What's your very best strategy?

Hi folks,

On a positive note for 2006, I would like to know what your very best strategies are for reducing your symptoms, whatever your diagnosis.

Just to be clear, I am talking about non - destructive strategies here, so I wouldn't include drinking a bottle of Southern Comfort as a strategy; I'm thinking of gentler things!

My best strategy is 'time out' from responsibilities and sleeping late in the mornings. I'd give that an A+ in my book.
My next best is posting here at PC.

Cheers, M-optimistic

i'm not proud of my coping strategy. when things get really, really bad, i take a med and sleep for hours and hours. i wish that i could do better than that, but right now that's about all i've got.

I sleep, too. When I'm frazzled, I need the rest and then things are a bit better.

Cheers!

Jan

1.

Yes, I sleep as well.

In addition, I like to keep myself busy. I was painting figurines for a while which really helped so much. I got a chance to create and stay busy and I really enjoyed it.

I recently (last week) bought a sewing machine. I AM NOT A SEWER. I never have been. I just had this urge to create something with my little hands and I went to Wal-Mart and bought a cheapie. I also bought some fabric and starting sewing pillows. (Ok, so I have minimal sewing skills). I think I sewed a sweatshirt in high school.

I also love to take pictures. I will take pictures of anything really that I find interesting. I like to get surprize shots of people and I like nature, like, colorful flowers, tall trees (hardley any in tx ) and I absolutly LOVE taking pictures of the SKY. I love it.

All these thing bring me inner peace and and that helps me cope with my anxiety, depression and OCD.

I have gotten in touch with my create side this past year and I think it has really helped me through some rough times.

This is a great thread Myzen. I know alot of people try different things to cope with their DX's and not one thing works for everyone.

In the beginning I tried the text book things to get through, but as I have "evolved" I have taken on other things to calm my mind, body and soul.

Huggles,


Jen

I pretty much sleep, sometimes listening to music helps or I come and chat here at psychcentral.

Hi folks,

Good grief, sleep is certainly going to be in the top ten. It's not over yet though, maybe we should have made this into a poll? I don't know how to do that, and we would need to know all the alternatives before making the poll anyway.

Cheers, e

Sleep, for me is not a possitive... usually. Somewhere alonag the line I picked up "guilt" when I sleep during the day. It's a last resort here. But there are times when it's absolutely needed... like recently, dealing with the premature birth of my grandson and everything else that goes along with it... like avoiding at all costs, his mother and my granddaughter.

Most of the time, I try to stay busy, if not with my hands, then with my mind. But...

I find gardening great therapy. There's something theraputic in getting my hands muddy.

Since I've had my new place, I find fixing it up, arranging and rearranging things helps me. Sometimes, I just have to shut my brain off and just plug along without thinking anything. When I'm done with one thing, I'll look at what I've done and Allow the self-satisfaction and pride to come through.

There's a mountain of unstarted or unfinished crafts that I'm slowly getting organized in my closet. I figure if I sort out the materials to at least three unstarted crafts, I've accomplished something. At least, I'm reminded of what I've got and I've looked at pretty colors and had some neat visuals of the finished product.

Right now, hubby and I are involved in scanning and copying to CD all of the pictures we have in our possesion. It's a boring process unless we scan a pic that reminds us of a good time we had. That's when it stops being a "no brainer."

Right now... if I can manage to pull myself away from here ... I'm gonna check out the worm beds. Hubby insists on doing it HIS way.

*raises hand* sleep as well

I also get lost in books, literally. When I read, I shut myself off completely and the book I'm reading becomes more real than me. A great, safe way for me to really 'get away' from things I'm feeling or trying to deal with.

Music can help...but its also a constant--it plays the whole time I am awake...so not as strong as other things usually.

I used to do beading and quillwork...but those have been eliminated by RA, for me.

I also come here, especially to chat. Even if I don't talk much, I don't feel so alone--I have company at the least.

Love the idea of this thread, Myzen!

