[ti]question[/ti]What are your coping mechanisms?

[EchelonHunt]

As someone who suffers from depression and dissociation, coping mechanisms are crucial to ensure survival.

When one doesn't work, it doesn't mean you are broken, just try another coping mechanism.

Here are mine.

• Drawing
• Watching YouTube
• Hanging out with friends
• Sleeping
• Making plans for the future
• Cuddling pets
• Going to the movies
• Walking and taking in nature
• Swimming and filming fishies

What are your coping mechanisms? What helps you get through the day?

[Trinity]

Going out sh'e

Writing trans activism on facebook

Listening to trans music artists

Intensive theater excercizes

Talk talk talk, here, phone, facebook, email

Action movies

Sex

Racing

Anything to get away from the low level depression and anxiety.

But sometimes I experience joy in just being. Especially on the street sh'e.

Those moments are priceless to me.

[Deleted]

I really don't know Jayce. I think if anything being able to tell others to kiss my ass would at least make the top ten.

Plus Prozac and Klonipin mixed with wine.   

[Valerie]

Music
Journaling
Eating (probably not the healthiest way to deal with emotions)
Lying in bed curled up under blankets, and just hoping everything will go away, and I feel numb. (Probably not the healthiest )

[Trinity]

Aug 10, 2016 2:29:03 GMT 8 Valerie said:

Music
Journaling
Eating (probably not the healthiest way to deal with emotions)
Lying in bed curled up under blankets, and just hoping everything will go away, and I feel numb. (Probably not the healthiest )

Kerli is really good stuff

[Valerie]

Aug 10, 2016 21:25:21 GMT 8 Trinity said:

Aug 10, 2016 2:29:03 GMT 8 Valerie said:

Music
Journaling
Eating (probably not the healthiest way to deal with emotions)
Lying in bed curled up under blankets, and just hoping everything will go away, and I feel numb. (Probably not the healthiest )

Kerli is really good stuff

Omg she really is though! I been listening to her since my ex introduced me to her when I was 19, and I just been following her ever since! Just god, the way she writes her lyrics, and her creativity, and positivity! I kinda like her older stuff from first album Love is Dead, much better than her kind of newer dance type music, but I also enjoy her newer music too as well because I know she was in a very dark place when she did Love is Dead, album, and now she's happier, just living life, and currently going back to her roots of Estonia. I just love her so much!

[Taka]

planning my days in detail and following the plan. includes going to bed at exactly 10 pm and not letting myself ruminate. i'm a very stubborn person though, so if i make up my mind, i'm actually able to stop myself whenever i get unpleasant thoughts, and force myself to focus on more pleasant thoughts until i fall asleep. i don't usually do that, but this way helped me get through a couple extremely anxious months where my instincts told me to get as fat as way as possible, even by dying if that's the only way out. minecraft also helped at that time, just one hour before going to bed in order to break out of evil spirals and stuff.

but i haven't needed coping mechanisms for a while. i'm currently very happy, and even starting to like housework. finally broke out of that horrible lack of motivation, which apparently is a symptom of unhealthily low testosterone for a cis male. it's either an effect of taking testosterone, or just a psychological effect of finally getting something i've wanted for years. doesn't matter which though, as it works.

[Trinity]

I forgot to add flirting.

Something just reminded me

*flutters off*

[ConfusedPancake]

Being mindful! Seriously, being aware of my internal dialogue has helped me so much. I try to keep my thoughts purely positive and hopeful, and I notice when my thought pattern shifts to the negative things I used to constantly tell myself . As soon as my thoughts start going downhill, I tell myself 10 positive things about myself for each negative thought I had about myself. It can be super hard, but it's helped. Also, what Taka said. Going to bed early and forcing myself not to ruminate on my bad days keeps them bad days and not bad months or years. Other than this, writing, journaling, and letting my creative side flow have been helpful as well as finding a form of exercise that I love and keeps me in a positive place.

[Taka]

being mindful is something i needed much more before hrt. now i've gotten back that natural ability to enjoy the moment, so i have breaks all the time, and am feeling my happiness a lot more than before. i can also break out of evil spirals almost as soon as they start spinning, because i recognize what's happening, and then just do something else.

it feels really good to not have that cloud of dysphoria hanging over my head all the time. gives me room to live.

