Depression and Weight Loss
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find your anchors to the world.
at first it was my dog
then it was aerial yoga
and now I've added running
the more anchors I have, the better I do. They ground me and stop me from floating away in the river of my mental anguish.
It's always good to have friends to speak to. and ones that don't try to fix you or say silly little platitudes. those annoy me.
and of course this is just IMHO0 -
Hi Courageous People
(love the pictures moyer66)
Apologies for not writing much in the past few days. Even now, this has to be a quickie. I had a question for you? What do you do to improve your sleeping patterns? Do you think your sleep impacts on your mood and eating behaviours? I have had some interesting experiences in the past few days which I will write about.
Hope everyone has a lovely day/evening
S
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Amazing words in which I needed. Have had a very hard few days. Crying at the drop of a hat. Mind racing...panic and anxiety for which seems there is no reason. I just wish there were an instant I could just not focus on these things. force myself not to worry or be down if even for just that..an instant. I have come to the conclusion I am for this week no longer at one day at a time...I have it brought down to 15 minutes at a time...it is still progress and it seems to help. Thank you all for being here. Try to enjoy your Day...and know because of you guys I will be as well...a few minutes at a time.....
Please remain mindful of your situation, and if you reach a level where you need to reach out to someone, please do. I suffered through a period of high anxiety and it can be very taxing. At times I had to just erase all things and relax and reboot.
i agree. find a friend, a confidant or maybe therapy? i can say i was here before and it put me in such a state that i physically felt it every day for months. i was weak. i had been going to therapy for a few months but just to talk....and then one day instead of talking about what was happening in life, i told her how i really felt about life. it has helped tremendously.
Though I had in the past been opposed to such things, I went to some group type meetings and found it very helpful. Just as with this thread, you build a comfort zone with people and it's much easier to talk. And at times, even when people are struggling, being able to help others struggling more gives a sense of strength and self awareness back.find your anchors to the world.
at first it was my dog
then it was aerial yoga
and now I've added running
the more anchors I have, the better I do. They ground me and stop me from floating away in the river of my mental anguish.
It's always good to have friends to speak to. and ones that don't try to fix you or say silly little platitudes. those annoy me.
and of course this is just IMHO
A great suggestion. I actually have an app that is doctor and government approved for helping with PTSD symptoms. It has quite a few exercises, including grounding reminders.shelleygold wrote: »Hi Courageous People
(love the pictures moyer66)
Apologies for not writing much in the past few days. Even now, this has to be a quickie. I had a question for you? What do you do to improve your sleeping patterns? Do you think your sleep impacts on your mood and eating behaviours? I have had some interesting experiences in the past few days which I will write about.
Hope everyone has a lovely day/evening
S
Shel,
This is something I've struggled with, since by nature I've been a night owl for years. Though I know the practices for good sleep hygiene, I often overlook them. I do think it can have a big impact on overall mood and eating. In my case I also found out that lack of REM sleep due to poor sleep practices can create a cycle of no dreams or in some cases weird and/or violent dreams. I hope your recent experiences have been nothing bad, as I went through a period of hellishly violent dream cycles when dealing with the peak of my PTSD.
Very refreshing to see people so engaged in finding ways to help themselves. And I'd like to add if anyone is ever struggling and needs human help they are having a hard time reaching out for, please at least send a PM to someone here that might be able to help, email a close friend, and when or if needed... pick up the phone and call for a appropriate medical help. Nobody should go through crisis without help.0 -
Hello all. I don't have much spare time today, but i just want you to know how much i appreciate you all. Shel, I'm grateful that you started this thread!
myra0 -
Question. Anyone on Zoloft? I'm finding it hard to control my appetite since my doctor put my on this Medicine.0
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Sorry no experience with Zoloft....I'm on Wellbutrin and Xanax...and the xanax make me so hungry sometimes I binge which then makes me sad...such a horrible cycle0
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Shull_rachael wrote: »Question. Anyone on Zoloft? I'm finding it hard to control my appetite since my doctor put my on this Medicine.
