Here are just a few of the pearls I found on the message board of “Is It a Relapse?”
Reach the Middle Place
Deep inside you have the heart and faith to know that bad as today is, there is hope for it all to get better. This knowledge comes more easily with the years when you have been through countless more highs and lows, reaching that place in the middle where you can better withstand the waves to come. Even if peace is not yours now—it is there to come. It will come. –Sharon
Sometimes I can only go through the motions and do the simplest step-by-step processes to meet my responsibilities. By breaking down any task into its most minute components I can tell myself, – all you have to do is: -, and for some reason, maintaining physical momentum works. –John
Be Kind to Yourself
I have found it helpful to take extra time to be nice to myself and treat myself. Things that help me are music, a walk in the woods, watching the sunset, talking to friends, volunteering (I am retired but still work a few hours a week) and praying. When I am down I do not have control over how I am feeling. I just remind myself I will get better and try to believe the good things my friends say about me. I have also written down how I feel when I am better and it helps to read this over and over. –Maren
Name the Thoughts
I finally realized my insanity took the form of negative thoughts. “I am stupid, I am ugly, I have no talent, I am a terrible mother, I am a terrible nurse and sometime soon they will realize what a fake I am and fire me.” The key, for me, was the realization that those thoughts were my disease telling me things because it “wanted” me. It “wanted” me to drink, it “wanted” me to act out, it wanted me to do those things that I went to my 12 step meetings NOT to do. But my disease did not want me to be “happy joyous and free.” It wanted me to be miserable, unhappy and drunk.–Sasha
I’ve lost a lot to this disease: a career in academics, a marriage, my self-esteem, but I have found that there is always that little flame inside that won’t let me quit, and I know that you have that flame too. I can see it in your writing, in the way you think and act. –Amy
Give Yourself Credit
We are sometimes strongest at our weakest moments. We feel like giving up, but we don’t; we’re in the dark, yet look for light; we want to retreat, but we find ways to keep moving forward. We feel like we are working against all odds – we have so much amazing perseverance, yet don’t give ourselves credit. Our feelings go deep, we feel it all – good, bad, or otherwise. We touch it all, but don’t have to embrace it and make it our identity. Stay with the love, the “good for you people”, and the small voice that tells us we are good. –Nancy
Keep Rowing
I once had a poster in my office depicting a person in a row boat out in the middle of a lake, with the oars out of the water, his hands together, looking up at the stars. The caption under the picture read: “Pray to God, but keep rowing.” –John
Focus on Today
One of the things I’ve learned I must do to keep from feeling completely insane is to stay focused on today. Because today is all I can cope with. The fears and troubles of tomorrow are too overwhelming to face. And the joys and promises of tomorrow are incomprehensible when I’m in that dark place. It’s easy to see from this message board alone that we who have this terrible disease of depression are not alone, but that’s hard to remember when you’re in the thick of it. –Kathy
Be With People
Never stay alone. Talk to everyone who is sympathtic to you about your disease. Don’t hide it. Hang arround with positive friends and relatives who care about you. Involve yourself with your church and people everywhere. Meet new people who have common interests. Go out and try to have fun with some good company. Love and help people, volunteer your time for poor and those who are unfortunate. Pray to God every minute for you and other people. –Hameed
Find the Good Things
When I start to fall down I try to think of what my depression has done for me:
I never take anything for granted. I can feel things that most people take for granted–like the warm breeze on my skin, the smell of flowers in the summer air, and I feel the magic in the air around us. And even the sadness in the people around me also. I feel all that because we (depressives) are so sensitive–we pick up on every emotion we come in contact with, good or bad. I have suffered because of my depression, more than most just like you. Have I found any good things? I have to think so. Maybe if we can see depression in a new light, we can start to understand it better and love ourselves because we are who we are. –Deborah
God is With You
Remember that you are not alone, that God holds you in the palm of his hand and will help you, if you help yourself. –Kate
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