[Trinity]

I find it difficult to sleep without watching some tv, or posting, or looking at fb for funny cartoons.

And I have a ritual decompression thing, I post in the Goodnight thread that is actually not supposed to be just me but is just me posting, putting up a music thing, then say goodnight to my friends, then start the music of the night. Starts with mad world, then Stranger, then Got monsters, then Walk on the Wild side, Candy says, Thorn in your side, my transition video. A couple more but I seldom make it through monsters, and usually wake up to turn the music off in the middle of wild side.

My mind knows to relax when it hears the bell go off for mad world.

I play the same thing on the street when out Sh'e full out female stealth. it helps me relax and makes me feel special.

*flutters at Taka, shows too much leg, and winks smiling*

Trinity

[Lisa-WB]

Working Out (running, lifting, etc.)

Playing guitar and singing

Writing poetry or songs

Playing with our dogs

Hanging out with my kids

[Valerie]

I just realized I need to start finding new ways to cope. My old music playlist that has always helped me isn’t working anymore. I’ll try journaling again. I haven’t felt this bad in so long & I feel like I’m turning to talking to people too much & I don’t want to lean on just talking to people when I feel really suicidal bc what if they use it against me, leave me, or I lose my job! (I’ve turned to talking to my managers & god I definitely did yesterday multiple times) but I don’t want to lean on people what if it bites me in the ass? What if I push away my boyfriend. I know that’s so stupid to worry about bc I don’t think he’d do that he gets it and deals with his own depression but I don’t want to keep talking to him everytime I get really bad bc what about him? I don’t want to drain his energy, I don’t want to worry him! I also don’t want to be adding to him & making him bad!
I need to find new coping mechanisms I think my old ones aren’t working. I need to find new ones to help me. I think I’m dealing with heightened emotions from hormones that’s making me deal with my depressive episodes harder.

New coping list that I’ll try:
Mediation
Journaling
Turning back to my craft
Completely honesty at therapy (which I already do)

Idk what else actually...

[Avery]

I have a few books that I read, some to make me happy, some to make me feel less alone.

I spend time with the two kids I take care of. I love them more than life and they never fail to put a smile on my face.

I take a break and try not to feel guilty about it.

Cook a good, healthy meal and sit down and eat it without watching tv at the same time or anything.

Go for a long walk outside, maybe get groceries. Something out of the house.

Go to the cinema to see a movie by myself, it forces me out of the house with some minor social interaction (small talk or just ordering snacks)

[Ativan Prescribed]

I use tricks and stuff to get me past the problem, but it generally will come back again.
A good coping mechanism for me is to isolate the cause and then think about what I can do to fix it.
It doesn't always work, but when it does, the problem is gone or at least far enough away it isn't much of a bother.
There is the general major depression that never fails to just be sitting there, waiting to take over.
This is a matter of finding the trigger that started the other triggers and if I can go back far enough, it helps.
It can be as simple as running low on coffee and knowing I'll have to get more, not a big deal in itself.
But that will trigger more things that were even less of a big deal and it doesn't take long before it all falls apart.
I catch it before that happens, and I have backup people to tell me I'm over reacting again and to backtrack more, again.
It isn't hard once you can identify the trigger that started it, but then I can usually think that there is a trigger for that one as well.
It can be a mess of crap, but the realization that whatever it was is gone, over, was never there, what ever, makes it so much better.
Journaling for some people works pretty much like that, others make lists and such, distraction is a good way to just let your subconsciousness take care of it and that works pretty well, until I run out of distractions, but a good movie or something like that works pretty good too...
Going for a walk works really good for me if the weather allows it, winter is here and I'm not used to the sudden drop in temp, but getting there.
I have a route that takes me far enough into the state forest that it's hard to hear anything other than the wind in the trees.
It's a few miles and that's my exercise, which is another thing that works really well, get the endorphins going, get all the systems up and running.
But by far for me, and the quickest is to think back at the day or days and isolate whatever it is or was, it invariably is a nothing thing that just made other nothing things seem bad, when they really weren't or aren't, it's easy to let it snowball on you until it hurts, use whatever you can to stop it, life just sucks until you can fix it, and it's a lot easier to fix than to keep on as if it will never end, the end of it is up to you, life does go on in good ways when you let it.