How To Floss When The Sun Is Gone

A quick disclaimer here; this post is personal experience and not meant to be comprehensive — just personal practices that seem to work. If you need help, in any area in life, get help.

There is absolutely a loop that one can fall into where the lack of energy to complete a task leaves it undone, the undone task leads to exasperation at yourself that you’re not doing anything and then that leaves you defeated. This loop is how I find myself slipping into bouts of depression; things undone, lack of energy, a feeling as though I’m floating and can’t come down, the feeling of being stuck underwater just below the surface and fighting hard to breathe.

So, how can we navigate this feeling? Well, I can share my approach and you can share yours and we can continue to gain understanding. In my time studying depression and anxiety (both of which seem to hit me in close time proximity though they are different) through reading and trial and error of pulling myself out of slumps I have found the practices as follows.

First, the name of the post is a based on the lethargic feeling that can (quite literally) creep into your chest overnight. This feeling - as though nothing matters and that everything you may hold dear is of no more value than fistfuls of sand should be appreciated even though it is detrimental — acknowledge it with the same thought you may consider a bomb ready to go off — careful and cautious.

If you can catch this feeling early there are things you can do to juke it before it full on slams into you. These things include, but are not limited to:

• Some sort of physical activity which could be a walk, weight lifting, swimming or whatever tickles your fancy.
• Get out with friends or family. Anyone who puts your mind at ease can help, but don’t try to simply escape - if your week-to-week life makes you feel as though you need an escape you will need to do a full analysis of why.
• Stay in if you (like me) are more introverted, it can be beneficial to not spend time with people. I have found that at time I feel that people have monopolized my time which leaves me feeling as though I may not be achieving the things I wanted to — time to myself often fixes this.
• Set a goal that can absolutely be achieved. Sometimes this is easy as finishing a video game I wanted to play, reading a book I wanted to read or researching something I know nothing about. While it is true that video games and television in general have not been found to be the best option during mentally trying times, especially in large doses, having a direction to go has often saved me from feeling adrift. (This can be tied to the physical activity too — a double whammy!)
• Do something creative but not overwhelming. If you want to write, maybe don’t set out to write your whole book when you’re in the dumps, but perhaps a number of pages or maybe write a review of your favorite movie or book. Let out who you are but again, make sure it is a task that can be completed.
• Eat something that could be unusual or something familiar. Maybe mashed potatoes or curry are family favorites — grab some of your favorites. Perhaps you feel trapped in the monotony of every day, if that is the case it is fine to eat something different but whatever it is you do, make sure you remain healthy as you go about your day — having a mind that is running in overdrive is exhausting. Eat.

I did consider adding more to the list, but I feel as though this is a good starting place. Also I know that when your knuckles are whitened as your grip on your own mental well-being is tried having a whole novel to read can be exhausting.

Try the list above, make alterations, seek help if you need it, speak with friends or family and roll with the punches. Working to understand the nuances of your own mind and the processes of putting it at peace are simply steps in knowing yourself and are not frowned upon any more than meeting any other person.

“Know thyself”

Matt S.

twitter.com/mattaghetti