I once had a prescription for Zoloft. I think that was the one that killed my ability to have or even want an orgasm. I'm on Wellbutrin now. It's a little speedy, which works well for me, as I can be sluggish when left to my own devices.0 -
Sorry no experience with Zoloft....I'm on Wellbutrin and Xanax...and the xanax make me so hungry sometimes I binge which then makes me sad...such a horrible cycle
Funny, Xanax puts me right out. If I need to take it during the day, I just take a little mouse bite of it. Are you taking it every day? My shrink gives me a prescription for 6 pills when I see him bianually and gives me a hard time about that, warning me that it is very addictive. I remind him it's not so addictive when one takes less than one a month.0 -
robertwilkens wrote: »I have a disorder which 'includes' depression (Schizoaffective Bipolar Type)... I've had this illness almost 20 years now... I've been doing well the past year... Maybe the B-Complex and Fish Oil thing is right? Why? I found that my omeprazole (for heart burn due to being obese) was blocking absorption of B-12 and Iron. B-12 is linked to energy and positive mood as i understand it. Actually after that i started taking D-3 (for energy) in addition to the B-12, Fish Oil (my psychiatrist strongly suggested fish oil), and Iron, and soon after added in a daily probiotic. It gets expensive, all these supplements (the 'cheap' part is the generic prescriptions which insurance mostly covers). I hate to take any of these supplements away because no question I'm doing a lot better. Two years ago I was constantly crying out loud, feeling like i was going to break down, and when i couldn't take it anymore i fought hard to hold back rage. This year i have nothing like that. In full disclosure, between 2 years ago and now there have been medication changes, and i think getting back on lithium (rather than whatever other mood stabilizer i was on) helped get rid of the rage feelings. Incidentally, it's kind of funny, whatever i was crying about 2 years ago, i couldn't care less about today -- what seemed earth shattering important, today (recently) is completely irrelevant to my life. And nothing in reality has changed about it.
Hi Robert. I get my supplements from iherb.com. I am happy with the quality and the price. You get free shipping when you order a minimum of $20.
Glad you are better now!0 -
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robertwilkens wrote: »If you're at a 'low' then i think "hang in there" can be good advice if taken right. It's kind of what i've told myself when i hit a deep depression, i could think suicidal thoughts or at least "passive death wish" thoughts, but instead I try to tell myself "I've felt better than this before, I've had good times, just be patient, they've come back in the past and they undoubtedly will in the future". It's always a matter of getting 'past' the low period. In the end, depression is just a mood, and for those with a mood disorder it's an abnormal/extreme mood, but it's just a mood and not a reflection of the reality of your life.
See, for me, it doesn't work. I end up spiraling down into what I called the 'fail cycle' and people telling me to cheer up made me feel worse because I couldn't at the time, which just contributed to that little voice telling me I'm a failure. I do take something now that allows me to balance that mood out myself without feeling horrible for days on end. I still have bad days, but at least now I can pull myself out of them before they go on for too long.
I agree that "cheer up" can be invalidating, because it's telling you what you are feeling is wrong. "Hang in there" is something different to me.1 -
I have found that sleep does impact my mood (which then usually impacts my eating behavior?)shelleygold wrote: »Hi Courageous People
(love the pictures moyer66)
Apologies for not writing much in the past few days. Even now, this has to be a quickie. I had a question for you? What do you do to improve your sleeping patterns? Do you think your sleep impacts on your mood and eating behaviours? I have had some interesting experiences in the past few days which I will write about.
Hope everyone has a lovely day/evening
S
If i don't sleep enough, i am more irritable.
If i sleep TOO much, my depression worsens.
like goldy locks, it's got to be "just right". for me, it's about 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep that is the sweet spot.0 -
Hi Everyone,
There are times when I log on to this thread and just appreciate reading other people's insights and experiences without adding my own. I know that I think about adding something interesting on most days but then talk myself out of actually putting" pen to paper" so to speak. I wonder if my mood fluctuations dictate my behaviour regarding writing and whether I am at the mercy of these up and down feelings. Even now, I am aware of a fatigue that comes over me as I think about what I ought to say next. Will people think I sound silly or self-absorbed or irrelevant. I think about social media in a larger context and how most people wouldn't "Facebook" people in real time. I wouldn't go up to someone I haven't seen for years and tell them what I had for breakfast or how much I enjoyed a tv show. Yet, we have allowed social media to make us all think that everything is potentially interesting and relevant. But this may just be me.
