Posted by Noa on January 18, 2003, at 11:26:44
In reply to Re: How to cope?, posted by daizy on January 18, 2003, at 9:32:18
Whoa, easy does it!
I think it is a great idea to take a class or soemthing like that--to have something interesting to do, get you out, focus on other things, etc. But try to stop yourself from getting swept up in the barrage of big goals all at once. Did you ever see the movie "What about bob?" ? Remember "baby steps, baby steps"?
One thing at a time. Really. Ok, you probably figured out that I have the same problem! (LOL)What happens with me is that one anxious thougth leads to the next to the next, and them I am thinking about the big problems and feeling overwhelmed and can't even deal with the first thing I thought about.
Take a class--something fun, not something that is a "should". Something just because it will be enjoyable, not because it will help solve all the other problems, etc. It is a great step to take. When you are trying to change a pattern in your life, often that means stopping one thing, but then there is the space where that things was and just sitting with the void is way too hard. But filling it in is hard too--it is hard to know what can fill it in. So go slow--baby steps. You have the impetus to try a class, so do that. But leave the worrying about an intimate relationship for later.
I, too, seem to have a teeter totter thing with depression vs. anxiety. My primary diagnosis is depression, but sometimes the depression comes in to save me from my anxiety. But of course it ends up being worse than the anxiety. Now, I am a little less depressed than a few weeks ago when this latest depressive episode started, but I am anxious. I think it is bearable anxiety at this point, (I do not have a severe anxiety disorder like some people do) but not pleasant. But it is work for me to co-exist with it and to keep from slipping me into depression because of it.
The other way the depression and anxiety relate to each other is that when I get a recurrence of major depression, I also panic about that, and then a kind of second layer of depression kicks in--being depressed about being depressed. It's that I panic that the depression is back and the feeling that I'll never get out of it, and then I feel so angry at myself for being depressed. Sometimes it helps for me (and this usually only happens during a therapy session or here at Babble) to connect to feeling angry at the disease, and not at myself.
Anyway, do something good for yourself and take it slowly.
poster:Noa
thread:35375
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030111/msgs/35443.html