Mental Wellness Support Group

[O'BirchRod-ien]

It really sounds like you're up against things from the sounds of your latest posts. I don't know your circumstances, but is there anyone you can call and chat things through with? I know that depression can make everything seem very heavy (believe me), but if you aren't talking or changing routines then the cycles of negative feelings just keep repeating, in my experience.
Hopefully things can turn around soon.

I have a therpist I talk to.

 

[JD]

I took a big step today.
I was petting one of the horses I visit on my bike rides, and her owner came, so I went back to my bike, but she came over the fence and saw me before I left. She waved and said hi, and she seemed pretty friendly, so I decided to try and talk to her. I asked about petting her horse, and she was really nice about it and said it was OK. I even asked and she told me the breed and name of the horse.

 

[Commander Troi]

Excellent @JD!

 

[O'BirchRod-ien]

I'm sorry if my posts are sad or depressing news. I wish could post some happy!

 

[Christmas Canon Spock]

I'm sorry if my posts are sad or depressing news. I wish could post some happy!

Your posts are.

Don't apologize for where you are at.

 

[publiusr]

This is spooky
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-alzheimer-person-today-incredibly.html

Some good news:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-02-patient-happy-brain-implant-epilepsy.html

 

[O'BirchRod-ien]

thoughts in my head feel blunted and dull.

 

[HIjol]

thoughts in my head feel blunted and dull.

Easy for us to write words of support and caring to you...
Hard for us to not be able to help "make it better"

Try to hear and feel the words you read here, and plug them in to blunt the "blunt" and sharpen the "dull"

Good that you have us, but better that you have a professional for support and guidance...

Hang
In
There

 

[O'BirchRod-ien]

I wish I had a therpist that would understand me and not just lecture me but living a small town, choices are very limited!

 

[Fantasy Lover]

I'm sorry, getting a good therapist can do wonders

 

[HIjol]

The Therapy is only as good as the Therapy-Reciever, however.
I still struggle with learning HOW to accept the therapy.
I found myself siding with and making excuses for the person I was in therapy for.
The Therapist said, “don’t do that!”.

The Grey Matter is complicated stuff…

I still do it to this day.

 

[SJGardner]

I've spent almost my entire twenties in therapy, with three different professionals, and only now, several years later, as I'm visiting another one in preparation for medically transitioning, could I finally look back and realize that one of the main reasons I've kept running the same circles and regurgitating the same traumas and issues is that I've been surrounded by toxic people who have been actively damaging my mental health and made me relive those same traumas for basically the entire decade, up to and including a coworker who openly admitted to another team member that they were intentionally trying to make my life a living hell in order to either make me quit or have an emotional breakdown that would get me fired. This isn't a recent incident though, I've been reading diary entries for four years ago and were struck by how I forgot this. Not that I don't have issues anymore, but the perspective that it wasn't just my fault for being lazy and unwilling to do the emotional legwork is quite liberating.

EDIT: To clarify, I forgot that they admitted it; I knew they were doing this because they were really blatant about it. I guess the point I tried to make is I've never made the connection that their actions might have contributed to me not being able to progress in therapy. I just thought that me being overstressed and annoyed with them was just another symptom of the issues I already had.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

I think we all have that problem. When we are up to the eyebrows in problems it is impossible to see what's on the horizon. Once we emerged from the probs, our emotional sight is no longer blocked.
The question is: how can we emerge from our problems far enough to regain our senses and help ourselves?

I suffer from panic attacks and find it almost impossible to get out of them at least far enough to gain a little control. I tend to spiral further down into the fear by being afraid of being afraid.
However, after such an attack I am clear enough again to analyze it and I found that there appears to be a pattern:
When I am tired or when I ate too much sugary stuff these attacks strike mostly and hardest. I am a diabetic but my blood sugar levels don't rise very high (150 at maximum) thanks to a strong liver and very good kidneys that filter all the sugar out. Still, the remainder or the time till the filtering starts seem to be enough to trigger malfunctions in the brain which manifest themselves as fear.

