Dealing with Stress

How has everyone been the past few months? For me the stress surrounding my job being taken away, looking for a new job, and getting acquainted with my new job took a bit of a toll. That on top of managing everything else I was doing left me with not a lot of time for what I enjoyed and am passionate about. The good news is that the field is beginning to level out again; I've enjoyed the local activities picked up this year; and I'm able to focus on my own recovery again at a manageable level. That all said I once again plan to start picking back up the posts here on Voices for Awareness.

Lots of great topics I want to cover over the next few months:

1. What is the word the awareness and anti-stigma campaigns around the world are trying to spread?
2. Mindfulness meditation and the value it has when used to cope with mental illness
3. Relapse prevention, steps, strategies, and ways to identify and deal with triggers
4. Coming out of the shadows to seek help, the benefits vs staying silent
5. Seeking help from groups, my views and experience
6. Intervention, recognizing something is wrong, and rational actions during irrational thoughts

Those are some of the topics I plan to get around to covering. If you have a topic you would like me to write about let me know and I'll work it into the plans. Those topics have come from people I know and questions I see among others over the past few months. So lets get to some methods of dealing with stress.

I had started building a support network at the end of the year when I sought help again, but little did I know what was ahead of me, how much quicker I'd have to build it, and what benefit would come. I went into the process optimistically. Not entirely knowing who I would meet, who would stick around, how comfortable I'd be after exposing myself, and how I would handle myself after I'd been exposed.

These questions all hit me at the same time but due to the medication I had been started on was able to more rationally overcome the worries. Steps I took to deal with the stress included:

1. Calling friends and family whenever I needed to talk
1. Since I had opened up to them they better understood, some better than others. This allowed me to express myself and rather than letting the stress build I got it out. The people I spoke to and trusted began to validate what I was going through and let me know it would be ok.
2. I had serious doubts, but I knew those closest to me weren't going to let anything bad happen.
2. Listened to relaxing music. Ambient music became a huge stress relief. Listening to that type of music, breathing, and working to calm down brought me back under control especially before bedtime. This took a lot of practice and patience but has greatly helped.
3. Attending support groups. Support groups aren't therapy but I am able to go to them and freely speak without being judged. I get advice from others, vent, and help others as well.
4. Placing myself into the mind of the opponent. Sometimes you just know you are right. Sometimes you know your opponent has a valid point and just isn't going about expressing it the right way. Undue stress can be caused by that type of situation but there are ways to deal with it in a healthy and productive way. Attempt to place yourself in the opponents shoes for a moment; this allows you to begin understanding their argument and suggesting your own solutions while using their own so as not to step on toes and be completely shutdown.

Those four methods have mainly been the base of how I deal with my stress now. The four methods tie into the earlier six bullets as well that I will cover another time. I've learned these from people I know and have met since becoming more accepting and open about my illness.

I am glad to be back and look forward to more posts to help the community out there.