#coping with anxiety

[akindplace]

This is a reminder that your anxiety is lying to you, people don't dislike you even though it tells you they do, you're not unworthy of good things happening just because it tells you that.

Just because you are extremely self-aware, it doesn't mean you are aware of the perspectives of other people.

You are not worthless as your anxiety tells you, and most people wouldn't think that if you.

[sunrisethoughts02]

How to tell when your cup is empty:

in the next few days, we'll be going through a series on filling your own cup in fulfilling and healthy ways, starting with journaling ideas and finally picking our own activities. but first -- how do we know when our cup is empty? it's a little different for every individual, but there's often a few things you can familiarize yourself with to understand in your own physical and emotional space.

-- what is your 'cup?' your cup is your emotional, energetic, and often physical energy. think of waking up well rested and energized for a new day! now compare that feeling to the sensation of coming home after work after a long day, complexly drained and exhausted. this is the feeling of an empty cup. you might also feel....

~ fatigue. this is the most common symptom! often when your cup is empty, you're drained by emotional and energetic events. you have very little energy to give to yourself and others, which is why self-care becomes much more difficult when we're working on empty (often this translates to the physical as well -- we crave sweet and salty things to help boost our adrenal glands and combat fatigue.) this also leads to irritability, because our energy is so drained we revert to internal and external negativity.

~ a felt weight. when my cup is empty or dangerously close, I can feel a heavy sensation centering in my chest; almost this huge emptiness. it's good to create mindfulness around these sensations, because it helps heighten awareness of warning signs.

~ worry and anxiety. you might feel as though you're being helplessly pulled in different directions, without the time or energy to finish anything. you're trying to pour from a cup you haven't replenished!

questions to ask yourself:

~ when do I often feel empty?

~ what activities drain my cup?

~ do any of my own habits help drain my cup?

~ how do I give my energy away and fill other people's cups?

~ how do I feel afterwards?

~ what's my usual habit when my cup is running low? how do I instinctually try to fix it?

~ do those habits serve me well?

in the upcoming weeks, we'll be discussing ways to fill our cups and tweak our individual habits to serve us better :)) have a lovely day, and tune in soon!

drop any questions in the askbox :))

[lovesick02]

When you leave I have no motivation to do anything

I'm just waiting for you to come back

Your presence gives me will to live

[beardedmrbean]

Not my usual content, but hopefully someone can learn something useful and help themselves or someone they know with it.

X

[yours-trudy]

Well, that's one less person to hide things from.

[ihadmysightsetonyourightaway]

POV: me dealing with my anxiety

[connecting-the-stars]

Well the newest season of ‘The Bear’ released! And ofc I’m a fan of the arcs set up for all our characters and seeing them pay off in different positive or negative ways. Tina’s development from last season building into her thriving at culinary school and becoming one of the blocks to hold the restaurant intact. Marcus flying over seas to gain new skills and brainstorm his dessert ideas to return with new confidence and wonderful plates. Ofc, the all star girl, Sydney absolutely killing it this season with taking charge with planning of the menu and keeping things moving in the restaurant’s development. Which flows into her taking on the pressure in the last episode and pushing through an almost disastrous first service. And her relationship with her Dad was so sweet and seeing him try to support her the best he could despite his concerns was wonderful.

Now, with most of the positives laid out… those negatives. Well, I knew from the first instant that it showed Marcus being anxious about leaving his mother to travel, that something utterly sad was gonna happen. His care for her was palpable and his anxiety was very relatable. When everything had picked up in the other plot’s lines and his mother wasn’t mentioned as much, I had nearly forgotten but that last frame of his phone lighting up hurts. I know we are gonna see the heartbreak and grief that comes with his loss, and I’m wondering if Nat or Carmy will be able to support him at least some due to their own recent loss. Next season will most likely have Syd being a pillar of support and relatability for him, due to her grief of her mother. Thus, on to head strong and doubt-filled Sydney, she’s got to be my favorite character from the whole cast that I enjoy. Her Dad being nervous for her throughout the season was almost hard to watch as he attempted to be supportive while also pressing her about her decisions, added on by Syd constantly seeing different restaurants that closed. The intense anxiety and burden of running The Bear as the sou chef really shows in the later half of episode 10. Her mind repeatedly playing the tickets and her stomach upending itself in the alley was gut wrenching as I could feel her panic. Both arcs with Marcus and Sydney were completed so well as they were formed over the season, but damn am I not concerned for both of them in the future. (I want them all to be happy, but I guess this makes fans invested. I am very invested.)

