[Espurr1989]

I started working full-time about a month ago and it has helped me get on a better sleep/wake schedule and is giving me opportunities to step out of my comfort zone and meet other people who live with mental illness. (I am an activity therapist for a day treatment.) But the flip side is that I have a lot of added stress and my anxiety has been up, and the ups and downs have been a little more pronounced as a result. It's getting on my husband's nerves a little bit, even though later he apologizes and says he wants to be more supportive.

I stumbled upon something I hadn't really looked into much after suffering a mini anxiety attack this morning. It is called self-soothing and self-compassion. I have had people tell me growing up that I needed to stop beating myself up, but I never really understood how to go about that. We know that we must replace a negative behavior with a positive one. I think these new methods I've found could really help me calm down and start to feel okay with myself. Has anyone else explored this? What did you do? How did it affect your psyche?

[HALLIEBETH87]

Haven't heard those terms but we talk about it in DBT. Good luck!!

[Coffeee]

I also haven't heard of those but I'm glad it seems to be a good choice for you.

[Anxiousvalkyrie]

I'd be curious to hear from people with experience in this. I've heard of it bu never explored it.

[Unrigged64072835]

I used to have a self-soothing kit when I was in DBT. It's basically using the five senses to calm you down. So having a soft blanket, a piece of your favorite food, a candle in a scent that you like, etc. are means to self-soothe.

Compassion to me is being more nurturing with myself, especially during those times that normally make me cringe, feel anxious, or feel guilty. I remember that I do have an illness and that sometimes I do things that are out of control. It's not me, it's the illness that I have. It helps reframe things that I did or have happen to me. It makes me more caring for myself, that I am human and slip up and that's okay.

[OctobersBlackRose]

I'm in DBT and I've heard of self-soothing, but not compassion (at least yet), we actually just to finished making our self-soothing kits 2 weeks ago, in mine I have chocolate, some perfume, a couple of pictures from my marching band days, and a puffer ball thingy which lights up, for sound I use my phone, but Im not putting that in the box. And I am big on self-soothing as well, having taught myself the skills before even being in DBT, just didn't know the name for it at the time. Hope.this helps.

[Espurr1989]

Yeah, I am starting to see and to believe that even though it seems that other people can be harsh and not understanding to what I'm going through, it's ultimately myself that has been making life stressors and bipolar symptoms so much more traumatic than it has to be. Like how can I expect others to treat me to kindness when they honestly don't know what I'm going through when I myself am not going to be kind to myself when one completely understand exactly what I'm going through. The others may just be following my lead in being hard on myself.

I am going to find more self-soothing objects for my bedroom, which is my safe space. Last night I put on lotion after my shower, which I almost never do, and I tried to put all of the gentleness I could into the process. I want to get seasonal scented candles, body wash, and lotions after I use up what I already have.

Got a book on this topic, and the exercise I'm on suggests writing a letter to myself accepting all the emotions and struggles that I normally would beat myself up over. I'm going to work on that sometime soon. It feels so good to know that there are things I can do to give myself some relief when I'm experiencing something painful.

[Fuzzybear]