So, today, I am tired and feeling a bit aimless. I am glad to be writing on our thread but do not really know what to say except I appreciate the people who stop by and add a few words, the regular folks who offer a depth of wisdom and insight and encouragement and the general collective wisdom that formulates from the experiences of people who show great courage and strength to manage moods and healthy life choices.
Back to my Sunday.
Shel
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You clearly are a bright and sensitive person.shelleygold wrote: »Thank you for all of your thoughts, encouragements, insights and stories. I like the suggestion of not playing the victim combined with taking responsibility for good health regardless of mental health challenges. I also loved the story of (moc247) who just started sweating. Ok. So, no more marshmallows will cross these lips for the indefinite future. I get to decide what I put into my body and what I don't. And I agree with you WBB55, that making Depression worse by living within a deficit model is counterintuitive.
So, the Cognitive Behavioural Therapists suggest we reframe our problems into challenges and focus on the positive thought processes and not on the feelings of hopelessness and despair. I suppose if it was that easy, we would all be lining up for more CBT and less chocolate. Nevertheless, I am a big fan of the Brain That Changes Itself and I know I have a few neutrons that are not completely assigned to making me fat forever. I may give them a working out at the gym, after I eat my organic Paleo-certified salad and sip on pure mineral water flavoured with a dash of lemon. Just salivating as I think of this. Jealous anyone?
As someone who can relate to everything you've posted on this thread (if not for me, then for people who've been close to me who we've lost too soon), I wanted to say this:
People (including yourself) may/will tell you that you're maladaptive or have a disorder or have special brain cooties or whatever. These same traits that cause this pain are linked and co-adaptations to things that evolution has left in our genes to help you be more successful than genes evolution has decided to eliminate. There's things about you that make you BETTER developed than others to succeed under certain circumstances. Maybe you haven't found your niche or your tribe out there that recognizes it. But they're there. And they'll love what makes you special. The same exact traits that make it hard for you to succeed in some areas of life will be the exact same traits that help you succeed at the things that truly make you happy and complete as a person.
Well stated!!0 -
It's the holiday season! Yippee. Not. I haven't been sleeping. I fell off a table onto my shoulder a month ago and haven't been able to sleep well since. I am grumpy, deflated, unmotivated and thouroughly unprepared for all the food and sentiment of the holidays. I will get through this, just like every year. But this year is the first year I've been counting CICO. I dont want a setback. Ive been doing so well. I just feel so worn out because of my shoulder. I think I probably ate a 1/2 pint of Ben and Jerry's yesterday because of some family stressors that erupted. I'm just so tired. Oh well. Today is another day. Best wishes to everyone here!0
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I suffer from depression and i am finding it helpful to take it one day at a time.
I second this. Having dealt with chronic depression since high school, my weight has always been a major issue because of it. Since taking my weight loss more seriously, I have definitely had days (hell - even weeks) when it has been close to impossible for me to even get out of bed, much less get out of the house to walk or whatnot. On those days, just focus on doing whatever you need to do to get out of that slump. I think it's okay to compromise with yourself a bit - if you have one day where you don't do as much, make sure to try and make yourself work harder the following day. It gets easier, and working out DOES help!0 -
Some days are so good. I exercise, I eat well and everything seems perfect. Yesterday I had an appointment with a psychiatrist. I went only because my mom insisted. Didn't really say anything to the doctor tho. At night I cut myself again and now I am sitting in the hospital in tears and no hope.0
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19gabriela01 wrote: »Some days are so good. I exercise, I eat well and everything seems perfect. Yesterday I had an appointment with a psychiatrist. I went only because my mom insisted. Didn't really say anything to the doctor tho. At night I cut myself again and now I am sitting in the hospital in tears and no hope.
