So now as I sit here on the other side of the world from all of my relatives in the midst of the global panic about Coronavirus it gives me time to think about me (in a self obsessed kind of way that people with mental heath issues both love and hate). Isolation is a depressed persons dream. I don’t have to go outside, I don’t have to wash; I don’t even have to get out of bed if I don’t want to. Spending time away from people and away from having interactions that I panic about sounds like a dream. The problem there is that it feeds into the negative cycle. And as anyone will tell you, that cycle is not your friend. As much as it might seem that it is. When the cycle starts getting out of control it takes you away from where you are. You become “in your head”. This term applies to how far removed you are from what is happening around you as the silent battle inside your head becomes louder and angrier. When that battle rages for a while it becomes impossible to focus on anything else or to be present in the current. You believe more and more the negativity and it just spirals out of control. The past couple of weeks have been confusing and anxiety inducing for all of us so it’s time to whip out the big guns as it were. When this happens you can try to use a technique called ‘grounding’ or ‘anchoring’. I have constantly used getting piercings, as a way to bring myself back into the room, obviously the issue with this is that I will run out of things to pierce or money. It is not the healthiest of methods so I have been learning new methods to help and I’d like to share them with you. So let’s look at what we can use to help ourselves in this time of isolation and anxiety. First let’s just focus on our breathing. Just in and out, in and out. That’s all there is and we can definitely do that (we’ve been doing it for long enough!) Now think about what you can feel. Touching something with my hands always help to ground me and bring me slightly back into the moment. I wear jewelry that I can play with when I feel myself starting to slip away (one good one is my necklace because I like to make sure the knot is on the back). How do your clothes feel? Can you feel any zips or buttons? What about your feet, what can you feel with them? What can you smell? What can you hear? By listening in turn to your senses you can work slowly to bring yourself back to what is currently happening rather than being in a place that is really not your friend. There is another technique that people use which is very helpful. This technique use visualization. Think of a place that you find very calming, a place that you find accepting and that you feel safe in. This place can be anywhere., there is no right answer here. Think about the answers to the following questions. What is around you? What can you see? What can you feel? What can you smell? What can you hear? What is it there that you feel is helping to ground you? Focus on that and use it to help you breathe through the battle in your head. There is no right or wrong to this, it is whatever works for you. If your happy place is next to a waterfall drinking a coffee with your best friends or lying in a field full of puppies with bubbles. Remember to breathe. Whatever you are feeling is valid. Whatever you need to get you through is allowed. You are enough. You are not alone. You are ok.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
January 2021
Categories |