Stopping For The Day?

[desiderata310]

For reasons I can't quite understand I can not concentrate today. I feel slightly ill and dissociated. I've been fighting to keep my mind on... ANYTHING for most of the day and failing miserably.

At what point do you just say, I can't today and stop fighting and go home and concentrate on self OR is that the point? Should I not quit fighting it?

 

[Saint Nik]

This helps me when I get in these states. . .I stop fighting it. I let the feeling wash over me and don't narrate in my head what the feelings is. I stop figuring it out, don't touch anything in my mind (if that makes sense) try not to fix anything, because the truth is - nothing is broken (though at times we feel like that!) So the short answers is - Give in. Not give up, just give in to the feeling.

Let your body feel whatever it has to feel. . . it's there for a reason (best known to itself). The way I think about it, I don't know what keeps my heart pumping, my lungs breathing, don't even know how to grow my own air, or nails, bones. . .but we all do it and we can't explain it. So treat this symptom like that too. You can't explain why you feel the way you do, it's just there. So let it wash over you and it will pass!

:hug:

 

[Tinyflame]

Idk. :( I guess 'if' or 'when' you can? Usually I have no option but to push through.

Maybe, at the very least you can schedule in some break, break it down in to small parts, 'reward' yourself in some way to get through it?

Sorry it's not more helpful, I 'get' it. :(

:hug:

 

[desiderata310]

So the short answers is - Give in

There's no 'giving in" I looked up and it's noon. I've been here since 9 and I can't say I've done anything. I've started a couple of times and then I look up and it's 45 minutes later and nothing has been done. I don't know what's happened to the time in the interim. Gotten up and walked and came back and tried again. Over and over.

Just can't seem to engage.

Keep trying. *shrug*

 

[Saint Nik]

@desiderata310 When I say give in. I mean admit defeat. That right now you feel

slightly ill and dissociated

so you either go home and let this feeling pass by itself (and it will) or either you stay where you are and admit to yourself that right now you are going to struggle, fight and push on. Yeah, they are crap choices, but what other alternative have you got?

That's what I meant by giving in. As in telling yourself (or if I was you, telling myself) - Okay, right now I feel like this and I feel like that. . . etc. There is nothing helping it, nothing easing it, there is nothing else I can do. . . *So you keep pushing ahead, see how far that gets you. . .it may help, it may not* or you go home and just let this feeling wash over you, allowing it pass in it's own time!
And keep trying? Trying for what? To make it better? That only leads to battle of wills, powerful mind games with yourself and making symptoms 10x worse! Why try? Right now it is what it is and you are not in control of it. . .but it will pass!

I'm sorry if I am of no help to you. I can only go by my own experience of these states I have gotten into. . . all I have noticed in my experience is, when we tell ourselves - I shouldn't feel this way. I can't concentrate. Something is wrong, etc. . . it's the minds way of searching for a logical answer. . .a solution and when it can't find one. . . we feel worse! And that is why I say give in. What else can you do?

I hope you find your peace :hug:

 

[City Slicker]

When this happens to me I tell myself I am feeling this way for a reason. The first reason I go to and tell myself is that I think perhaps I am getting a cold or a bug of some sort. I am pretty physical in my life and I seem to be very sensitive to changes in the way my immune system handles things.

At first I interpreted these dips and plunges as emotional - i.e., 'I must be losing it...' 'maybe I am falling apart, losing control' et al, but then I began to see that it might simply be my body reacting to changes - fighting a bug, a hormone dip, being hungry, thirsty, a surge of cortisol, whatever, and I was interpreting it as some type of emotional or mind reaction.

I demand a lot from my body and I wasn't being as conscious to my body's needs when I interpreted these dips as anything more than 'dips' in the system.

I found that by tuning into what my body might need, I was taking care to not increase my agitation. It meant going for a juice, a glass of water, something to eat, telling myself that if I took care now, tomorrow would be more productive etc. I also would plan a small something special for when I got home - even if it was a tv show, a peanut butter sandwich, making room in my mind for something good to give myself when I got home.

I hope you are feeling better soon.

