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What is everyone doing to stay afloat mentally coming out of a pandemic?

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The_One

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Idk if we’re technically even out of a pandemic but it still feels like that in Georgia we have gotten over the pandemic.
I feel likeduring the pandemic I was fine because I was laid off (that was a stressor) but I was living at home. On medication. And got to exercise everyday outside in the outdoors and my system was so regulated at that point.
But now that we’re out in the world again living life what do you guys do to supprot your mental health?
I try to exercise in the outdoors, although it’s hard because I’m working. I try to be near a source of water because that really helps me.
I take my meds. I go to my therapy sessions which I’m never doing EMDR again. Listening to music. Staying way from social media and the news.
Tapping has been my new thing.
What else have do you guys do?
 
Oddly during the pandemic I didnt read much but have got back at it and had a friend build us a free little library. So keeping a free library on our property is new and something to do. I have a lot of losses to grieve so whenever I’m back to work its difficult to wade through either the losses or the changes. I was tapping for awhile and it’s my go to over return to breath work. I’m actually doing a lot of new to me things but mourn the old so I keep straddling two worlds.
 
Oddly during the pandemic I didnt read much but have got back at it and had a friend build us a free little library. So keeping a free library on our property is new and something to do. I have a lot of losses to grieve so whenever I’m back to work its difficult to wade through either the losses or the changes. I was tapping for awhile and it’s my go to over return to breath work. I’m actually doing a lot of new to me things but mourn the old so I keep straddling two worlds.
Yeah that’s how I feel too. Luckily didn’t lose any close during the pandemic. It’s more after the pandemic people in my family started getting sick.
I feel like we have sorta forgotten what our old lives were like but then again we do kinda Rmbr. I feel like I’m straddling two worlds too. I’m doing new things that I haven’t done in two years so at first I had a ton of social anxiety but now that I’m on lexapro I can go to parties and things with ease. It feels like a lot has changed though. I feel like more change is coming worldwide, hopefully for the better and for better human rights and advancement.
 
thank you for this post, libra. trying to pretend none of this has happened is not working for me. it has been a cruel ride and i do not trust the powers that be to be more humane next flu season, which is already presenting in my neck of the woods. 'tis the season. i went through considerable psychotherapy to lose the social distancing instincts of a child prostitute and the past 2+ years and counting have made me grateful those social distancing skills proved therapy resistant. dunno if i am up for another round of faith in the opinion that isolation is a bad thing.

in my case, corona crowned over a HUGE domestic tragedy which was totally marginalized by the pandemic. what is the orphaning of 3 children, etc., next to a geezer fighting a seasonal flu? it weren't corona, so it don't count. just mask it all and increase your social distance.

sigh. . .

i still feel like a stranger in a strange land and am clueless how to get help within this new normal. can i read your lips? personally, i am letting those same 3 orphans lead me out of the covidic madness. they are still with me, currently aged 9, 6 and 3. they are young enough that this is all normal-to-them and their instincts seem pretty spot-on.
 
I’d been sick for 2 years prior to the pandemic… so I’m stubbornly attempting to “come back” from 5 years of a severely neglected life. And that’s not even taking into account the -not inconsiderable- costs of PTSD on me and my life.

For me, “coming back” begins with physical and financial.

I know you said ‘mentally afloat’, but for me that means job 1 is neither being, nor feeling, trapped. Requiring that I’m physically & financially able to sort myself.

Next in the lineup is BALANCE. All those things in my life that make it worth living. Some of those things are hopefully bridging between the physical & financial (job 1!) and passion & purpose… so that part of my core balancing activities are things that keep me physically fit, with resources that also bring passion and purpose into my life. But? Whatever job I’m working, or exercise I’m doing may not be something that brings passion and purpose into my life. Sometimes a job is just a job.

Passion & Purpose… connects largely with what I value, and filling the slots above with as many things that have real meaning to me, with those things. Not just “exercise” but swimming, rowing, snowboarding, circus arts. Not just making money, but working in a field I love, and taking great pride in doing so. Not just balancing physical/ mental/ emotional/ social/ personal… but having my alone time be filled with great art/books/etc. rather than random distraction; my social time filled with friends/lovers/family/interesting people, rather than strangers and aquaintences, etc.

^^^
Patience, stubbornness, & awareness of all of those pieces… and actively seeking them out… rather than

- bemoaning, whining, flailing, throwing temper tantrums about how I don’t have them, where I “should” be if I hadn’t gotten sick, or Covid hadn’t happened, and/or/and/or. Which is hard, sometimes. Pity parties happen. I just try and avoid them as much as possible. Because, eeeeew. Icky.

- sitting on my arse, not bringing any of those three things into my life, and suffering the consequences of that, for any moment rather thannnecessaey. I didn’t have a choice about getting sick. I did have a choice about constricting my life during Covid, and I now have a choice to at least attempt to rebuild my life… or not.
 
sitting on my arse,
(This isn't necessarily relevant to the thread but FJ's post got me freewheeling over here!~)

Ha! If this were an Olympic sport I'd be a gold medalist. During the pandemic I actually got a job. I was good at my job. I'm a call center hooligan. Corporate customer relations, satellites, ISPs, cell phones, Garmin, I got you covered. During my first spurt here I was doing my high school diploma with the intention of entering medical school, heheheh. Too learning disabled and mentally ill for that shtuffs!

And as it turns out, honestly, too disabled in general.

I can hold a job for about a year max with a gun to my head before I fall flat on my face and start planning my suicide. These days? I'm an optimistic nihilist. Little bit a hedonist. Life has no meaning, so let's have fun! Don't hurt other people. That's my motto and I'm stickin' to 'er. I used to get so, so down and out on myself about not having a job.

Not being productive. Weemie is a parasite. Boooooooooo. Meh, these days I am practicing a little more self-compassion. I'm not a drain on society and I'm not a freeloader piece of shit. I do contribute to society. I run a support group. I have created worksheets and diagnosed friends' health conditions and talked on the phone with friends to prevent them from killing themselves. I've repaired my relationships with my sisters and mom. I've put in real work toward improving my mental health and cooperating with my mom.

It's human experience. It's existence. Volunteering. Enjoyment. Pleasure! La di da.
 
same thing I did to get through it and every other thing I had to get through:
1) job in front of me
2) tool in my hand (including a PC or a prescription for a vacc. booster or a lot of other things you wouldn't think of as a tool. A book is a tool)
3) Smile on face. That way, no one feels like they need to give you the inevitable additional work......you know you have to take care of yourself too, yeah, get out of my way, I was (see no.1 above)
 
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