@19gabriela01
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safe hugs to 19gabriela01! I hope, by now, you have regained some hope for yourself. I have hope for you, but that's a totally different thing altogether. If i understand correctly, cutting is a sort of coping mechanism. ( i have a daughter with trichotillomania, and i am a skin picker) I hope it will help you to suggest that you can learn to swap out that coping mechanism for a healthier one. it's not easy..... but you can do it! best wishes to you.1
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19gabriela01 wrote: »Some days are so good. I exercise, I eat well and everything seems perfect. Yesterday I had an appointment with a psychiatrist. I went only because my mom insisted. Didn't really say anything to the doctor tho. At night I cut myself again and now I am sitting in the hospital in tears and no hope.
I've replaced unhealthy coping mechanisms with safe ones and I have hope that you can learn to do this too. 0 -
19gabriela01 wrote: »Some days are so good. I exercise, I eat well and everything seems perfect. Yesterday I had an appointment with a psychiatrist. I went only because my mom insisted. Didn't really say anything to the doctor tho. At night I cut myself again and now I am sitting in the hospital in tears and no hope.
I am sincerely saddened that you feel hopeless at the moment. Just know that there are always people who will support you and help you with your struggle, even if they can't understand your pain. And you will usually find that such people will live their lives without judgement of others, often because they have had to deal with struggles of their own.0 -
Hi Everyone,
Let's agree that the mechanisms of Depression are real and require investigation and discussion. One strong feature of Depression is knowing when our feelings can bring us to our knees. The feelings of hopelessness, the feelings of isolation, feelings of being a burden to name a few. Depression scars our brain and makes us truly generate GLOBAL thoughts and associated dark and painful feelings. When these thoughts and feelings run our lives, we are in terrible danger of terrible problem-solving and potential harm. The solution(s) have to be considered and without sounding like a cliche, professional help, a healthy social support network, self-care, and time to heal makes sense to me. I decided not to make myself feel guilt or shame if I don't write every day on our thread. I discussed this with my counsellor and he asked me why it was important for me to be so "dedicated". The answer was interesting. I guess it has been my way of feeling important and useful. I suppose that is ok ....but not because I need to be needed but because I play a small part in the history and process of this discussion. I do love the experience. But what I need to love more is me and not making myself feel that I am a good person or a bad person based on my performance. I know that my depressed mind can easily skew my decision making and make me avoid, blame, get scared and not want to do. So...I need to slow my decision making down and decide what is the best way of handling what my world is demanding of me.
I'm not show if this is making sense but I am quite concerned with how we may be swallowed up my our moods. We need to be careful and respectful of ourselves.
I would love to hear your comments about this insert.
Shel
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I pretend im my future fit self traveling back in time coaching myself on how i can get there faster and more efficient i do that with money too but really I try to laugh as much as possible and i workout when I'm down to be my drug its like instead of drinking smoking eating i just go for a long walk and map it or go train and take pictures try to find reasons to love yourself more for who you are becoming1
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shelleygold wrote: »Hi Everyone,
Let's agree that the mechanisms of Depression are real and require investigation and discussion. One strong feature of Depression is knowing when our feelings can bring us to our knees. The feelings of hopelessness, the feelings of isolation, feelings of being a burden to name a few. Depression scars our brain and makes us truly generate GLOBAL thoughts and associated dark and painful feelings. When these thoughts and feelings run our lives, we are in terrible danger of terrible problem-solving and potential harm. The solution(s) have to be considered and without sounding like a cliche, professional help, a healthy social support network, self-care, and time to heal makes sense to me. I decided not to make myself feel guilt or shame if I don't write every day on our thread. I discussed this with my counsellor and he asked me why it was important for me to be so "dedicated". The answer was interesting. I guess it has been my way of feeling important and useful. I suppose that is ok ....but not because I need to be needed but because I play a small part in the history and process of this discussion. I do love the experience. But what I need to love more is me and not making myself feel that I am a good person or a bad person based on my performance. I know that my depressed mind can easily skew my decision making and make me avoid, blame, get scared and not want to do. So...I need to slow my decision making down and decide what is the best way of handling what my world is demanding of me.
I'm not show if this is making sense but I am quite concerned with how we may be swallowed up my our moods. We need to be careful and respectful of ourselves.
I would love to hear your comments about this insert.
