2020s Mental Hygiene Thread

[TURBO UNO]

“It’s not that we stop playing when we become old, it’s that we STOP PLAYING and BECOME OLD”

I’m loving that quote fam. I also agree with bike riding keeping you youthful. You really do feel less stress and your patience gets rejuvenated. I hope some who are feeling down at the moment take a chance to do some riding and see for themselves.

 

[OGponson]

Marijuana is not a healthy coping skill. It is a healthy, possibly social, recreational activity which does have some benefits related to the symptoms of depression. It is not good to use it as a “cure” or to cope with mental illness. Merely a supplement, and I smoke a lot daily

 

[Belgium]

No shame in getting therapy. Some can deal with their problems on their own and others can’t and there’s nothing wrong with that. With that said I’m off to take a bicycle ride to this big *** park and be reunited with nature for a bit. This one activity really puts you in a better mood and the time riding solo lets you think clearer.

Ain't nothin' gonna break-a my stride
Nobody gonna slow me down, oh no
I got to keep on movin'

Absolutely. I lost my ability to effectively ride a bicycle during the onset of my chronic illness several years ago and I think it played a large role in my struggle to cope with it initially. I was just stuck in the house all day moping over losing my physical activity hobbies.
Thankfully I now have an electric bicycle to fix that to some extent but for a long time I didn't have the money to afford one.

For me, nothing beats a peaceful solo bicycle ride with some music.

 

[Ingenious Bastard]

Marijuana is not a healthy coping skill. It is a healthy, possibly social, recreational activity which does have some benefits related to the symptoms of depression. It is not good to use it as a “cure” or to cope with mental illness. Merely a supplement, and I smoke a lot daily

Would you say it's any different from OTC prescriptions from a therapist?

 

[TURBO UNO]

Absolutely. I lost my ability to effectively ride a bicycle during the onset of my chronic illness several years ago and I think it played a large role in my struggle to cope with it initially. I was just stuck in the house all day moping over losing my physical activity hobbies.
Thankfully I now have an electric bicycle to fix that to some extent but for a long time I didn't have the money to afford one.

For me, nothing beats a peaceful solo bicycle ride with some music.

I’m so sorry to hear about your health problems, man. However, it’s great to know that you can get out of the house now and are able to experience some joy in the outdoors. Nothing worse than being stuck in the house for long periods of time. I can do it but it most definitely takes a toll on my mood. I hope you’re able to get better and that you continue to head out for some adventures

 

[OGponson]

Would you say it's any different from OTC prescriptions from a therapist?

Yes. Those medicines are regulated in dose and are prescribed to address specific neurotransmitter deficiencies Depending on your condition. Weed can actually be counterproductive. I personally feel weed is just a case by case basis thing. Gotta try and see lol

 

[_relinquo]

How much can mental hygiene affect sleep?

Would like to have a consistent 8 hours a day but I have been stuck at about 4 hours a day for what seems to be years now.

I actually recently started seeing a sleep specialist, and it was probably the best ****ing thing I could do for myself (it's been real hard finding a new therapist).

The things he said that really help are making sure you're consistent with your wake up times each day, no matter what time you go to bed. He asked me what my ideal sleep schedule was, which is 2:00AM - 8:45AM. I work with people in the UK, so that extra couple hours for me can be crucial to communicate with them, and I'm one of those people that if I get more than 7.5 hours of sleep, I'm a useless ****ing piece of **** for the whole day.

He had me keep a sleep diary (it's a graph type thing where you fill out and shade boxes), which helped me become aware and hold myself accountable. He also has me using my happy light (that's what I call it, I don't know what the ****ing technical term for it is) when I wake up. He said it's important I just get up immediately, turn on my light for 20 minutes, and get out of bed. "Only use it for sexual activity and sleep. You need to train your body." No mid-day naps, no caffeine past 5:00PM (although sometimes I still do this).

My job has always been WFH, so while there was no real adjustment I had to make, mentally, I began to feel trapped. I took advantage of WFH by doing errands in the middle of the day. That was me getting out during the week and being productive. Once COVID hit, I felt that was all taken away from me. Keeping a consistent wake up time for the last month has helped me improve all around mentally.

tl;dr: a sleep specialist is a good ****ing investment

 

[rexanglorum]

I look out and see the mountains, I wonder what madness possessed me to bring two tiny humans into this chaotic malgoverned world. I was crazy enough to bring a third into this place. What was I thinking?

I gather and seek to turn the products of my garden into preserves, salted herbs, fermented products, pickles, honey, eggs and a myriad other products. I look at those same wild peaks and realize that those same peaks look down upon others. They see others who have been systemically ignored, excluded and plundered by the America that we know.

we can do so much better but until then:

1.) Reach out to existing friends and family.

2.) Focus on what you are already good at.

3.) Eat some herbs that make you feel better like Kava, St. John's Wort, Valerian, etc.

4.) Remember, it's ok to not feel great. Late Capitalism is awful. Try to feel better but you won't feel great. Out economic system requires that people feel bad.