 

[desiderata310]

Just.. frustrated. Scared that I'm headed back down the rabbit hole. Exhausted.
I'll keep pushing.
Thanks

 

[Saint Nik]

Scared that I'm headed back down the rabbit hole.

You're not! Just thoughts. That is all they are. Sounds to me you are run down, exhausted and of course the brain is reacting to your body and the symptoms you got.

I don't know if this is a different perspective for you (it has nothing to do with PTSD, but it's just a thought) Okay. When I get the cold/flu. . .I give in.Completely stay in my bed and allow myself to literally die, feeling sorry for myself and maybe moan a lot. My partner on the other hand? He completely gets dressed, does so much work, keeps himself busy and he is literally coughing, sneezing, his body aches. . .but he wont give in at all. So, as you can see. . .we are both opposites!

You sound like my partner (if he had PTSD that is) I believe he would be like you and push on! This is how you cope and that is okay. It may not help. . . but it's your way and no one should tell you different. Concerning the thinking though? It's just a negative narration in your mind. This running commentary telling you over and over again that you are slipping into this rabbit hole. It's just thoughts. . . let them be there, let them come. Thoughts can't hurt us unless we let them. I know you are going through a tough time right now. It will pass, you must know this by experience? Surely you have noticed these disturbing feelings, emotions, symptoms coming and going in intensity. . .maybe some have completely disappeared? Either way. . . look back and try and remember that they do pass! This might be a hopeful thought to help you a little through your day!

Hope your okay and I am not frustrating you too much? I just know what you are going through and I know how hellish it can be!:shy:

 

[DogwoodTree]

Sometimes when I'm feeling like this, I can focus on one, tiny task at a time, and even though it seems like it takes forever, I can actually accomplish something very simple--so long as it's just one, simple, little thing at a time. And sometimes that will jump-start my brain to where I forget that I was trying to do just one, little thing at a time, and I'll accomplish a lot more than I thought I could.

But other times, even tiny tasks are overwhelming. So for me, "give in" is like previous posters said and just let the exhaustion/dissociation/discord/despair sit there for a while. Or if it's anxiety, find a way to address it head-on.

Earlier today, I was feeling very anxious and couldn't sit still or focus on my work at all. I really needed to get work done, but I had to calm down somehow first. I got it in my head that maybe I could try tapping. I've read about it, and tried it a little before with mixed results, but mostly ignore the whole idea. But somehow it just came back to me today as a possibility. So I took 10 minutes, found a video on youtube for tapping to relieve anxiety, and went through the video. The tapping itself probably wasn't the key difference, but just having a simple physical activity that also focused my thoughts ("I'm anxious, I'm very very anxious, and I accept this feeling, and I choose to love myself anyway, etc etc"), and I felt better. I went back to work, and have been much better focused since (though still not at my peak...but at least productive).

Maybe you can rummage through your toolkit a little and find something that doesn't normally work, but might this time. All you need is just the tiniest bit of momentum, just the slightest ray of light, and follow it along to some kind of release so that you can get back to doing what you choose to be doing.

HTH

 

[desiderata310]

Hope your okay and I am not frustrating you too much?

No, you're fine.
Random crying for no good reason.

 

[Anna Roberts]

I'm not sure if you're looking for encouragement to keeping working, but I personally think you should call it a day. It's not good for your health to keep pushing yourself beyond your limits. It's not giving up, it's admitting that you simply can not do something and allowing yourself to go home and take care of yourself. I really think you should stop for the day and go do whatever you need to do to feel better.

 

[Saint Nik]

@desiderata310 I don't know if this will help you. I am a big fan of Paul David who suffered Anxiety/Panic for 10 years and eventually overcame it and he shares in his book how he did it. This is a quote from him - "Dissociation is a common and understandable offshoot of the anxiety condition. Before going further into depersonalisation, let me clear up one thing that I get asked often. “No, you are not going mad.” This feeling comes from being constantly worried about your own problems, it is not serious or harmful in any way and has a totally logical explanation. It is temporary and, with patience and understanding, eventually passes like any other symptom." - Paul David.

Hope that helps. :hug: