Category Archives: Mental Health

The Art Of Procrastination

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I read a great blog post today, written by April Whitzman, titled Procrastinating? Click Here. She approaches the topic of  procrastination from the point of view that it is a good thing if it is done correctly. She even says that procrastination can improve the quality of our lives.

On the surface, I suppose it could be very easy to totally disagree with her views about procrastination, however,April Whitzman does an excellent and humorous job in presenting her case. She actually makes a list of things she does when she is procrastinating. Here are a few highlights from her list,

Twitter: There is nothing better than reading about pointless things that celebrities have done. If you’re really into procrastinating add me and watch me be a twit! @Alleycat17

Check Facebook for updates (Warning: This can become very addictive).

Clean. You’ll be surprised how many people sweep the floors or clean their dorm rooms to avoid doing the term paper. This is a great way to procrastinate as it’s definitely more productive and of course, there’s nothing like that great feeling of seeing that floor again

I can see value in some of the ways she procrastinates, the clean one for example. While she is avoiding tackling one icky project, she works on another that she has probably been procrastinating about doing. I think it is an amazing use of time that would otherwise be wasted.

There are things you can do while you are procrastinating that will help you relax, let go of some anxiety, and attempt to relieve some stress. If you get rid of any of those things it will instantly improve your life because it would just make you feel better.

Here are some things I do when I am procrastinating:

1. I pace the house, it gets my walking in for the day.

2. I check my twitter updates and have fun posting randomness, “The pepper jack cheese tastes good on my sandwich.” You can find me on twitter @melissamashburn

3. I hate to admit it but I play Yoville and Farmville on facebook when I am procrastinating.

4. I will do the dishes. I hate doing the dishes, the only time I truly seem to motivated to do them is when I am trying to avoid doing something else.

5. I work on my blog. Not just work on a post but I start messing around with the colors, graphics and plugins.

6. I will cook something

7.To put it delicately, I enjoy some alone time with my husband.

8. I will take a nap.

9. Play with my dog

10.  Now that I have some new relaxation techniques, I will be throwing them into my procrastination arsenal

I have to say, looking at procrastination in this way eliminates any guilt I was harboring about my own procrastination habit.   With less guilt, comes less stress, less stress makes me a happier person. If   I am careful about when I choose to procrastinate, like not doing it when I am supposed to be getting ready to go see a doctor, then I can see no reason to stop procrastinating altogether.

What do you do to procrastinate?

Have a wonderful, procrastinating day, Neighbors!

Funny How Things Work Out

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We are in desperate need of a vehicle. My husband had made plans to buy a truck from a friend for $300. It is actually a pretty decent truck for that little bit of money. It would be my husband’s vehicle because it is a stick and I do not know how to drive a stick shift. Unfortunately, his paycheck was not enough to cover buying the truck, and pay our bills too. He was very disappointed but knew there was nothing that could be done about it.

On his way home he stopped at his usual gas station and bought his usual scratch off lottery tickets. He buys them once a week and he never buy more than three or four. He usually just buys the lottery tickets that cost one or two dollars. I guess he was feeling so rotten that he decided to splurge and get himself a $5 scratch off lottery ticket. He won $500 off of that $5 lottery ticket. He was so excited. He used part of that money to get the truck, and then we used the rest for groceries. I was excited about going to the grocery store and not having to pay attention to the budget as much as I usually have to.

It is funny how things work out in the most unexpected ways sometimes.

I Love My Neighbors!

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Not Exactly What I Wanted To Hear

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Last week’s counseling session went pretty well. I was able to discuss something that had been on my mind for a couple of weeks. At the end of the session, my counselor said something that I thought was really good. She told me that if I were to walk into her office now, she would diagnose me with mild depression. She did also say we could not change my diagnosis at this point since I first started seeing her when my depression was so severe and I still need the extra care that someone with clinical depression needs. However, I did take what she said about my depression at this stage as a positive thing. I can see and feel that I am better than I was, but it sure is nice to have my counselor validate what I am feeling.

Yesterday it was time for me to see my psychiatrist for my regular medication check. I had question for him about my medications. When I was in the hospital for my asthma, my medication doses were not changed but instead of taking 150 m of effexor in the morning, the hospital had me take it 75 m at a time, once in the morning and once at night. With my welbutrin, they had me take 150 m in the morning rather than 75 m, morning and night. I asked him if changing how I took them for that length of time would make any difference in how they worked. He asked me if I had any symptoms come up during that time and they had not. So he said in his opinion changing them the way the hospital did was not detrimental to me at all.

I also told him I was back to almost no sleep at night and it was wearing me out. I asked if it was time for me to start taking something to help me sleep.

The answer he gave me was not exactly what I wanted to hear. The psychiatrist said that he could detect a great deal of anxiety in my voice and he thought that I was experiencing some extra anxiety that was making it difficult for me to sleep. He went on to say that he thought part of my anxiety was coming from me stressing about my medication. That I had gotten myself worried about things that were actually nothing to worry about. I know last week my mother said something about me getting “wound up” over making sure I had plenty of mirapex for my restless leg syndrome. He actually wrote in my chart that he felt I was moderately anxious. He said he wanted me to have my counselor teach me some more coping skills for anxiety and he felt that would be more helpful than prescribing anymore medication.

I guess he wants to keep an eye on me while I work through this anxiety episode, because instead of having to wait three months to see him again, like I had been doing, he wants to see me in four weeks.

I saw my counselor today, so I did not have to wait long before I could get her to teach me some more anxiety coping skills. The counselor did remind me that she had told me a number of months ago that I would experience some break through symptoms at some point. The time for that to happen seems to be now.

The counselor told me she thought I was handling it very good compared to how I would have last year. She also told me to not be hard on myself since I did not realize what was going on until the psychiatrist told me, and that if it had been given a few more days I would start to realize what was going on because the symptoms would be much more pronounced.

I am using my support system and using the people in my life who are the most helpful and trusting them to let me know when they think I am not doing as well as I could be.

The counselor also reminded me that learning about my emotions is probably the hardest part of my recovery process to date.

I will definitely have to manage my anxiety a bit better. I think the relaxation techniques my counselor will be helpful. I just have to remember to use them when I feel that anxious feeling.

Have a great evening Neighbors!

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The Queens Tuesday Meme – March 10, 2010

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The Never Should Meme
Brought to you from the sunny beaches of Somewhere whilst on vacation.

I actually believe that if “shoulds” and “nevers” were banned from the English language we’d all be better off. Who needs to live in absolutes? Should evokes unnecessary and unhealthy guilt.
Never is never enough no matter what you should be doing. Not ever! See? But in this fill-in-the-blank exercise you can be as dogmatic and brutal as you dare.
After today’s meme, lose the words.
Seriously.
You should.
Oh, never mind.

1. If I never see _hospital turnip greens_again it will be too soon.

2. Should I meet my Maker tomorrow, I would ask for one more day on earth to write letters to those i I love.

3. Never in my life have I __watched the rain__like I did today.

4. I should always allow more time to __talk to my daughter_.

5. I should’ve never listened to _Mr. Rogers__ while under the influence of _cold medicine.

6. I never _breakdown _in my car but I should always carry __flashlight_with me just in case.

7. I should spend more money on _my computer__ because it makes me happy. I should spend less money on _bills_because it makes me sad.

8. _Secrets__ should never be shared with strangers.

9. I should tell _a certain person_that I never really meant to _hurt their feeligns.

10. Never in a million years would I want you to know __I am not saying.

Managing Not Dealing

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Something was pointed out to me today. When I heard this I did a mental double take. Then I realized the truth in the statement.

Managing our issues is so much better than just dealing with them.

Dealing with them implies that in some way an issue has defeated us or is in control. Managing implies that we are not letting an issue be in control. One word discounts our efforts in resolving an issue, the other acknowledges our efforts and allows for us to keep trying.

I think this is a very important statement for anyone. Mental illness or not, we all have issues. We all want some sort of resolution to our issues. Often when no resolution is obtained, we become frustrated. We develop a defeatist attitude and often just decide to “deal” with it. Dealing with it, in my opinion, means that we have come to accept the issue, and its control over us, without putting anymore effort into resolving it. When we have reached a sort of acceptance of an issue and its control of us, and decide to just “deal” with it, we often view ourselves and our efforts in resolution as failures.