 

[Ingenious Bastard]

Yes. Those medicines are regulated in dose and are prescribed to address specific neurotransmitter deficiencies Depending on your condition. Weed can actually be counterproductive. I personally feel weed is just a case by case basis thing. Gotta try and see lol

I agree, it's most definitely a case by case thing. For some, it helps anxiety and depression, for others it doesn't.

At the end of the day, all drugs are just pacifiers. No one should depend on them to completely fix what's going on internally.

If you suffer from anxiety and depression, you can take all the meds you want, but they'll never get to the root problem, of why you feel that way in the first place. It's just a momentary band-aid.

 

[cosmiccoffee9]

definitely feeling more my normal self now that the time has come to put theory into practice.

a feeling of agency is a powerful thing, the feeling that your actions can impact your direction.

to lose touch with that idea through circumstance is a crippling feeling.

I guess that´s the only difference between today and say, three months ago...my finances are still ****ed up, society is still on fire, and I really don´t want a footlong q-tip shoved in my head cavity...but it´s time to play.

perhaps it is less than ideal that I only feel fulfilled and driven when there is action to be taken, but to be honest I have to address that in more detail later, with the benefit of hindsight and the perspective it offers.

right now, it´s time to make decisions...the future is unpaused.

at least, from where I´m sitting.

 

[KHUFU]

 

[cosmiccoffee9]

that´s an important reminder...it´s healthy to examine the source and sustainability of our emotional shifts.

a temporary boost in mood does not necessarily mean any core issues are addressed.

 

[cosmiccoffee9]

it´s taken time and perspective to truly absorb the reality that the twists and turns of 2020 can be ultimately understood to be beneficial, if not ¨positive¨...seeing these shakeups similarly to a medical diagnosis on issues in my own life as well as the wider world around us feels like a lasting improvement to my overall mental state.

spent a lot of yesterday thinking about it, worked to process the complexity of it in my usual way.

Spoiler

Thanks for the Memories (even if they weren´t so great)

[if you´ve ever wondered what Thanksgiving looks like on $7.25 an hour, wonder no more.]

Today, Friday 27 November, is the curious consumerist celebration known as Black Friday--a true American original--and although I´ve always found it a little strange that our national tradition is to go out and buy a bunch of **** we don´t need literally the day after spending a whole day performing various rituals of gratitude for what we have, I can´t help but still find myself thankful for the events of this year.

Sure, this will probably read like one of those ¨year in review¨ posts, so I guess I´m making the bold assumption that I´ll still be standing come January 1...but nothing about these views is expected to change before the end of the year--or hell, the end of 2021--so I feel safe rolling this out as something of a a Thanksgiving special.

I feel absolutely justified in feeling that I have already received plenty of blessings this year.

So thank you, 2020.

For slapping me in the ****ing face.

For wiping the *** of inevitability with childish notions of unlimited and unstoppable economic growth...a system predicated on nothing ever going wrong ever is one masterfully designed for catastrophic failure.

[I even got $1200 out of it!]

With 12 million Americans set to lose their unemployment benefits the day after Christmas, a quarter-million more dead from ***-brained management, an ongoing economic collapse, a national eviction moratorium set to expire Day One of next year, and a whole new perception of reality to work with (and even some to work against!), that acknowledgement has arrived in grand fashion.

Thank you for ripping the mask off this sham society, for laying, bare and raw as road rash, the structural aspects of inequality, for the bald and overt truth that capitalism is killing us. For making abundantly clear the binary choice between socialism and barbarism.

Thank you for demonstrating beyond doubt that it is The People--the medical professionals, the dedicated educators professional and parental, the cashiers, plumbers, and drivers--the proletariat, as some of my comrades call them--are owed an immeasurable debt for enabling the stability of our world.

[sure, they´re holding our flimsy civilization together...but do they really deserve a living wage?]

Thank you for inspiring me to give up big box stores for good...consumption got too high, costs sunk too low, every cheap Chinese product stuffing the shelves was destined to be taken for granted and every discount is taken out of employee wages and labor costs, never profits.

Sure, I often have to count every penny while grocery shopping, but there is no price on anything so appealing that it makes selling out society a good deal.

So thank you, sudden-onset poverty, for reminding me how little I need in life to be happy.

On a happier note, I am thankful for an unexpected chance to see my family...good thing the President of the United States meddled with the mail so badly I had to board an international flight in a pandemic just to vote.

I suppose I am also thankful for the subsequent reminder that my parents just may not be around forever.

So thank you for showing me now who my friends are, for making it impossible to ignore that anyone who does not agree with my basic ideas for the shape of society is an adversary, and that there is no badge of honor in seeking civility from those who would gladly see you dead.

[¨socially liberal, fiscally conservative.¨]

Thank you, sadly, for delivering the footage that made every incident in the past all too real...the only thing that made George Floyd´s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police in any way noteworthy is that it was caught on film and therefore impossible to deny or minimize.

At least, that´s what I thought...many humanoids in my orbit managed to do so anyway.

Still, I guess I am also thankful that these alleged people have exposed themselves.

So Thank you for showing me that my life does not matter--at least if you ask some people I knew--and for forcing me to take a hard look in the mirror and reevaluate the direction of it.

