I m a big fan too! Wonderfully deep content on there. Really brings me insight in my mind’s (dis)functioning, all in modern secular fashion. The many hours of conversation material in there are a relax treatment in themselves.
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I have depression and strong anxiety for about 4 years. Last year I feel better. Music, nature, meditation and people helped me alot. I know that not doing anything and not going outside my home makes everything worse. So I’m trying to find myself in alot of stuff.
For example someone who punch people in face needs to release his energy physicly, so good idea would be to go to a gym, run every morning and maybe after some years he will be in olympics.
So my idea is try to undestand and find ways how to use your physical and mental energy and don’t hold it inside because it’s growing.
Sorry for my brainstorm while sitting alone in bar… 
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I think this is really important for everyone and even more so for people experiencing mental health problems. Unused mental or physical energy definitely make me feel worse and my behaviour worsen.
Good point!
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Obviously everyone is different but when I’ve had periods of difficulty sleeping (which is not at all uncommon, I feel like most people I know have experienced this at one time or another!), there has been something subconsciously on my mind stressing me out. Usually nothing particularly serious either, but your mind works in funny ways.
I personally found that doing some mindfulness meditation with the Headspace app helped me feel a lot calmer (and also realise what was stressing me out and confront it a bit), it’s very easy to get started with. It’s not something I’ve ever tried before and I stopped using it once I got over this period of not sleeping well (which is a shame as I’m sure keeping with the practice would have benefits in day to day life), but could be worth a go. It didn’t have an immediate effect and other stuff may have helped more, but like I say it’s easy to try.
In addition to this, I found staying up late reading until I was really, really tired seemed to help - seems counterintuitive when you’ve not slept well, you feel you should go to bed early, but actually tiring yourself out seems to mean you are less likely to have a “whirring” mind when you get in bed.
The other thing a lot of people talk about is “sleep hygiene” - stuff like avoiding screens the hour before bed, try to make your bedroom a place you only sleep in (rather than lying in bed reading the Internet before sleep or whatever) if you are able to, set your alarm and get up at your usual time even if you slept badly… all these things can kind of condition your mind back to associating the bed with sleep, they call it Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - if you Google it, there’s lots of discussion and even apps to help you.
I didn’t find any of the “get to sleep tricks” (counting backwards, doing random word association in your head etc. etc.) really helped at all.
My partner and her mum have found that taking half a Sominex, which I believe is a drowsy antihistamine, helps break sleepless cycles - it gives enough drowsiness that you fall asleep, but it doesn’t knock you out and make you feel awful the next day. I’ve never used it and don’t know much about it so do some research before trying it of course!
Good luck, I think most people have experienced this and it’s no fun at all, but know that you’ll get past it! I can try and dig up other resources I found helpful if you like, I did quite a lot of reading on the topic (was determined to beat it in a scientific way, lol).
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I practice mindfulness and try to meditate every day for at least a few minutes (and by meditate, I don’t mean sitting on a cushion surrounded by insence and cultural appropriation).
I don’t to it to help me sleep, but it does definitely help me relax and I find one leads to the other.
And if all else fails, there’s always Nyquil.
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sorry to hear this. no amount of medication, therapy, or exercises is going to make up for the misery caused by a shitty job. hopefully you can put together some sort of escape plan so you can get the fuck out of there
EDIT: personally i’m very dubious about the whole mindfulness thing, there is a reason employers are so keen on it: it makes your mental anguish your “personal responsibilty” which allows them to totally abdicate their duty of care
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Regarding sleeping problems, I’ve had trouble getting more than 5 hours of sleep during the last years, have been trying many things and the one that’s been working is melatonin. I’ve got my 8 hours back and feel much calmer and less anxious thanks to it.
I really recommend trying melatonin since it’s not addictive and can be really helpful!
I’ve also decided to invest in my fitness lately, stopped fooling myself and chose to pay a bit more to get access to the gym close to my appartment, with a coach and a personalized program, it’s more expensive but I really want to stop finding excuses to not exercice.
I think I can empathise, in part. My country has been very lucky compared to most re: lockdowns – but I found working from home exhausting and depressing. Sitting at a computer all day, in a space that is meant to be for my own enjoyment, struggling to communicate, not able to do the job as well, no camraderie, no structure to the day, no sense of achievement – I absolutely hated it and went back to the office as soon as possible. I would have quit if working from home were demanded long-term, it was just too depressing.
Maybe start looking for another job. I completely understand not wanting to quit, but there might be something else out there?
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That s the commercial corruption of it. There s a lot more to it than that.
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Yeah, just because it is “approved by capitalism” doesn’t mean it is “bad” or “doesn’t work”. But yeah, I mean, there is certainly the problem that if we all just chill, accept our situation, and keep shopping we’ll never actually change the world around us for the better.
That said, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water…you can use mindfulness practices without buying into the whole self-pacification for the benefit of our plutocrat overlords thing.
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If anything, mindfulness practice makes you an even bigger pain in the corporate plutocrat evil overlord arse. Its way harder to control people when they see through the bullshit.
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That
plus
regular exhausting workouts, ideally these double as meditation
cold water - shower or pool
no staring at screens at night, especially not following “social” media, instead just let your mind drift away
only light dinner, if any
keep well hydrated
try to resolve any unfinished business, such as arguments in your relationship/family before bedtime
give your loved ones a hug
Mind you, these are not a cure for mental health issues, but oh do they improve sleep.
