No Stress Ever

Feeling pretty good these days
I know I’ve been sporadically blogging, mostly because I’ve been concentrating all my efforts in getting our work blog off the ground, but I’m still here and will be posting as often as I have time to.

So I’ve been feeling pretty good the last while and saw my psychiatrist again yesterday. We talked about the fact that I have this phobia of throwing up (emetophobia), especially in front of people, and especially in public. I had been thinking about it and wondered if that was causing my anxiety rather than my anxiety causing me to feel nauseated which in turn causes this phobia. Does that make sense?

Anyways, he told me that it’s possible, but he also feels that certain things I’ve told him, whether related to emetophobia or not, are still attributes of someone who is socially anxious. Either way I don’t want to be medicated forever and he told me that he doesn’t think I will be, so I asked what he thought of lowering my dosage of Gabapentin, at least for the meantime to see how I would be with less. We started at 900mg/day so I’ve never been at a lower dose. I wanted to see how I’m able to cope without thinking my medication is a crutch, so to speak.

He had no problem with that, so as of yesterday I have been taking 600mg. I’ve been feeling quite a bit better on a daily basis so I figured maybe now was the time to start getting off my meds and learning to cope on my own. As my psychiatrist said, the meds have given me a jumping board and now hopefully I will be able to take a little control on my own. I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes. Please keep me in your prayers. xo
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Black Dog Best Books Survey

from the Black Dog Institute

A survey of helpful books on mood disorders. Also an excellent reading list.

From the survey page:
“Information about mood disorders provides the tools and strategies to assist people. Books, together with the internet, are a readily accessible form of information. Please consider the list of books below. The Institute would like to assess via this brief survey how helpful any of these books were for you.”

…click to visit the survey

Mental Health Best of the Web

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This Thanksgiving has kind of already passed me by. I don’t have any special plans and in fact I am more excited for Christmas. Thanksgiving is one of my least favorite holidays, understandably so because it involves the expectation of engorging yourself with food and so many panic attacks accompany me at this time of year. But I would be ungrateful if I didn’t give thanks this year for all of my many blessings so get ready for the cheesiest post you’ll ever read from me.

I am so grateful for my beautiful new little family. The little baby that has made my life take on new meaning is priceless. She warms my heart every day with her innocence and her big personality.I am grateful for my extended family, family far from home, and friends. I am grateful for people that love me unconditionally no matter how many panic attacks I may get and how anxious I may appear.

I am grateful for my dogs even though they have had a hard time adjusting to the new changes in our house and have been acting out- even sweet innocent Wiggum has gotten pretty naughty lately!

I am grateful for the gospel in my life and the peace and comfort that it brings to my soul.

I am grateful for our home, our jobs, our cars, and all of the things that make life so comfy cozy in this time of uncertainty.

I am grateful for big plush blankets!

I am grateful for good health and wish that I had it! Can’t wait for this cold to go away so I can have my energy back.

I am grateful for ways to express ourselves creatively with hobbies such as blogging, scrapbooking, photography, music, etc. that help to lift our self esteem.

I am grateful for fresh start mornings and clean slates. Everything can go to pot one day, you can stumble and fall down, but then the sun rises and you get a whole new day to try again.

I am grateful for showers and jetted tubs.

I am grateful for 2% milk and I know I can’t live my life without it!

I am grateful for knowing that I can make a difference in my own life. I know that my attitude effects my happiness and I can always strive to be better.

I am grateful for this blog and all the people that have blessed my life because of it. I hope that I have been able to help others as that is my goal.

Anybody want to add to the list? What are you grateful for this season?

Visit the original post at: The Reality of Anxiety

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There Must Be Some Kind of Way Out of Here

by the Bitter Animator

Excellent cartoons about life, work, depression and more, served daily (almost) with wit and dry English humor.

…click to read more

Mental Health Best of the Web

Visit the original post at: Finding Optimism

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Bipolar Disorder: Six Key Coping Strategies

by Bipolar Connect

“I’m often asked how to cope with bipolar disorder. It is a question all of us with the disorder are asked. The truth is, sometimes we cope successfully, and sometimes we do not. And I will be the first to admit that my manifestation of bipolar disorder is not the same as the next person’s, and their level of functionality may be far different from mine. But the principles of coping should be the same no matter what.”

…click to continue reading

Mental Health Best of the Web

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Diagnosis of Depression
your family doctor guidance for a careful checkup. There are several medical situations that can cause depression symptoms, like vitamin and mineral deficiencies, female hormonal changes and thyroid conditions.
Also, some medications can have depression as a side-effect. If your doctor does not discover any of these aspects to be the cause of your symptoms, then [...]
Visit the original post at: Depression Help

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What actually happened on V-Day
Thank you for your comments on my last post. I wanted to do a quick post to let you know what actually ended up being our Valentine’s Day low-key celebration. We had decided that what we wanted to do was order sushi in and stay home, watch TV and just relax. Instead, the sushi place we usually order from informs us that it’ll be an hour and a half wait to get our food so we decide to forgo ordering with them. I guess because of Valentine’s Day they were too busy! Anyways, it would have been fine had we known of any other places that we could order from, but pickings were slim. We were also worried that if we decided to go out to eat everywhere would be packed with premade reservations.

Anyhow, I called this local all-you-can-eat sushi place to let them know that we could be there in 10 minutes if they had a table available. At this point we were both starving and it was our last resort. They said there would be a table available for us (so I assumed they mustn’t be that busy). When we got there it was packed and we didn’t see any open tables. Just as I started to panic that we’d go hungry on Valentine’s Day a couple of ladies finished paying their bill and left. So we got a table! The food was pretty good and for $14.99 each I think we managed to get our money’s worth.

It was also the thing I dread most in this world - eating out - which ended up not being such an ordeal because when it was our only option I had no choice but to suck it up and face my fear!

Hope you all had a good one.
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Optimism Software for Mental Health

The latest release of our software, version 2.8.0, is now available for download. Find out more about the release and other planned developments in our latest newsletter, or read more about Optimism on the software page.

Visit the original post at: Finding Optimism

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Happy Valentine’s Day!
I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day!

I don’t think my husband and I will be doing anything exciting today…probably just ordering food and maybe renting a movie. Our Valentine’s Days have been pretty low-key for the past seven years or so. We don’t see the point in making a big deal on February 14. We show each other how much we love each other 365 days of the year!

Have a good day with your loved one! xo
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Money = Happiness, But There’s a Catch

by Psych Central

“Popular culture tells us we’d be happier with more money, but how much is enough? John D. Rockefeller had a tongue-in-cheek reply to the query, “Just a little bit more,” while an entire countermovement scoffs at the notion that joy and contentment can be purchased, arguing that money is not the root of all happiness, but of all evil.

What does psychology have to say on the subject?”

…click to continue reading

Mental Health Best of the Web

Visit the original post at: Finding Optimism

Popularity: 13% [?]