coping mechanisms

[deleted3782]

The only problem is Exwhyzee, is that I find EVERYTHING stressful... lol... from thinking too much about something; or too little to going out to buy a packet of ciggies...

I guess that's where having my short attention span comes in handy. If I'm stressed I can escape by rolling the windows down, driving fast, and listening to Blondie.

 

[VernalTiger]

This is what I thought too before I got hit with a depressive episode that lasted for 9 years, and has left me with ongoing anxieties of various types. I'd had temporary miserable phases before that, but they were just normal reactions to miserable situations - they were not depression. If asked, my family would have been convinced that I would have been the last person to develop mental illness. I didn't appreciate how lucky I was not to have had mental health issues. Nor did I ever think it could happen to me.

This isn't a dig at you, VT :smile:. You just struck a chord with me - you sound just like me pre-depression! Part of me wishes I could send younger-me a message not to get too comfortable. The rest is just glad that younger-me got to thoroughly enjoy the pre-depression period of my life in a way that would be impossible for me now. Now I always have a little bit of fear inside me. A sense of terror that I might one day got back to that depressive place again. I'm glad that younger-me got to exist without that fear.

Apologies for the ramble. And again, not directed at you VT :smile:.

Oh, I didn't feel that you were attacking me for a moment!

Thank you for sharing your story, SG. Just wondering though - if you could have told your younger self to "not get too comfortable", do you mean that you should enjoy it while you can, or to pay more attention to the hard lessons of life?

 

[B_Nia88]

shopping. retail therapy

 

[pursine]

For me its usually self harm. I've tried to OD on pills like 4 times this year and I know I need to stop it

That is not a coping mechanism, I think you need to get help--seriously! You need to talk though your problems, that is stage one of discovering coping mechanisms. If you are in your early 20s things get better I promise they do.

 

[deleted15807]

Daily booze

 

[B_subgirrl]

Oh, I didn't feel that you were attacking me for a moment!

Thank you for sharing your story, SG. Just wondering though - if you could have told your younger self to "not get too comfortable", do you mean that you should enjoy it while you can, or to pay more attention to the hard lessons of life?

I'm glad it didn't come across badly!

I can't count and missed the edit window - my depression only lasted for 8 years.

I think my 'don't get too comfortable message' to younger me would be mostly 'stop being so arrogant'!!! While I had sympathy for people with mental illness, it was always in a 'it will never happen to me' kind of way. I was kind of distant from it, and I thought I would always be distant from it. It's not that I thought I was better than them, but . . . I don't know. It's hard to describe. Maybe I DID think I was better (or at least more psychologically skilled, or luckier). I hope not, but I acknowledge the possibility. I think I was really just lacking in true understanding. I certainly believed that depression was more controllable than it really is, and that if you fixed the problems, the depression would go away. So I guess I would tell me to stop for a moment and genuinely try to understand. And I would tell me to enjoy it while I could!

 

[D_Hairy Truman]

Coping now?: Washing dishes, putting dishes away (speed of accomplishment of task directly proportional to anger level: more angry=faster done, lol), Vacuuming or cleaning house in general, doing laundry (oddly therapeutic), walking, swimming, talking to friends about things (those few of you here who I have spoken with on phone or IM will know about that. You all should receive a medal! LOL), taking care if the pets, weeding, doing the pool maintenance, going for slow drives, masturbating, sex...

I am sure I am forgetting somethings...

what i'm trying to do now