Is anyone else spending their days crying?

Having a regimen/schedule could help?

Often when I get into a depressive spiral, I try and get small feelings of achievement to reel me back up.

Things like:

  • Waking up early or at a consistent time (keep your biological clock in check and avoid/minimise the late night insomnia)

  • Likewise, going to sleep at a regular time and avoiding blue light (screens) at least an hour before - good chance to finally read that book! (And if you don’t have a book handy, there are loads of online libraries)

  • Doing something that will chemically release serotonin — yoga (there are heaps of videos on YouTube) — pilates — walk/get some fresh air — run — ride a bike — skip rope — hell, even do an interpretive dance

  • Doing small things that give you a sense of achievement (this is particularly good if you write a task list of all the little jobs you might not usually have had the time to do) — tidy a part of your house — deep clean your furniture — sew/alter some clothing — draw something — sort out/compile photo albums — digital cleaning (files, hard drives, emails, messages) — compile a list of recipes and learn to cook them — watch everything that you’ve ‘saved for later’ on YouTube — write down what you learnt on each day (or copy and paste into a digital document)

  • Doing something that helps others — call your friends/relatives/neighbours — call a local rest home and see if you can chat shit with someone - the elderly are prone to mental deterioration without stimulus and could really do with a pen/phone pal — go through your clothes (if not all your things) to make a donate pile to give to charity

  • Self care — re- watch your favourite childhood films and tv series — watch everything on your watch list and review them — groom/pamper yourself - have a long, hot shower/bath, take care of your skin/hair — eat well — if you’ve lost (or are at risk of losing) your job - no better time than right now to get that CV looking 100 and to up-skill yourself if you can. Is there an online course you can take? Is it time to write a list of all the places you can send your CV to post-isolation?

/r/auckland Thread