I will say I sleep sometimes, but more often than not, it's not because I want to reduce anxiety (in fact, anxiety generally keeps me from sleeping). Sometimes it is a way of dealing with depression, but I don't usually go to sleep because I'm depressed; rather, I go to bed whenever "it's time" (my sleep hours change, because I'm sometimes up late, or can't sleep, or whatever, and I might end up sleeping during the day), and then I have a hard time getting up. I wake up several times, and it's hard to make myself get up, even if I've slept for 10 or more hours. Part of this is because I don't want to deal with whatever it is I have to do (or don't have anything exciting to do) that day, also because I just feel drowsy, regardless of all the sleep I've had, the bed is warm and it's chilly outside of the covers, and I often know there are things I want to get done, but I just don't "feel like" getting up. I feel guilty when I do this, and when I sleep during the day, a lot of the time, too, SeptemberMorn.

But I have other coping strategies, too. I read, watch TV (if I'm anxious in the middle of the night, it often eases my anxiety to get up and quietly watch TV until it passes), try to get my mind off what's bothering me. I have these moments when I'll think of something that makes me extremely upset or depressed. It's not always by choice...more like, I'll be thinking of one thing, and it leads to the bad things without me intending to think of those things. Anyway, when I become aware of what I'm doing, I'll tell myself to "Stop it!" or "Ok, stop thinking of that," or something like that, and try to get my mind on something else.

When I'm about to have a severe panic attack, I start talking to myself: "It's ok, it's ok. You're all right. Calm down. Take it easy," and so on. But it doesn't always work when a severe attack is close.

Talking to other people can help, but I don't always have someone to talk to.

When I'm depressed, I post to email lists, message boards (like this one, and like I did a few days ago), etc. It helps to talk, although I'm tired of talking, and want solutions.

I like crafting, but I'm not a crafter. I get really enthused about trying something or learning something, but after a time, I want to do something else. I think I have ADD. It's not just crafts that I'm like this with. My last interest was beading. I learned a few stitches, but that's about it.

Jen, I'm not a sewer, either, although I get interested in doing it every now and then. I've never been good at it, or known much. I especially hate measuring, anyway. I had a sewing machine as a teen...we did some sewing in home ec, and I was going to make dresses and shirts and--oh,my!--all kinds of things. Never happened. I hope you have better luck than I did. I have an aunt who sews and sews and sews. She makes these really nice rabbits. I just don't have the patience.

I've finished two, maybe three latchhook kits in my time. I remember one I only had a few more rows to go and quit. I did sew one of the finished ones into a pillow for my sister. The kit was a rose image.

I don't do it much, and don't have enough of the subjects I'd like, but I like photography, too. Well, I like taking pictures...don't care so much about learning real photography, even though my boyfriend knows a bit about it; it's a hobby of his. Jen, my favorite subject is animals.

I read aswell sometimes, i can get lost in a book for hours and shut everything out.

The thing I do when I'm upset about anything...big or small...is I get online! I surf and post and surf and post till I'm no longer upset!

i'm a passionate book lover so i read and forget about the rest of the world.or......i do sudoku puzzles.......but sometimes they can be frustrating.....lol

bubble baths
listen to music
journaling
poetry
painting,
sketching
dot arts
play with play dough/clays
crafts
take a walk
biking
play with my son's cat
watch a movie
read a book
Listen to tape recordings of a couple friends
Therapist is in process of making me a tape recording of relaxation exercises
drink Cocoa Sleigh rides
Set a goal and when I reach it treat myself to something I wouldn't normally do or have.
call or email a friend
Contact members from various support and therapy groups I have been in and still have contact with.
play games both in real life and on line

The list goes on.....

Bubble Bath !!!!

I grab mans best friend.... my 2-yr old pitbull and go for a walk around the lake. Both of us like to watch the ducks and chase the squirrels.

Or - I go sit outside in the woods and watch Mother Nature at her best... the Wind speaks if one will but listen.

LoVe,
Rhapsody -

One of the keys for me is getting outside while the sun is up (the higher the better) and doing some kind of exercise - walking, biking etc.

Bubble baths are good too. Especially with a book on tape. Reading is good too, and listening to music.