Shel
Interesting idea and true for me. Moods often seem like reality and I tend to base my choices on mood instead of fact. Guilt is an everyday part of my life. I find that I set standards for myself that are impossible to attain and that I would never even think of placing on anyone else. I'm willing to forgive everyone but myself. It would be nice to be "careful and respective" of myself. I just need to convince myself that I deserve it and that's the hard part.0 -
shelleygold wrote: »Hi Courageous People
(love the pictures moyer66)
Apologies for not writing much in the past few days. Even now, this has to be a quickie. I had a question for you? What do you do to improve your sleeping patterns? Do you think your sleep impacts on your mood and eating behaviours? I have had some interesting experiences in the past few days which I will write about.
Hope everyone has a lovely day/evening
S
I need sleep. More than exercise. More than food. I treat my bedroom as a sanctuary. It's all lavender/plum and sage/emerald green. I have a couple big bulletin boards with tons of pics of friends and family. Pretty furniture from Ikea that I assembled all by myself--even the stuff that said it required two people. HAH! An oil burner for some lavender oil. Light canceling drapes. My phone is my alarm clock and it's face down. No ambient light. I used to get all worked up over what time it was when I woke up in the middle of the night. (I drink a LOT of green tea.) First I turned the digital alarm clock towards the wall, then I ditched it. I seriously think I made myself tired by thinking I should be tired due to the hours of sleep. I take a little melatonin. I go to sleep listening to my ipod. A comedy or rom-com that I know by heart and don't need to watch.0 -
19gabriela01 wrote: »Some days are so good. I exercise, I eat well and everything seems perfect. Yesterday I had an appointment with a psychiatrist. I went only because my mom insisted. Didn't really say anything to the doctor tho. At night I cut myself again and now I am sitting in the hospital in tears and no hope.
Are you back with us? Sending you healing thoughts and strength--we have hope, use ours until you find your own. You're braver than you give yourself credit for.0 -
Guys, thank you all for those beautiful words. They really mean a lot to me. I've been actually feeling better after a doctor prescribed me medicine. Hope you are all good too. 0
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Glad to hear it - thanks for the update
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shelleygold wrote: »Hi Courageous People
(love the pictures moyer66)
Apologies for not writing much in the past few days. Even now, this has to be a quickie. I had a question for you? What do you do to improve your sleeping patterns? Do you think your sleep impacts on your mood and eating behaviours? I have had some interesting experiences in the past few days which I will write about.
Hope everyone has a lovely day/evening
S
I need sleep. More than exercise. More than food. I treat my bedroom as a sanctuary. It's all lavender/plum and sage/emerald green. I have a couple big bulletin boards with tons of pics of friends and family. Pretty furniture from Ikea that I assembled all by myself--even the stuff that said it required two people. HAH! An oil burner for some lavender oil. Light canceling drapes. My phone is my alarm clock and it's face down. No ambient light. I used to get all worked up over what time it was when I woke up in the middle of the night. (I drink a LOT of green tea.) First I turned the digital alarm clock towards the wall, then I ditched it. I seriously think I made myself tired by thinking I should be tired due to the hours of sleep. I take a little melatonin. I go to sleep listening to my ipod. A comedy or rom-com that I know by heart and don't need to watch.
Sleep is critical for me as well. Without it, I am just like the studies show - A sleepy brain appears to not only respond more strongly to junk food, but also has less ability to rein that impulse in.
I use the light canceling drapes too and it's like Dracula's lair in here. I also use Macks Ear Seals Ear Plugs with Removable Cord.
I try to get in all my liquids early enough so that I stop drinking a few hours before bed and work at peeing a lot right before bed so my bladder doesn't wake me.
I read myself to sleep. Jean Auel - fantastic; Stephen King - bad.
If I have unusual commitments the next day, I tend to sleep badly due to having anxiety about nmot sleeping well and so take something. I used to take melatonin regularly, but since I ramped up the exercise, don't seem to need it as much.0 -
19gabriela01 wrote: »Guys, thank you all for those beautiful words. They really mean a lot to me. I've been actually feeling better after a doctor prescribed me medicine. Hope you are all good too.
Great news! Thank you for sharing :-)0
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