So I've been reading a book about bipolar disorder! Which is fantastic because knowledge is power!!! I am learning so much and I've been sharing a lot with my mom and we have talked a lot about things!!! She was the one that told me that I should share because what I'm reading I think has so much to do with so many people because depression is a REAL thing and it happens to quite a few of us, lots of times I don't think we even realize what is happening.
I've been reading about stress and anxiety which turns out I have a lot of that going on lately!!! haha! I am grateful that I have so many resources in my life so I can keep learning more and more!!! But let me share with you what I've read! It is good for everyone!!!
Feeling Overwhelmed
- Do you know exactly what to do, but can't make yourself do it?
- When you begin to face a difficult task, do you immediately think about all the parts that need to be accomplished and feel exhausted and discourages before you even start?
- Does it seem like more than you can handle right now?
-Does this make you procrastinate and put things off much longer than you should?
If this sounds like you, you're probably getting overwhelmed too easily. Giving up on or avoiding chores altogether usually results in getting further and further behind. Knowing that chores are staking up can worsen your depression, especially if it makes you feel bad about yourself. Here's how it works:
-When you get overwhelmed, you're often telling yourself, "I can't handle it," and you feel extremely tense. When you walk away from a task, you're telling yourself, "you'll be OK now that you got away from it," and you feel more relaxed.
- You are accidentally teaching yourself that doing touch tasks is stressful or bad and walking away from them makes you feel better. This means that the next time you are faced with a difficult problem, you are more likely to walk away than to handle it.
- In the process you begin to lose your self-confidence.
-When your confidence is low, you are less likely to make yourself deal with stressful situations.
-In the meantime, problems or tasks can get bigger and harder to handle.
-All of this makes you feel more depressed.
THE BEST WAY TO HANDLE THIS SITUATION IS TO BREAK IT DOWN AND TAKE IT ON!!!!
(the bipolar workbook...Monica Ramirez Basco, PhD)
I look at what she's saying in this book and I realized how far I have come... BUT also still how much I get to learn from everything that is happening!!! I am learning how to cope, how to adjust my life, and how to put more positives into my life while the negatives just kind of fall out!
Making Yourself Less Vulnerable
Increasing Positives
When you're trying to make changes in your life and control your mood swings, it's much easier to ad positives than to take away negatives. For example, picking up a new healthy habit and adding it to your routine can always be accomplished more easily than breaking a bad habit. After you have mastered the previous section and learned how to not make matters worse, focus your attention on trying to increase positives in your life. that includes positive people, positive experiences, improved sleep, and developing healthy habits.!!!
(the bipolar workbook... Monica Ramirez Basco, PhD)
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! I love learning things about myself and realizing that I can have so much more control knowing what is going on with me! I know that there are so many people that suffer from depression and anxiety...
I used to hear about people that did and not that I thought "less" of them but I didn't know what to think... I didn't know how to act or what to do... I know am learning and coping with the things that are happening in my life and figuring out how to act around myself!!! hahaha
Challenge
Figure out how you handle yourself in stressful situations! Make a plan and try to stick to it! Prioritize... make lists! Do whatever you need to do to make your life just a little bit easier, WHILE doing the hard things!!! I hope whoever reads this gets a little bit out of it! I know that it opened my eyes a lot and I'll be able to handle myself differently from now on!!!
Thanks for reading!!! :)
Camille Hansen
