Check-in for June 20 - Depression Support
Weekends are when we have more free time so we can more freely and genuinely express ourselves, and be more aware of where we stand in terms of wellbeing.
So now might be a good opportunity to reflect on the past weekend and what it tells us about our current state of emotional health.
Today's check-in questions are:
- How have you been feeling these days?
- How was your weekend, overall?
- Which were your best times this weekend? How did you feel about them?
- Which were not-so-good times? How did you feel?
All questions are optional. You can add any comments you wish, as they come to your mind.
I look forward to your answers!
As a final note, if you find it interesting to join the Depression Support team, learn more about opportunities, requirements, and how to join, by clicking HERE.
I wish you all the best!
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@HealingTalk
How have you been feeling these days?
Not great. Nothing new there.
How was your weekend, overall?
Slow and lonely.
Which were your best times this weekend? How did you feel about them?
There were none.
Which were not-so-good times? How did you feel?
All of it. Cause I'm stupid like that.
@OneErased
You had good moments during the past weeks.
The mood waves have a longer cycle than daily.
After those good times, comes a period of dullness.
You seem to take it naturally, gracefully.
This is the right attitude, I think.
Unrealistic expectations lead to disappointment and frustration.
You are wiser than that.
I wish you the best,
Marcelo
I've been feeling a lot better lately than I have been. It's been a good week. My weekend was pretty good, too. I cleaned a lot Saturday and felt proud. I spent Sunday resting which I really needed. I struggled with irritability when my roommate wanted to go out way more than I did over the weekend because I wanted to stay home. I know he's probably trying to help with my agoraphobia but it gets overwhelming sometimes.
@JarofSeeds627
I am glad for you that have been feeling well these days.
That you had a good week.
And that Saturday was so productive, giving you a sense of satisfaction and high self-esteem for being able to accomplish what you had planned. This is great as it increases our confidence in ourselves, that we will deliver on our scheduled plans.
Sometimes people have the best intentions but don't find the best way to help. After a hard-working Saturday, it's natural that you needed to rest Sunday.
And it's nice to have some peace and calm during the weekends, an oasis in the middle of stressful weekdays.
I am glad that things are going well in your life, and that you have them under wise control.
All the best!
Marcelo.
@HealingTalk
How was your weekend, overall?
- Overall... good. Can't let the bad outweigh all the good.
Which were your best times this weekend? How did you feel about them?
- Exercised Sat morning; proud of myself. Played a board game with friends Sat evening; had a great time with people I love. I currently can't remember when we did Sat afternoon. Sun morning I was productive around the house; I felt accomplished. Sunday afternoon took my husband to see a movie he was excited about for Father's Day; I felt connected to my partner and happy.
Which were not-so-good times? How did you feel?
- I got a work email Saturday afternoon that I forced myself not to forget about for the rest of the day, but I had stress dreams about it that night. I managed to get up in the night, write down what I wanted to do about it, and was able to fall back asleep. Took care of what was able to take care of early Sun morning. Sun evening was dinner with the in-laws for Father's Day. It was nice at first, but I tend to get overwhelmed/overstimulated while there. I held it together the entire time, but by the time I got home I was in a pretty bad place. I wanted to stop breathing. Instead of spiraling though I was mindful enough to know that sleep would help. So I get ready for bed so I could reset for the morning.
I'm proud of myself for not letting work stress ruin my weekend. Not letting the anxiety spiral into depression while feeling like I can't do anything right.
@mtnbiker24
I am glad that things are going well overall in your life.
That you had such a wonderful weekend, with valuable accomplishments in the individual, social and marriage areas of your life.
It seems a well-balanced life, with nourishing connections with yourself, friends, and your husband.
How bad receiving a work email in the middle of the weekend. I use to program an email to be sent Monday morning (with the scheduled email sending feature of g mail, or other services like Boomerang) saying something like "I have received your email and will get back to you asap, etc, etc). And schedule in my calendar to answer back.
Congratulations that you could manage your mood after that overwhelming dinner, calming down and refocusing on sleeping well. This is a great achievement. Getting in the mood to sleep well after feeling stressed out is an invaluable skill very few people have.
You seem to be firmly at the helm of your ship, Even if there might be storms and strong winds, you keep sailing quite smoothly to your chosen destination.
Congratulations!
I wish you the best!
Marcelo.
@HealingTalk
- How have you been feeling these days? i have been feeling so-so like i’m not good but i’m not awful. i just feel off
- How was your weekend, overall? with the activities it has been fine because i feel like it keeps my mind off of thinking about things so i’m distracted
- Which were your best times this weekend? How did you feel about them? being on the boat and going out to the islands and i felt safe kind of because i was with family and being on the boat for me is relaxing and calming
- Which were not-so-good times? How did you feel? being alone and having time to get in my head and getting all messed up and feeling bad and it felt awful .
@katherinecasey00
Hello Katherine!
Thank you for checking in!
It's great that you achieved a stable mood. From that base, you can enjoy many things, like those you told me.
Such a stable mood is much more realistic and valuable than the expectation of living in permanent joy.
Unrealistic expectations can be very damaging. They can make us measure us against an unachievable fantasy, and so make us feel our life is miserable when it's really not.