Thank you for showing me police reform is not the answer, and there is no amount of training or equipment that can adequately compensate for the systemic echoes of white supremacy.

Thank you for strangling the idea of karma without enforcement by society to a long-overdue death. Thank you for radicalizing the general public. Subtly. Tantalizingly. Unmistakably.

[even those reluctant to embrace change can recognize its necessity.]

For grabbing me by the locs, dumping me out of my beach hammock, and forcing my face into the reality that colonialism and the delusions that drive it are alive and well all around us.

For finally...FINALLY---turning me into something resembling an adult.

Thanks, I hate it.

[same state, different day.]

Bittersweet is the undisputed Word of 2020...as the stock market hits new highs and people stand in lines for days to purchase the newest game consoles at their full retail price while some citizens of a highly advanced capitalist nation stand in bread lines thousands of stomachs long, these developments have left a strange new taste in my mouth...the authentic flavor of our times.

So no, it´s not super happy flying rainbow magic space captain time at the moment--my friends and family as struggling, my future is unclear, and our shiny modern world may be crumbling beneath our feet--but I still find myself thankful for the year´s transformative transpirings.

Whether I like it or not doesn´t really matter...the point is I am ****ing thankful.

it´s okay not to be okay, but it is also good to feel good.

 

[dhart48]

Did my therapy intake/assessment just waiting on them to call me with approval and a list of therapists I can contact and get it going. Started getting back heavy into a meditation schedule.walking 2 miles everyday and after doing tons of my own research, I'll be reading this to fine tune my plan for the future.

 

[cosmiccoffee9]

Did my therapy intake/assessment just waiting on them to call me with approval and a list of therapists I can contact and get it going. Started getting back heavy into a meditation schedule.walking 2 miles everyday and after doing tons of my own research, I'll be reading this to fine tune my plan for the future.

sounds like solid ground...if you don't mind me asking, are these therapy resources through insurance or what?

 

[dhart48]

sounds like solid ground...if you don't mind me asking, are these therapy resources through insurance or what?

Yup through Kaiser

 

[championboyz7]

work has been stressful since covid started. Along with some personal things . Looking back to getting a therapist to help me cope. With a lot of this stress

 

[DCAllAfrican]

 

[QU!K]

I don’t know who needs to hear this but, mindfulness is basically reconnecting with your body through breathing and possibly walking exercises.

Often people struggle with their thoughts because they are disconnected with their body, and their mind is somewhere else, often thinking about the past or worrying about the future. Mindfulness is also about being present and focusing on the task at hand. It takes practice and is like a muscle, gets easier the more you exercise it.

Often we struggle with our thoughts because the world programs us to be over critical of ourselves. You can reprogram your brain practicing gratitude. By starting our days by writing 3 things we are grateful for everyday we can reframe our perspective and refocus our thoughts by acknowledging the good things in life.

Gratitude
Journaling
Mindfulness
Exercise - the mind and body are connected
Being in the presence friends and family.

social isolation can do a number on our minds

 

[eracism]

Will this ever jump off in the states? I think I'd be pretty good at it.

 

[6 Rings G.O.A.T.]

He belongs in TAN..

 

[cosmiccoffee9]

didn´t know where to put until now but a buddy of mine was killed by police about a week back.

Steven Ross Glass ID'd As Man Killed By Police After Shooting Plastic Pellets At Officers

A 35-year-old Lakewood man who threw rocks at his neighbor's door, barricaded himself inside his apartment and fired plastic pellets from a replica weapon at police officers was ultimately killed by a single shot from a SWAT agent's weapon Thursday morning. He was identified by police Friday.

denver.cbslocal.com

they´ll say he deserved it for getting into a standoff but what I know that most do not is that Steve hadn´t been dealing well with life for a while...drank a hell of a lot, and in private moments he would express his pain.

was definitely doing well financially and romantically, by all the traditional measures...but the guy just was not happy or stable. he enjoyed things for sure, but often got himself into trouble as a habitual line-stepper.

all of that was before The Great Cluster**** of 2020...all of a sudden, the party was over.

the manifestations of his unhappiness only festered with time and tragedy.

the decline was evident over time, but I never dreamed the end of the road would be so violent or so soon.

could mental health resources have saved him?

maybe, maybe not...he wasn´t really the type to seek it out...but with that typed, stigma kills.

so check on your friends.

seek help if you need it.

most importantly, guard your mind...it´s the last thing you´ll ever lose.

Spoiler: before

 

[DCAllAfrican]

I feel for her.

 

[cosmiccoffee9]

I feel for her.

I for one think it's wild that people expect folks to suddenly just snap back from all this over the past year, and she was suffering before that...refreshing to see a pro athlete recognize that most of life lies outside the lines.


what do you think of the Kyrie perspective, how he handles himself in this aspect?

 

[DCAllAfrican]

what do you think of the Kyrie perspective, how he handles himself in this aspect?

I have always been supportive of what he has said/done.

People just ain't ready to hear it.

Remember, he is getting paid millions so he should suck it up like the Carpenters and Plumbers did in the 80s/90s NBA.



Found this Tweet while browsing the Osaka content. People are funny man. Discussion within the Tweet.