Has anyone else made a similar observation? Is there a connection between diabetes, blood sugar and panic? (There is definitely one between diabetes and depression.)

 

[wayoung]

S.A.D. is really kicking my ass (despite this winter being a joke), along with it being around the anniversary of some of the worst moments of my life,and then some intense work deadlines. There's a reason I did my big international trip last Feb.

 

[Gruß vom Krampus]

I think we all have that problem. When we are up to the eyebrows in problems it is impossible to see what's on the horizon. Once we emerged from the probs, our emotional sight is no longer blocked.
The question is: how can we emerge from our problems far enough to regain our senses and help ourselves?

I suffer from panic attacks and find it almost impossible to get out of them at least far enough to gain a little control. I tend to spiral further down into the fear by being afraid of being afraid.
However, after such an attack I am clear enough again to analyze it and I found that there appears to be a pattern:
When I am tired or when I ate too much sugary stuff these attacks strike mostly and hardest. I am a diabetic but my blood sugar levels don't rise very high (150 at maximum) thanks to a strong liver and very good kidneys that filter all the sugar out. Still, the remainder or the time till the filtering starts seem to be enough to trigger malfunctions in the brain which manifest themselves as fear.

Has anyone else made a similar observation? Is there a connection between diabetes, blood sugar and panic? (There is definitely one between diabetes and depression.)

I'm diabetic too, and I wish I had better A1C. It's hovered over 8% within the past year, and I'm trying to manage it with meds, exercise, and proper diet. Although I have to say, the issue is my diet isn't always proper. I enjoy sweets and often dine out.

Stress has been known to increase one's blood glucose, but I'm surprised in your case, @rhubarbodendron, you've managed to keep yours down even with the panic attacks. You're managing your diabetes better than I am.

 

[Christmas Canon Spock]

S.A.D. is really kicking my ass (despite this winter being a joke), along with it being around the anniversary of some of the worst moments of my life,and then some intense work deadlines. There's a reason I did my big international trip last Feb.

Depending on ethnic background low Vitamin D and sunlight can still impact SAD regardless of winter weather.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

I had no idea SAD had an ethnic component. Maybe it is an artefact. Many Hispanics, AA or NA people earn less than people with European roots. This way they don't get such good nourishment and have less time to spend in the sun (both literally and figuratively).

@Gryffindorian, my Hba1c is between 5.6 and 6.1. I am usually very disciplined when it comes to carbs. Except for certain chocolates (Reeses buttercups, for example). What keeps my blood sugar low is mostly my good kidneys that filter the surplus sugar out. Plus my job is physically demanding so that I burn more sugar than for example a desk worker. My main prob is a pronounced insulin resistance. In an oral glucose tolerance test I usually score 290 after 1 hour and 284 after 2 And I hardly ever have sugar levels under 120. My nerves don't take that well and I have numb areas in hands, feet and legs as well as eye problems. That's why I suspect the anxiety to also be a nerve tissue damage

 

[Christmas Canon Spock]

had no idea SAD had an ethnic component. Maybe it is an artefact. Many Hispanics, AA or NA people earn less than people with European roots. This way they don't get such good nourishment and have less time to spend in the sun (both literally and figuratively).

Research on absorption and maintaing healthy levels all year around, specifically in UK Caucasian populations.

Link with depression and anxiety and Vitamin D.

 

[wayoung]

Depending on ethnic background low Vitamin D and sunlight can still impact SAD regardless of winter weather.

Yeah I take two doses of D in the winter and one the rest of the year since I'm in Canada and it's the general opinion of a few medical professionals I've spoke to that everyone in Canada should be taking D everyday all year long. I can't recall the dosage each pill is off hand.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

In summer it seems to me to be unneccesary. After all, you have midnight sun then.
I live at about the same latitude as Prince George (so a maximum of 18 hours light per day) and our docs recommend D only in winter. 20 mins even in the shade are perfectly sufficient for human skin to produce as much vitamin D as we need for a day.
Tip: take vit D in the evening, preferably with a glass of milk. The milk improves the vitamin D uptake by about 25%.