company to suffer with.

1/10.

This sounded awesome until we hit the 1/10 score... Sorry.

[fotze2]

Sorry guys, I had a bad turn. Cheese helped. Very disconcerted in the process.

Trad, you rule, always have.

[kipperiggy]

Originally Posted by fotze2

Sorry guys, I had a bad turn. Cheese helped. Very disconcerted in the process.

Trad, you rule, always have.

I'm glad somebody reached out, we have never met or chatted but I was concerned nobody had seemed to reply! I enjoy your posts and you are doing a great job helping many people it seems.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by AFireInside

Maybe a 2..

I've been trying to get out of this funk for quite awhile but I'm struggling. It seems impossible. My motivation at work is completely gone. I have trouble getting out of bed these days. I do because I have to, but it's taking everything I have. I have removed social media, hasn't seemed to make a difference, but it's only been a couple weeks.

I've had down times during my life but this time it seems much tougher to get out of.

People are noticing, and I just don't seem to enjoy anything anymore, and my relationships are suffering. I despise my job currently, though I know it's a good situation overall so I should be happy. I'm able to work from home a lot, and as a result in the past 2 weeks I've barely left the house other than to get groceries, but being productive has been a real struggle. I've just been absolutely miserable. I'm putting on a decent face, most people don't realize just how bad it is, aside from a few people who are close to me.

I know this can't continue but jeez has it been dark. I left out a few details that are contributing, but they are mostly just things that are out of my control.

As a certifiable internet brain doctor, I would suggest you are exhibiting signs of depression. I am hesitant to suggest anything but I think you should start with your family doctor and go from there. I think once you are in the 'can't get out of bed' stage you may be require external assistance.

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

This is where stoicism as a mindset can help. All we can control is how we respond to things, but I guess that's sort of the issue for you at the moment.

I feel you. I get like this sometimes too, and I've also been feeling a little like this lately. It's also potentially part of the winter doldrums. Late February is the worst, especially because you've had a lot of low light and cold weather, and you still have another month of that to go in Calgary. It can be draining.

It might seem silly, but writing this out here or in a journal can be quite helpful. It at least gets the thoughts out and put down some place concrete. That allows you to let go of them a little once they've been articulated. It can also give you time to reflect on the reasons behind the feelings and start to cognitively process whatever is bringing you down so that you can begin to move through it.

Two things that I find helps when I'm in this state: Gratitude and meditation.

Writing down things you're grateful for, even something as simple as a hot cup of good coffee in the morning, or a peaceful place to live (in comparison to other parts of the world), can help to give you perspective. It won't make you feel good exactly, but it lessens the intensity of those negative feelings.

Meditation has lots of clinical evidence behind it now. Just 20-30 minutes a day can significantly increase mood and reduce anxiety. There are plenty of apps to guide you through meditation if you're unfamiliar with it. I do this on the regular, and it helps to also ease the intensity of negative feelings. Again, it won't fix everything for you, but it will ease your suffering to some degree.

It doesn't seem silly. Part of why I wrote it out is because I haven't done that in awhile, thought it might help. I do try to find things to be grateful for, and there are many things. It hasn't seemed to snap me out of it I've had ups and downs, but I've never lost interest in everything quite like this before. I don't get excited about much, and consistent anxiety is a fairly new thing for me .

I'll give meditation a shot as well. I've never tried that myself.

To be fair I know what some of the problems truly are, I don't want to write them down because they are a little personal dealing with relationships etc, but I think it's that a resolution is starting to look impossible. Nothing is the entire cause it just seems like a lot of things are hitting all at once in the past 6 or 7 months.

Originally Posted by Titan2

As a certifiable internet brain doctor, I would suggest you are exhibiting signs of depression. I am hesitant to suggest anything but I think you should start with your family doctor and go from there. I think once you are in the 'can't get out of bed' stage you may be require external assistance.

Definitely. I can get out of bed, but I'm finding it harder. Days where I have nothing important I can easily not get up, and don't really want to. I wake up exhausted, and I can easily go back to sleep within a couple hours. So I don't want to make it sound like I can't, but I have noticed that it's become more difficult.