I think managing an issue allows us to see it from a more positive perspective. Even in our lack of resolution, managing our issues keeps them from controlling us. We do not see a lack of resolution as failure. We see it as an opportunity to try again. We can look at our previous efforts and acknowledge that even efforts that did not bring about resolution are valuable. Every effort to bring about resolution will effect some sort of change.

I am sure that some people could argue that this is just a question of semantics. Manage and deal have similar definitions. However similar is not the same. When I looked at the definitions for both of the words, manage had more success oriented words than deal had. The definition for manage had words like direct, control, and to succeed. The definition for deal had words like to take action, and to behave in a certain way.

Do you think that changing just one word, deal to manage, really makes a difference in our efforts to resolve issues and maintain a positive attitude? Or do you think that both words are similar enough that it does not make a difference?

Are there instances you can think of where changing just one word in how you thought or spoke about something changed your whole perspective in how you viewed the issue or situation?

Food for thought, Neighbors!

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Just A Reminder

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I will be moving everything over to the new site in just a few minutes. The new url is http://www.sugarfilledemotions.com

I will do my best to have it so that if you happen to click on the old site it will transfer you to the new one, however, just in case it does not work, please go ahead and update you bookmarks.

Those of you who are signed up on feeds will have to sign up again for the new feeds on the new site.

Please let me know if you have any quesitons.

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Important Announcement!

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Sugar Filled Emotions now has its own domain. Yay!!! I am very excited! You can find the new site at http://www.sugarfilledemotions.com

Sometime this weekend I will be moving the whole blog to the new site. I will attempt to make this transition as smoothly as possible, however, if you want to, you can go ahead and update your bookmarks and etc. with the new url.

I thoroughly enjoyed having my blog at blogspot, but I am looking forward to having more versatility with my blog by this move. I appreciate everyone’s patience while I do this, and if you have any questions please let me know.

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Important Announcement!

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Sugar Filled Emotions now has its own domain. Yay!!! I am very excited! You can find the new site at http://www.sugarfilledemotions.com

Sometime this weekend I will be moving the whole blog to the new site. I will attempt to make this transition as smoothly as possible, however, if you want to, you can go ahead and update your bookmarks and etc. with the new url.

I thoroughly enjoyed having my blog at blogspot, but I am looking forward to having more versatility with my blog by this move. I appreciate everyone’s patience while I do this, and if you have any questions please let me know.

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Seeing Through Glasses

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As a depressed, diabetic, almost forty year old woman, I often feel as if I am controlled by my emotions.  At any moment, I can start crying over nothing, feel so angry that I cannot talk or I say things I should not, or feel so panic stricken that I cannot leave my house.

I am at a loss to explain to most people how things have degenerated so far down to this point.  How do you explain to someone that your anxiety works in such a way that there is a certain square mile radius that is your “safety zone” and that if you leave it, you will have a panic attack? Or that your depression is so bad that even bathing yourself and getting dressed for the day can seem like an insurmountable task?

In my quest to learn how to control my emotions rather than let them control me, I have encountered a few people who have shared some bits of information with me about depression and how diabetes, genetics, my childhood, brain chemistry and the changing hormones of a woman my age can worsen depression and anxiety.  I appreciated the information because it has given me a better way of explaining to people why I am an emotional, puddle of mud, however, when I take stock of all I have stacked against me it is rather dis-heartening. Did I forget to mention I am also naturally a glass is half empty kind of person?

I wonder what things would look like, if I tried to see a few of the issues I have, through a glass that is half full?

Pre-menopause bouncing hormones can lead to depression and anxiety

Glass is half empty view – Ten to fifteen more years of bouncing hormones which lead to ever worsening depression and panic attacks.  My “safety zone” grows smaller and smaller until it only includes my house.  I become a shut in who is known as the dog lady (I prefer dogs over cats)

Glass is half full view – Only ten to fifteen more years of bouncing hormones, depression and panic attacks.  Menopause hits and the bouncing hormones go away.  As an added bonus no more visits from my “monthly friend”.

