[Tucson]

I am in a pickle. I have too many auto accidents to qualify for car insurance. If my current insurer drops me, then I may not be driving for a few years. Driving is very important to me, for it helps to maintain my sanity. Now this may be no more. I will have to deal with both this situation and all the depression that comes with it.

What do you do to cope with constantly living at home? What about the need to interact with other people? This is all very depressing to me.

Do you have access to public transit? Or is there anything in walking distance?

[Tucson]

I can walk to a bus stop that a few times during the day will take me close to the downtown area. I have some stores about a mile from me. Most of them are uninteresting, and I do not have much money for the rest. I guess I can window shop. I wish I had a restaurant to go to for a cup of coffee. There is one a couple miles away. I do not think I can walk there. Maybe one of these days, when I am in better physical shape, I will be able to get there.

[jtassar93]

Well I'm the opposite. I can't drive. I hate driving. It gives me anxiety. I'm sorry you can't though. I pretty much leave my house once a month so I guess I'm homebound. I'm usually home alone too. I get lonely all the time. I have no advice on how to interact with people because the internet is all I have.

What do I do with my 24 hours a day all month? I sleep mostly. I clean if I'm in an okay mood. I watch Netflix. I found an online game I like to play where I get to interact with other people. They're mostly children, 9-15, but it's a game and it's still fun to talk to someone. I don't really have great advice because I'm dealing with it too.

Good luck.

[Tucson]

I imagine I can find something to do on the Internet. There should be some interest groups that I can join. Is there still IRC chat? I remember about when it first started to be used on the Internet. I used it back then. IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. I guess this has been replaced by web based chat rooms such as the ones we have here.

This may be a great opportunity to begin exercising at home, there are many free videos on YouTube. Being able to walk a couple miles is a great goal to achieve, and you would not be so dependent on a vehicle. I highly recommend Leslie Sansone walking videos on YouTube for beginner exercisers or older individuals.

[Tucson]

Exersize? Blah. Seriously though, that may be a good idea. Walking to music may be fun. I can check out those videos.

I'm not home bound at the moment, but I do understand it. I read books, lots of books. Listen to music and dance. Chat with friends. Cook. Crochet. Exercise. Watch movies. Take long baths. Its a good chance to try new things.

I don't know where you live, but if it's not extremely cold, starting to walk every day would get you closer to the two mile destination you said would be attractive. If you are experiencing cold winter, know that it's going to start to pass in a few months. In the meantime, you can spend time at home in a variety of ways. I can drive, but I am mostly at home on disability. I have derived a lot of pleasure from various things, like my blog (on Wordpress), forums like this, TV/movies, my pet, reading, keeping the house nice, getting creative with cooking, gardening (in the warm months), home projects, and hobbies of various sorts. Can you paint/draw, play an instrument, do puzzles or adult coloring, arrange flowers, organize your house, make jewelry, other?

I don't have a lot of money to spend outside my home, but I do go to places nearby where I can see people who are happy I came. You don't have to spend a lot. The price of a Diet Coke, small house coffee, cookie, slice of pizza, other?

Another thing I've done is do online studies. I know that online college studies can be extremely pricey, but some online adult school classes, aren't too bad. If you can afford $90 for 6-8 weeks, there are options. You learn something new, and interact online with a teacher and other online students. These options are available through local adult schools, or directly through places like ed2go.com

[Tucson]

You have some great ideas. Maybe being home bound is not going to be as bad as it seems it will. I do need to get a part time job. So that problem I will have to figure out, but I hav.e no immediate.e need for money.

[99fairies]

I'm always home. I go to my pdoc appointments every 3 weeks but thats it. IRL I have social anxiety.

[emgreen]

Originally Posted by scaredandconfused

This may be a great opportunity to begin exercising at home, there are many free videos on YouTube. Being able to walk a couple miles is a great goal to achieve, and you would not be so dependent on a vehicle. I highly recommend Leslie Sansone walking videos on YouTube for beginner exercisers or older individuals.

My girlfriend does the Leslie Sansone videos on YouTube. There are sexier & more rigorous instructors on YouTube, though. Even if you don't participate, there's no harm in looking! It's like porn without the tackiness...

Or, you can just smile at my smartarse comments. I hope you're able to work something else out. Good luck!

[99fairies]

I have something to add. The last two days I've gone with my husband to pick the kids up from school. They were so excited to see me there and I met their teachers for the first time this year. It pushed me out of my comfort zone, but it's progress.

[Pookyl]

I am fairly house bound primarily due to anxiety as well as generally being unwell with a whole lot of non bipolar related issues. I do force myself to go out every day and feel better for it (usually).

Suggestions that have worked for me:
- got my physio do up an exercise program (taking into account my limitations). I can do this in my apartment and if I’m thorough it takes 2 hours.
- go for a walk outside. Even if it’s only for 5 min.
- if you just want to curl up then set an alarm to go off every 1-2 hours and change location. You may spend 2hrs in bed, followed by 2 hrs on the sofa, 2hrs on an armchair.
- only watch what you want to watch on tv.
- do things that maintain cognition e.g. puzzles, memory games. This is a big thing for me because I’m quite convinced that bipolar has made me stupid.
- create brightness indoors by using lights as needed.
- ask your therapist to help you create a ‘lucky dip’ box. Write activities on paper. Fold the papers and put in box. When looking for things to do pull out a paper from the lucky dip box.

[sonjaward809]

I'm currently home bound because my car is broken down, the only time I get out is if I walk to the gas station or if my family comes by and takes me places. Which really sucks because I've missed appointments due to my car not working. I have no way of getting to them because all of my family works during the day and it's wayy too far to walk. It would take me like 2-3 hours to get to the clinic I go to and my back would start hurting really bad if I tried. Heck it hurts when I walk up the street to the gas station, so walking to the clinic is out of the question for me. My brother will be in town on the 2nd though, and he is going to have a mechanic look at my car so *crosses fingers* it will get fixed. But until then I'm stuck.

[Victoria'smom]

What about getting a bike? Then you can bike to the coffee shop or a store? If anything happens to the car or my husband then I'd be home bound. Do you have a pet? What about taking up coloring or painting?