I do still try to work out a fair amount, but that has slowed, so I'm working on getting back to that consistently like I used to, at least 4 days a week.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by AFireInside

I'll give meditation a shot as well. I've never tried that myself.

I highly recommend Jon Kabat-Zinn's book Meditation is Not What You Think. Especially in audiobook format. I find it's really helpful for setting good expectations of what meditation and mindfulness are.

In my opinion, meditation is not about clearing your mind, it's about focusing your mind and being aware of when your mind wanders and gently bringing it back to your focus. For me that's my breath.

[troutman]

The breathing done in meditation physically changes the state of your body.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11591838/

https://www.brainzmagazine.com/post/...in-for-healing

1. Activates the parasympathetic nervous system

Conscious breathing shifts the body from the "fight or flight" response (sympathetic nervous system) to the "rest and digest" state (parasympathetic nervous system). This shift lowers cortisol levels, reduces inflammation, and promotes deep relaxation, helping the body recover from chronic stress.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by BagoPucks

Its also likely because you are an awesome person to be around. I would bet on that.

I'm certainly not for the posers.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by fotze2

Sorry guys, I had a bad turn. Cheese helped. Very disconcerted in the process.

Trad, you rule, always have.

You're awesome too.

[Traditional_Ale]

19 years and 8000 posts later I want to just be straight up for a moment.

1/10 is total hyperbole. I am not in danger in any way.

I am sober for 3yrs, 4mos, and legitimately finally winning at life.

But there is only so much AA, so much therapy that in the end can help, and then its just carrying on carrying on. Nothing prepares you for the long-term game of ending the game of thinking about all the horrible, wrong things that have happened to you. So they simply don't exist in your thinking, impulses, dreams, and most importantly decisions. And doing this knowing that while the game might be over and the effort worthy (self love, mofos), being honest enough to know its never really going away in the way I hoped it could and be okay with that.

There is nobody left. I think I knew it had to be that way. I've also had four very special people in my life die on me in the last while. Sadly, one was my greatest music mentor and friend and wishhewasmyrealdad and brother-in-arms for so many years a lifetime ago. This being said the truth is that he was old and the writing was on the wall given how things went down at the end for him. His life is nuts and a story for another time.

The others are far before their times. Some with a shared history so rich it makes the thought of ever finding morethanfirendship like that again is a level of making myself vulnerable that I am simply unable to get to right now. I thought I could sit with paradoxes, but sometimes they become truly ponderous. That thing about the abyss is true.

I have obviously done the best I can to take care of myself, including socially. But everything feels like a pantomime in that regard. Connection IS hard.

[troutman]

Plenty of studies and articles show the benefits of music and live music on mental health:

https://www.psychiatry.org/News-room...tal-Well-Being

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39868478/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/...-2020100721062

https://www.sciencenewstoday.org/how...h-and-emotions

[Dion]

Originally Posted by troutman

The breathing done in meditation physically changes the state of your body.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11591838/

https://www.brainzmagazine.com/post/...in-for-healing

Breathing helps with anxiety attacks.

[Sylvanfan]

My elderly mother is clearly having some serious issues. She's convinced that the basement of my house has some toxic salt that's attacking her and ruining all her stuff. I've suggested we need to go to a Doctor to try and get a referral to get some tests done. But I get the you think I'm crazy...but someone has sabotaged all my stuff, and the emotional responses one would anticipate. As an adult you can make your kids go to a doctor...but parents is another thing.

It's not very enjoyable watching someone get to this stage and try to deal with it. I really don't have the patience to hear an 80 year old ask me 500 why questions, make outlandish accusations against my wife, and be lectured about knowing crazy people and iIm not one. While the expect me to spend 2 hours looking at every imperfection or spec of dust in the house that's been found because that's what she's been hyper focused on doing.

It's not her fault, but it's grinding me down, and I'm not sure how I can get her to go to a doctor to try and address this before it's too late. Tough stretch in life when you have this plus your own kids. My Dad passed from a heart attack almost 20 years ago, I'm thankful to have not had to deal with anything like this at that time.