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I will take all advice on board, maybe not @Fin25 ‘s mushroom idea but I’ll keep that in the back pocket just in case. Appreciate the input thank you.
I did sleep pretty good last night so I guess saying stuff helped.
Working on it, seeing what’s out there even if it is a drastic change.
Quit alcohol ( and drugs ) too. It’s crazy how much life force it sucked out of me the last 15 years.
I have that thought too, though I’m on chronic cancer medication.
I’d probably drop dead a few months into the apocalypse 
Meditation has helped me a great deal with depression and sleep.
I had a job that I could not stop thinking about for some reason, I cared for elderly with dementia. Everyday after work I obsessed with details, what i did during the day, what I would do the next day, and I just could not sleep well, and when i slept i dream of the job. The worst was when I had a late shift, and the day after morning shift and couldnt sleep in between. I ended up taking the same sleeping pills as some i cared for lol. All my life i have had trouble sleeping but here it came to be at its worst.
during this time I had also started meditating, and the way I think it has helped was that it gave me the tools to understand my feelings and situation and not get stuck in a mindset that it was unacceptable, I’ll explain.
Not being able to sleep when you want to is awful, you lie there and the mind is going and you know you want to sleep or next day will be fucked. You find it unacceptable, it is bad.
I could say “just stop feeling bad about it” and it would be the worst tip ever. But that was what happened at one night when it was at its worst. I was in agony. I realize, I have done absolutely everything I can, and yes the situation sucks but feeling bad about it is not helping, and I can chose not to feel bad. So I did, and like a snap of a finger it went away. Never since then have I felt bad about not being able to sleep, I still have problems now and then, when I lay for hours, but I never feel bad about it anymore. It was a powerful and weird experience.
Why I credit my meditation is because I feel it gave me the mental tools to handle it. I can see my situation as from above, my feelings are here, surrounding them are the situations and things that affect them, here is my needs and my wants, its all connected. I could be kind to myself, and see that I did all I could.
So just saying stop feeling bad is a terrible tip know, I guess what I want to say is that you can actually do it, but you have to discover yourself the way to make it so, for me it was meditation.
It has also helped with depression. I didn’t even want to understand that I was depressed until last year when it got much worse. You have more power over your feelings than you may think. For me its like going on auto pilot if not meditating. A thing happens and I react, I have to react. Upsetting thing happens = i must become upset. Something annoy me = I must be annoyed. Conflict happens = now im mad.
Only you don’t actually have to be led along by your feelings. Its like you take a step back from yourself, you can view the feelings without taking part of them. This is not easy and anger can come and feel as strong and real as ever, only now you know how not to feed the flames, and you can watch it dwindle and fade. This has been so useful for me as I was mad alot and the negativity absolutely drains you. And when it is going day after day you question if life is even worth it.
But change is not super fast and when observing your own feelings it can be that you just start to see the thing that affects you happen and you realize that it is affecting you. That already is a great step, you have identified something that affects you negatively and its the first step to overcome the negativity. One day the negativity may feel less strong, you may even laugh at yourself, not in a mean way but kindly. Like you see this yourself here and heres that damned thing that makes me mad and offcource im gonna be mad dangit, dont you tell me otherwise. The laughter can lessen the impact of the negativity, you take it less seriously. It may sound wierd, but when I catch myself going off at some detail or thing that upsets me I can find it a little funny, and take a step back and relax more.
Like physical gains takes time to manifest so does the meditation gains. I think twice a day is good, for as long as you can focus. At the start it can be almost impossible to remain there without the thoughts going absolutely everywhere, but then you catch yourself thinking about it and thats a great start. Guided meditation on youtube is a great resource! When making it a habit it can become so that you only sit there to cross if off your list of things to do and you are not actually present in the meditation, and thats for me when a guided session is great to bring me back on track.
Sorry if this was a bit long 
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Honestly, exercise is such an underrated topic of mental health! If motivation is an issue I’d suggest taking classes of some sort, yoga, gym, climbing, teamsports, maybe a personal trainer, whatever fits your body ( and mind). And trust me, being tired doesn’t mean you shouldn’t or can’t exercise. I started fysiotherapy when getting my treatment (chemo and all) for leakemia. Working out actually made me stronger and more energized than resting up, fascinating how the body works right? Although, if your unsure how to start I’d suggest getting a fysiotherapist ( or some guidance in general), someone who can guide you along the way and work with you towards a goal i.e. more energy, less headracing, better mood, better sleep, you name it!
My unprofessional observation is that when the heart starts pumping it fills all the stressed out parts of your body with fresh blood and nutrients making it possible to resolve blocks and such.
Anyway, hope you find your path my friend:)
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i still shudder to remember the very grim corporate job i had a couple of years ago, where to celebrate Mental Health Week they set up a “mental health table” in the office, which was just the saddest thing ever: some “adult colouring books”, a mindfulness book, and a handful of stressballs. thanks guys, i’m cured!
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Haha awww man
Oh Christ. Doesn’t even sound like it met the basics there. Sorry man.
Actually climb which is a saving grace really. A place to shut everything out and just have me and the wall.
I went for a walk yesterday but I took my time. I didn’t just blitz it I stopped every so often to admire and take in the surroundings. I live in a rural village so it has its upsides to that.
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