Anybody that really knows me well will know that the last few months haven’t exactly been the easiest.  Being made redundant, being owed a fair amount of money and not knowing where to go next has really taken its toll on my mental state.

I know we all have to face a tremendous amount of anxiety and stress in our everyday lives and I’ve struggled to stay away from the doctor and avoid the old medication!  I’ve been there before many years ago and it isn’t always the right thing.  Its great short term but eventually you have to come off it.

The hardest part of all is recognizing the root cause of our anxiety and then base how we deal with it around this cause. 

We need to relax and try to forget our symptoms for a while, try and chill out and with a bit of clarity we can reorganize ourselves (and our brains!) into a more logical process.

 
My biggest problem is re-acting the wrong way too quickly.  I never sit down and take time to react the way I should.  I steam in and suffer the consequences.  I’m learning to take the day a bit slower in my head.  Nothing needs dealing with within 30 seconds does it?  Not really, when we think about it logically.  I have to say I have great support in my husband who (rather annoyingly) has the most logical brain I’ve ever come across! 

Take up something new.  Yoga, meditation classes, have the radio on more and get stuck into a good book.  It does do wonders for taking yourself out of things.  I have taken to just sitting for 5/10 minutes with a cup of tea and listening to the silence (not that I get it very often with 5 in the house!)  Time out is most important.
A good walk and fresh air on a daily basis really makes you feel great and never more so than in the rain I’ve found.  Oxygen feeds the brain and consequently wakens you up and makes you feel alive. Healthy eating and a really good night sleep will also help tremendously.  I just need to get my 5 year old to stop waking just after 5.00am every morning.

What’s really given me a great boost this week is that I’ve LOST WEIGHT!!  Yippy!   I keep playing at my diet, good days, bad days, but last week decided to stick to it like glue and hey presto, ½ stone lost.  It’s great for my mental state and much better for me than medication!

The most important thing of all ‘POSITIVE THINKING’, not something I’m brilliant at but I’m trying so much more than before.  I’ve decided to throw myself into something new this week and I’m doing a three day training course for care work.  I’m going to put a bit back into the community and occupy my mind with other people instead of myself.

Obviously, it doesn’t always work this way and if you really need help then go see the doctor, that’s what they are there for.  For me, I’m going to stay away from him for a while and I’m sure things will improve tremendously.