So I celebrate that you have this spirit of contentment with the real thing, a stable mood that is not fireworks but not a deep pit either.
Sailing with family to some islands sounds wonderful! Sailing is amazing. I like to sail in a very small 1-person boat, a Laser, and it is very healing to me.
Regarding those intrusive negative thoughts that invade your mind when you are alone, with time, by doing therapy and other healing practices, you might dismantle little by little the patterns where they come from.
In the meanwhile, you could use some coping practices like "grounding" to deal with those intrusive thoughts, try to stop them and then focus on other things.
Here there is a good list: Grounding Techniques for Coping With PTSD and Anxiety (verywellmind.com)
Even if you don't have those conditions, they are very useful against intrusive thoughts. Promise!
I thank you again for checking in, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.
All the best!
Marcelo
@HealingTalk I have started to think about telling my parents that I am depressed and not okay, and have ocd, it's really eating me up and I really hate all this. I have been thinking about this for a while now and I know asking for help is not weak and I need help because I don't feel good and it really feels dark,bad I really don't know how to explain this. I have been trying to talk this out of my mind, tell my parents. I am scared, whenever I try to tell, there's a anxiety about what will happen and I just can't tell. I want to tell and get help, even if it's not normal.. I don't know what to do or say anything. I don't know what is all this happening, I just want to be okay and feel normal, that is better, I really don't want my mental health be bad, I want to talk this out.. I am trying to get confidence, I hope to talk about this and get help! I have to get my self together and kick this depression and ocd, etc out of my life!
@Faithmagic
Dear Faithmagic:
Thank you for checking in!
I congratulate you that you have decided to tell your parents about your mental health issues.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of stigma about mental health, so it requires courage to tell others about our condition.
You would not feel the same stigma and resulting anxiety if you were going to tell you have diabetes, for example.
So the anxiety and fears you feel are absolutely normal and to be expected.
As has been said by great leaders in history "Courage is not the lack of fear, but feeling the fear and doing it anyway".
Asking for help when you need it is a sign of strength and wisdom.
And of self-love, because you make this move that is so difficult and scary because you care about yourself.
Regarding the concrete act of telling to your parents, you could first write down what exactly you want to tell them, and edit the text until it is clear, concise and contains the message you have to convey.
Then you could practice and memorize this text, so it comes easily when you start to talk.
You might also tell it first to a very trusted friend, as practice to later tell your parents.
Alternatively, you could write it as a letter and give it to them.
You could say something like "I have something important to tell you, and I thought this would be the best way" while giving them your letter.
I am sharing with you some links to articles and videos that might help you to express yourself. I also suggest that you share them with your parents, to start educating them about these issues.
The websites are from the American Psychiatric Association, the highest authority worldwide on these matters.
I wish you all the luck in the world with this important step you are going to take.
Please feel free to get back to me as many times as you wish by answering this post.
All the best!
Marcelo.
Websites
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What Is Depression? - American Psychiatric Association
https://psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression
What Is OCD? - American Psychiatric Association
Videos
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What is depression? - Ted Ed
What is OCD? - Psych Hub
@HealingTalk
How have you been feeling these days?
Depressed and Stressed and Anxious. Scared. Lonely.
How was your weekend, overall?
Sad. I slept through most of it. I know it's not healthy. But I'm getting through daily. Slowly.
Which were your best times this weekend? How did you feel about them? None this past weekend. It's been a tough time. I'm suffering through grief and depression. When I laugh, I feel guilty and miss the person I lost.
Which were not-so-good times? How did you feel? I have had panic attacks and nightmares. I felt like I deserved it. I'm just not in a good spot. But I'm holding on.
@CatMh1530
Hi!
On top of depression, you are grieving an important loss in your life.
Grieving is a long process. Takes time.
At certain moments you might feel very sad, and at other times you might enjoy something.
Don't feel guilty for starting to enjoy some things again.
The person that you lost would have wished that you felt well, not bad now.
So allow yourself to feel well at times, when it comes naturally.
By grieving, you might start to feel a bit better with time.
Allow this natural process to develop.
And also allow yourself to stay in bed all day from time to time.
I wish you start feeling better.
All the best!
Marcelo.
I haven’t been well at all. I’ve lived on the edge of going off the deep end. I had an emotional breakdown a few days ago where I threw my antidepressants against the wall and smashed my mirror. After putting several holes in the wall, I was forced to calm down because I needed to bandage my wrists. I want to just stop everything but the fear of what’ll happen after I end it is the only thing keeping me away, and little by little I’m struggling to care what lies beyond. I can’t find work. My social anxiety makes it difficult to take most environments. I’ve tried all resources I have. I wish I could just vanish and I’m about to be ready to if nothing happens for me soon.
@Server8462
I am sorry that you had such an intense emotional breakdown. It must have felt awful.
I understand your frustration and anger that your medication doesn't prevent you feel so bad.
Being jobless is very depressing. Society values all of us by our occupation. There is a not deserved, unfair stigma toward the unemployed.
Being unemployed depends of many things out of your control.
You can work on your social anxiety, and little by little you will improve.
I hope you find some peace, calm, and patience during these tough times.
And I wish you all the luck in the world to find a new job, nd in your emotional life.
All the best!
Marcelo.