Sleep is another one. I'm constantly sleep-deprived because I stay up at night doing homework, and don't usually get to sleep in and make up for it. It's amazing how much better I feel when I get caught up on sleep. Back when I didn't have to be anywhere during the day, sometimes I couldn't tell the difference between being cold or being depressed. My solution to either one was to go to bed.

Knitting or other crafts, social contact, helping someone else, learning something, etc., and generally staying busy, are a few more of my strategies.

I can't believe I forgot to mention my animals. I wish that I were still involved with them more than I am now. My kids have animals now. But I curl up with the dogs and cats, and they keep me warm and make me feel loved. The outdoor animals are still great to watch and hug and love. Birds too. My husband has set up a bird feeder and thistle sock, and he's getting lots of customers - mostly sparrows and finches. Watching them is calming.

Hi folks,

I'm suprised that animals haven't been mentioned so much. Stroking a dog or a cat is thought to be a therapy in itself.

We have squirrels in the trees around our house, and I love to watch them chasing each other around.

Cheers, M

immediate relief is shutting down, relaxing, avoiding, or sleeping

long-term relief is doing something productive, like accomplishing something i've procrastinated

I'd love to be able to read like I used to and "get lost" in the books, but as much as I love reading, it doesn't seem to be the case anymore, even if a book is really good. I can easily put a book down and go on to other things, even if I'm interested in the story. Of course, if I'm interested, it's not as easy as if the story is boring.

myself, what are "Cocoa Sleigh rides"? Are they alcoholic? I've been drinking a lot of hot chocolate lately, but I'm interested in easy-to-make drinks (non-alcoholic) that I-shouldn't-be-drinking-because-they're-fattening-and-sugary-but-gosh-darn-it-I-love-them, LOL!

I agree about petting and loving animals, Myzen, but I don't have any cats or dogs, and our bird (really, my bf's bird) is in a cage and won't let me take him out to cuddle. We make noises at each other, and he lets me give him headscratches sometimes through the cage bars (which is an OCD problem for me), but he doesn't like to come out of his cage often.

We can't have dogs and only one cat is allowed, but you have to pay $500 first, in our apartment complex. Add to that that our neighbor is so phobic of cats, she doesn't say the word, she spells it: "C-A-Ts," with the "T" pluralized (pronounced "teez"). She'd love it if we got a cat! (Not that that would really keep me from getting a cat if I wanted one and could afford it.)

It's a little cold for squirrels in our parts. But when it's warm enough, I enjoy watching them, too, along with the rabbits I spot every now and then, around the complex (but not seen around our apartments, generally). We have deer, too, but they don't make public appearances much.

LOL I wondered who remembered or even knew what that was.

A few years ago there was a teen age ghoststory/paranormal type show on either nicolodien or disney. I think disney channel called So Weird. Mackinzie Phillips played a singing mom on the road with her two teen agerers a son and daughter Fiona. and dead husbands band member friend, wife and teen boy. Fiona missed having her dad so was constantly looking for answers to death. She could also see and speak to the dead at times.

One episode was a christmas one where the teen character Fiona was having a hard time with christmas. They stop the bus at a mall to do shopping and in the center of the mall is an old fashioned "Soda Fountain" where a person can get malts, rootbeer floats and so on. The soda jerk (name for the person making the drinks behind the bar in the days of soda fountains). During the conversation of her missing days gone by and missing the spirit of christmas he tells her what she needs is a Cocoa Sleigh Ride and it magically appears on the counter. After she drinks it she goes through her life at different ages seeing and experiencing her life at chistmas unfold around her. The end result is that she learns christmas isnt all about just getting things and the rushing here and there and stress. Its about enjoying the time with the people around you and enjoying life to the fullest.

A Cocoa Sleigh Ride is Old Fashioned Hot chocolate (the recipe for this can be found on the can of Hersheys baking Cocoa) with Whipped cream, a cherry and sprinkles on top and a candy cane or pepermint stick stuck in it on the side like a stir stick. Ill post the complete recipe in recipe message board for you.

Cool, thanks! I have a recipe of my own for a similar kind of hot chocolate. I have Hershey's syrup that I make my hot choc from...and I bought Hershey's Limited Edition Dulce de Leche (caramel) Syrup to try.

carmel Mmmmm yum yum and Oh my!