#but that's a tangent from my 10 years of being in cbt and hating it (besides this. this lesson really is helpful imo)

[uncanny-tranny]

You know, the simplest thing I do to maintain hope and also acknowledge my emotions is to add a "yet" to whatever I want to complain to myself about.

"I'm not done being angry... yet"

"I'm not ready to let this go yet"

"I'm not happy yet"

I definitely think it can be toxic to refuse to acknowledge negative emotions, but it can be helpful to remind yourself that there is hope and that negative experiences do pass. You don't have to "get over" negative emotions because it's a bad thing to have "negative" emotions, not at all, and please don't use this post to guilt yourself over negative or uncomfortable feelings. Just know... it's okay to be hopeful, it isn't foolish to wish for a good future for yourself

#mental health #mental health advocacy #this is the one thing about cbtherapy i actually like #didn't want to end it at cbt because y'all are weirdos (joking) #but like... i do think cbt has its place but that so often it's treated as the One Option For Being Cured and i think it's dumb #but that's a tangent from my 10 years of being in cbt and hating it (besides this. this lesson really is helpful imo) #talking about this a lot huh. but we fuckin BALL yo

[uncloseted]

i have a seriously annoying problem and i don't know what to do. so, i've been depressed for a very long time now, have done therapy twice and quit, and now i wanna seek help again because i'm really fucking scared that if i don't do anything i'll stay like this forever and not get ahead in life. and with not getting ahead in life i mean: i'm currently 18, and about a month ago i got a job, the 2nd one in my life, and i already wanna quit. the reason why this is so bad to me is, when i was 16 i got my first job and stopped after 3 months just because i'm so unmotivated. now it's 2 years later, i'm finally working again, but something is just soooo off with me. no matter how hard i try, i'm so unmotivated in everything i do. and i know that the easy answer is that it's probably that i haven't found a thing that i like doing, but i know that's not it. it's literally just working that i hate. i know that no matter what i do, i'm gonna hate doing it. and wanting to quit is especially hard for me, because i've been fucking up my life consistently, and my parents are proud that i'm working again. now like i said, i've been thinking about going to therapy again, but i also wanna quit my job, at least til i'm in a better headspace. because i honestly think that i'm gonna go insane if i do school, work, and therapy at the same time. now my question is, do you think that's the best solution? or what would you do? should i just try to suck it up and continue to work while i get better during therapy?

First and foremost, I think it sounds like you need to work on recovering from your depression.  I know that’s easier said than done, but there are a lot of things that you can try.  Talk therapy can be great for a lot of people, but it’s not the only option, and it’s really important to have a therapist you connect with in order for it to work.  It may take trying out a few different therapists (or a lot of different therapists) before you find the one for you, and that’s totally normal and okay.  It’s also important to try different types of therapy.  Maybe you’ve tried narrative therapy and that hasn’t clicked with you, but ACT or CBT therapy will.

If you haven’t already, I would also consider meeting with a psychiatrist or your primary care physician to talk about medication.  Talk therapy and medication combined works better than either one on its own.  Like with finding a therapist, it make take a few different tries before you find a medication that works for you.  Don’t be afraid to let your psychiatrist know if you’re not feeling better or if you’re having side effects.

If you’ve been through several different medications and none of them have worked, you may have what’s called “treatment-resistant depression”.  If that’s the case, there are a lot of experimental treatments you can try.  Clinical psychedelic treatments (ketamine being the most common and well-researched, but also psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, and MDMA) can make a really big difference for people who are depressed, and oftentimes are faster-acting than their traditional SSRI counterparts.  Other interventions, like ECT, TMS, and VNS, have been shown to reduce symptoms of depression as well.

Finally, and I hate to be this person because I know how frustrating it is to get this advice, but lifestyle changes can go a big way to improving mood and reducing depressive symptoms.  In one study, 90% of clinically people who exercised for 30 minutes, three times a week recovered from their depression by the ten week mark.  For comparison, only about 50% of the control group (who were taking Zoloft), were in remission by 10 weeks.  Exercise also boosts your cognitive functioning and will help you be healthier for longer as you get older.  This doesn’t need to be intense exercise, either- walking, playing a pickup game of a sport you like, riding a bike, doing yoga or pilates videos online, dancing, whatever you can get yourself to do is better than nothing.

Sleep is the other big lifestyle change that impacts depression.  Seven to eight hours of sleep a night will significantly boost your happiness and well-being.  Like with exercise, it will also boost your cognitive performance and will help you be more focused and motivated.

There are other lifestyle habits that are good to put in place, like meditating once a day, practicing gratitude, actively doing kind things for other people (such as volunteer work), ensuring that you have regular social interaction, and working towards long term goals, but if you’re looking for the biggest bang for your buck, sleep and exercise are your best bet. 

This all probably sounds like a huge tangent from your actual question, but I promise it’s not.  If you can improve your mood, you’ll feel more motivated to work and, importantly, more capable of working.  I would also try to think of work as something that’s not binary (you’re either working or you’re not).  Can you reduce the hours that you’re working so that you have more time for school and therapy sessions?  Are there aspects of your job that are easier than others that you could request to do more frequently?  Is there a job that would provide you with more flexibility or at least suck a little bit less?  Maybe not working at all isn’t an option for you right now, but you might be able to find a way to make it less difficult.

#Anonymous #effys-closet #effys closet