Remember grief repressing and anxiety riddled Carmy from season 1? Well I can’t say he gets a arc I completely enjoyed, but the writers found a way for the audience to get pissed at him for sure. Digging himself into his own downfall was very… I don’t know how to put it… Relatable? Satisfying? Depressing? It made my heart twist when I heard him claim that he doesn’t need amusement, telling the fridge door how he rejects any resemblance of happiness. Despite him neglecting his responsibilities and his commitment to the restaurant and Sydney, I can sympathize with Carmy’s juggling act of being pulled in two directions. That being said, the dialogue and visual reminders for him to call the fridge guy paid off almost hilariously as it blow up in his face. For the first few seconds, I had burst into laughter at the absurdity and suddenness as it cut into the flow of the scene in the fast paced kitchen. But after that, the amusement definitely just nosedived into concern and sadness as Carmy frantically bashed his fists into the door yelling. Ofc, his first relationship, someone from his past that he attached himself to so much, was gonna end in ruins by his own hands. Just like the fridge handle snapping off. From my perspective, the writers set Claire up as a personification of his past. It was brought up repeatedly how she remembered or knew something about the past or his family, being the very loud topic brought up in the flashback episode, one of Carmy’s main scenes. The panic attack weaving images of screaming family members and old pictures of her made it clear that she is associated with his painful and tragic upbringing, surrounded by adults with their own issues that violently conflict and clash with one another. Mikey’s silent suffering after carmy gifted him his sketch of their restaurant made me want to cry.

Mikey is gone, and Carmy forced himself to go back to Chicago to desperately fumble The Beef into a half way functional sandwich shop. Then, right at the end of season 2 second episode, it has Claire appearing as a blast from the past. That fact that it’s brought up how he’s “always” had a crush on her is interesting, other characters tell us this, but when Carmy himself is faced with the choice to invite her into his chaotic life - he chooses to give her a fake number. This being his first real relationship and lacking role models for healthy positive relationships could play into his hesitancy to call her his girlfriend. In the early half of of the last episode, there is a moment where the camera lays out the situation between Claire and calling the fridge guy, appropriate that he doesn’t even have the proper name, and then he chooses to do neither - redirecting to help Marcus with something. During the first service, Richie presses him to go talk to Claire, and in the context of moving forward or returning to someone of the past, Carmy refuses the first time. He focuses all his effort into the restaurant’s success, and denies looking back - visiting a distraction. If Claire is a version of the past, last season Carmy was clinging to the past as his grief ran through his heart and pulled him back to The Beef. Then, the temptation to return to something familiar, to fall into a routine and not move forward is hard for anyone. The Bear is his and the restaurant’s way of moving forward and making something better than it ever was before. But Carmy gets caught on someone of the past, someone who reminds him of a time his brother was still alive. When cooking with his brother was a place to laugh and smile wide as the sun shined on their faces. (S1 flashbacks of Mikey, Richie, and Carmy.) In the end, Carmy is left literally self isolated, his first relationship shoot through, and on horrid terms with Richie, all because he could not delegate time revisiting the past and stepping forward. He fell between the cracks.

I love this show and it’s flawed characters, I loved the arcs for everyone. I haven’t even brought up Richie’s development, my dude whooped that Big Black Dog’s ass this season!

(Depression: 0, Richie: 100)

[joxerthem]

[cthonicdemon]

WARNING: description of an anxiety attack, may be triggering

I was learning about conveying experiences in poetry and wanted to write about an anxiety attack in the style of box breathing.

Box breathing

1.

In for four the walls are enclosing

Hold for four I'm on the ground

Out for four my hands are shaking

Hold for four there's too much sound

2.

In for four my breathing is speedy

Hold for four I will not cry

Out for four this cannot hurt me

Hold for four I cannot die

3.

In for four box the breathing

Hold for four dry the eyes

Out for four return from hiding

Hold for four resume the disguise

4.

In for four create an excuse

Hold for four convince those who remain

Out for four go on about life

Hold for four until anxiety returns again

[mental-mona]

[akindplace]

You can't be so scared of living a life that is yours because you are too afraid of what other people will think. You own this life of yours, this body, this mind. Take it to yourself and take over it, because the personal opinions and input of others should not paralyze you with fear of making choices upon your own life. If you need to feel like the main character of your story, do it. This is your sign.

[galaxionart]

Why the chaos art isn’t flowing:

I really don’t have any one to talk on this with home wise and I need to get this out.

I’m currently on SSI and have been since I was what, 17? Because I’m “unfit to work” aka my mental health problems are too much to handle a job. DID, Social Anxiety, Bipolar and a bunch more. I try to create artwork and sell things online for extra cash sometimes so please don’t peg me as some lazy person feeding off SSI.

Well I had recently gotten kicked from my parent’s insurance with no warning. I’ve had to search for a new doctor and am still searching for a new mental health care provider and therapist in the span of less than a month after loosing a grandparent.

Believe I want to make something knew but my mind has barely any energy left. So please understand if posts are slow for a while.

-M, A, and K

[lovesick02]

[wtfjd95]

Me these last few days.

[alowlypilgrim]

Thoughts Before Falling Asleep

Thinking of so many debts to pay is so distressing. I wish I can live a zero-debt life. I need to pay all these off but I am so lacking in funds and that results to further stress. I have been praying and hoping I would win in the lotto just so I can settle all these debts - credit cards, suppliers, taxes. Or if there is a buyer who would be willing to buy our house at the agreed price, I would be able to repay all my debts. But then the house needs repairs. It would not be attractive for the prospective buyer to buy the place unless I undertake repairs on the property. But again I don't have the funds. That is my biggest dilemma.

[ihadmysightsetonyourightaway]

ISTG if this anxiety gets the best of me.