Hi there @Kelly8 š! Iām so glad you were able to try some calming activities to help you with your mental health issues. Thatās a great achievement so well done!
Iām also glad you were able to get an appointment with a psychologist and you had some success there which is another positive thing. I found that talking to a psychologist helped me a lot as I spoke to him once a month for an hour on a regular basis. I did find though that in the end, I was struggling to find things to talk about for an hour and thatās when I knew I was getting better and was able to deal with life issues and dramas on my own without his help which is an achievement in itself as there were times initially at the start when I used to panic and only believed he could help me so that was hard at the start. I can now see that the person I was back then was a person in crisis and who needed support and learning of skills that he gave me and that was important for me to utilise his skills and knowledge which I did so, including having a phone call with him when I was admitted to hospital for psychiatric treatment which really helped. I havenāt been in contact with him since July as he said it was up to me to arrange our next phone session and to be honest, Iām not in any major rush to contact him as I think Iām travelling along relatively okay mentally. I just canāt see myself speaking to him for an hour right now which for me is a good thing as it shows me how strong Iāve become and thatās a great thing for me to realise. I have had another hospital admission since then as well but I got through it and therefore, I donāt feel the need to contact him. All I can say is take the time to listen and learn from your psychologist and try and put into practice what they tell you in your daily life. With emotional regulation issues, I learnt that breathing is a good skill to utilise when emotions get too strong and take your time when emotions do become overwhelming. I like the method of Delay, Distract, Decide to help me with my emotions and Iāve also learnt that emotions are like waves and they will eventually go away and ease up with the intensity in time. Emotions go through a period where they become full on and you feel like you have to act on them (often when you might not be in the right headspace 100% of the time) but they equally calm down and when they do, you often realise that it was good not to act on the emotion and you are better for that afterwards. Itās a learning journey and one Iām constantly on as I have Borderline Personality Disorder and that effects my emotions so Iām fully aware of how destructive my emotions can be if Iām not aware of them so I have to be sure I take time not to act on my emotions which often includes taking time out from my phone and emails and social media and having a soothing cup of tea or doing a meditation exercise instead or often, getting the knitting needles out and starting a beanie. Iāll tag some others here who might have ideas about emotional regulation @tyme @BPDSurvivor @BlueBay
As for the sleep thing, again, Iāve been through that and still have issues with my sleep but I have had a change in meds which has helped me at night to a certain extent but not fully unfortunately. Iām thinking there may be a physical reason for my sleep such as being peri menopausal but thatās just an idea and something I need to follow up with my GP eventually when I see him. Have you tried a meditation app like Smiling Mind?I used to use it for 30 minutes when I found myself anxious before bed and it did work for me. Iāve also been known to have a warm shower, a warm cup of tea or use my essential oils diffuser with lavender in it as it helps get me off to sleep. I did purchase a lavender room spray from a supermarket back in June and found they made me feel calm as well when I sprayed it near my pillows and did help me with sleep. I now utilise my Fitbit as it has a sleep function on it which records how well I sleep each night and shows me how much time I spent in the various cycles of sleep with the majority of my time being spent in light sleep which is pretty good according to the app. Again, this helps me and I like it. There are some information on the internet about sleep hygiene that you can research as to how to get a good nights sleep so maybe thatās worth researching as well? Maybe you could spend some time each night writing down this game that are on your mind in a book and get it out of your head so it doesnāt disturb you when you do go to sleep? Reading a book could also help if youāre a reader? Not using your phone before bed is another tip Iāve found to be helpful as well as making sure youāre not too hot or too cold when you do go to sleep as I was told your room needs to be a certain temperature to help you sleep could also help. These are just ideas and things Iāve learnt so they may help you as well.
Take care!
Judi9877āŗļøš»