Studies show that people with diabetes have a greater risk of depression than people without diabetes.

Glass is half empty view – Whenever my sugar levels get to high I feel depressed, when they get too low I feel depressed.  Giving myself shots is so not fun.  Checking my blood sugar is a painful and tedious project that must be done at least four times a day.  I cannot eat cake, cookies, bread, and pasta the way I want to.

Glass is half full view – Getting better control over my blood sugar means I will not get depressed from the sugar highs and lows.  In a few years all my finger tips will have developed callouses, so checking my blood sugar will no longer be a painful process.  With all that cake, cookies, bread and pasta I am not eating, I am bound to lose weight, and will be able to get back into my skinny jeans.

I have depressed genes

Glass is half empty view- These are not like my fat jeans, where I can hope to one day be able to fit in my skinny jeans again.  There are no exchanges or refunds to these types of genes.  I am stuck with them!  My children are stuck with them!

Glass is half full view – There are medications that can help control the chemical processes in my brain that are a little off kilter due to my genes.  If some medications do not work that is ok, there are many of them out there and you are allowed exchanges of medications.  My children are already aware of their depressed genes.  They will know to be vigilant, and will always be on the look out for the signs of depression and anxiety in themselves.  They will have the ability to get  help long before they spiral down as far as I have.

I think if I can remember to take the time to look at things from a glass is half full view, I will continue to surprise myself with all the positive things I can find.  I might even find a way to better control my emotions and no longer be an emotional, puddle of mud.

Are there any issues you have that you are currently looking at through a glass is half empty view?  What happens when you take the time to look at them through a glass is half full view?  Let me know what you discover.

The Last Day Of High School

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Welcome to the March 4th version of Thursday Thunks!
(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)
Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!

We pick a subject, and your job is to interpret it anyway you want. Write about it on your blog… simple as that. Maybe you can interpret it as a picture – we don’t care!
Please only leave a link if you have written a Thursday Thunks post. Please mention us in your post, and link back to the blog here.
Don’t forget to go visit the other participants’ blogs. Read and comment about all their Thursday Thunks! Thats what all this is about afterall, isn’t it? We’ll have so much fun and become lifelong friends….
This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Bud, the color of Australian Money, and the number 333.

Did you see that? We have a guest blogger this week!!!!

1. Someone knocks on your door. You have not seen this person in years. You were once great friends. Who would you like it to be and why?

My best friend from high school. She was very special to me. We moved so much when I was growing up that making friends was difficult. When we finally stayed in one place long enough for me to make friends, she became my very first ever best friend.

2. What do you think would be a great song title that isn’t one? Who do you want to record it?

Do your boobs hang low? (Sung to Do your ears hang low) I would like to record it.

3. You are having a party. If I’m invited, what should I bring?

you should bring the cheese dip

4. If your spouse or s/o cheated with a one night stand while away, would you really want to know?

No, I would not want to know.

5. How long does it take for a house guest to drive you bonkers?

about five minutes

6. If you could pick a new color for the sky, what would you pick?

purple

7. What did you think of the Olympics?

nothing really, I have no watched them at all

8. Could TT have thought of a lamer blogger that me to guest host?

I am sure they could have.

9. What’s the stupidest lie that someone really thought you’d believe?

No mom. Just because the graffiti on the wall has my name on it and it is in my handwriting, I did not write on the wall.

10. What was the best day you had in high school? Tell us about it.

The last day. I hated high school. I mean really hated it. I wanted to drop out, but did not. The last day was nice. I got to say good bye to friends, take pictures and know that I never had to set foot in that place again.

This is actually a picture from my last day of high school. I was in my psychology class room. I am the red head.
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11. Name something that you have in your home that you are sure most people don’t.

a didgeridoo
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12. Why haven’t you at least tried to play The Dating Profile Meme?

No idea. I will try it next time.

13. Do you think homophobia is a choice?

I think that just like the phobia implies it is a fear. Some people have more control over their fears than others do.

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