Everything is going wrong!

I'm currently changing medication (cymbalta to celexa) which sucks enough as it is as I'm feeling really unwell. It's Uni exam time at the moment and we've had practical exams, which I've had to resit since I failed them. Now I don't think I'll pass the theory ones because I can't concentrate. Then, I find out my boyfriend of 6 years has been cheating on me and we broke up, which is killing me. The doctors still can't find an answer as to why I've had severe pain in my foot for 3 years. And to top it all off, at work a customer put in a complaint to head office, all because all I was doing was following the company policy and my boss berated me for not "handling it the right way" when all I did was apologise.

I feel like absolute crap. I feel like I can't do this anymore and I just hate everything. I'm not coping and I just feel like I cannot keep going. Does anyone have any suggestions to help with positive thinking throughout this hard time or anything they find helps them feel better? I'm really struggling and everything hurts.

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I'm sorry that you're struggling, hurting. You've got so much going on, I think I have to make a list:

0. Depression (since you are in the depression section)
1. Severe foot pain unexplained by your docs
2. Can't concentrate
3. Failing practice exams
4. Changing meds and feeling sick from that
5. Boyfriend of 6 years cheating on you, broke up
6. In trouble at work

That's a lot of stuff. Since you're in the depression section, these things are probably swimming through your head constantly going from one to another to another constantly stressing you out.

Here are a few things that occurs to me:

There is no way for you to be at your best for your exams. If you have a way of postponing the course or dropping out that is practical, I would consider that, just to lower your load. It takes a lot of energy to take courses and a lot of energy to be at work, and stress just turns your brain off. There is going to be no way for you to be at your best. If you have to go through with it anyway, just give yourself an internal break about it. You're not at your best, the exams are probably not going to go well.

For immediate ways to feel better, the first thing I think of is that severe foot pain. Do your doctors really just shrug their shoulders? If so, I would as for a referral to a physical therapist. I wouldn't give up on something like that. There must be something you can do about it.

To calm yourself down, I would suggest consciously aiming yourself for pure sensory experiences where you can just use your senses and stop thinking so much for a while. Go for a walk, see the Fall colors deeply, hear, taste, smell and touch things. Feel the brisk air. Feel your body move as you walk. Your senses are on your side. They are trying to help. Try living "in the present moment" if you can. Ignore the past and the future and just deal with what is immediately in front of you right now.

I would suggest reading this and giving "snap club" a try:

http://egg.bu.edu/~youssef/SNAP_CLUB...0164151576.pdf

It's easy and fun and at least sometimes can work wonders quickly (see http://forums.psychcentral.com/4715237-post156.html for instance).

Notice that I put your boyfriend low down on your list of problems. If he's going to cheat on you, you're lucky to be rid of him !!

- vital

Vital, thank you so much for your kind words. I think I'm going to try all of what you said! It sucks right now, but I need to try and not focus on that! Thank you again xx

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