HopperPsychology

Touching, inspiring, and genuine description of living with anxiety and depression, and of finding hope.

Do your best to communicate clearly. But, also accept that communication is 2-way. If your target isn't listening, what would you like to do?

There's thinking positively, and there's acceptance of your feelings, and there's the balance in between. Alternate tag line: don't tell people what they "should" be feeling.

Changing sleep schedules can affect more than just energy level. I'm still amazed that the health care system, with it's consistent shift changes, is one of the biggest perpetrators of this problem. But sleeping in 6 hours later on the weekends to "make up" for short sleep during the week also has an impact.

"Expecting perfection only leaves you with two options: do everything right on the very first try, or don’t even bother. Which is actually only one option, since 9 times out of 10, human beings don't do things right on the first try. Just look at French history, Cars 2, Robert Downey Jr." I don't know how many tries the author took on those lines, but I like the end result. Trying generally gives us more likelihood of success.

(...)mental health... is not a destination but a process. It's about how you drive, not where you're going. Noam Shpancer, The Good Psychologist

Lots of people have problems with alcohol. You don't have to wait for serious consequences to develop to make changes. Maybe it's Naltrexone; maybe it's AA; maybe it's Smart Recovery... A psychotherapist can help you review the options and learn new ways to make healthier choices.

If you or someone you know has a chronic illness - lupus, anxiety, colitis, chronic pain, whatever... here is a way to explain or understand what day to day life is like. Spoon Theory:

To think that a 2nd century Roman Emperor and a 20th century British writer and epic procrastinator both arrived at the same conclusion. [This, folks, is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in a nutshell.] "The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it." Marcus Aurelius "I briefly did therapy, but after a while, I realised it is just like a farmer complaining about the weather. You can't fix the weather - you just have to get on with it." Douglas Adams

Resource Day: More and more often, I'm running across people who want to address an alcohol or drug dependency problem (their own or a loved one's) but they are agnostic, atheist, or just have very real issues with the "Higher Power" steps in AA/NA/etc or Al-Anon. Personally, I believe that AA and Al-Anon are great resources for some people. But, there's a lot of good to be had using science as well as spirituality. Here are some additional resources: Secular AA - https://se...cularaa.org/meeting-finder/ SOS Sobriety - http://www.sossobriety.org/ SMART Recovery - http://www.smartrecovery.org/ (and for family/loved ones - http://www.smartrecovery.org/resources/family.htm) Rational recovery - https://rational.org/index.php?id=91

ADHD is only one of many reasons why folks have trouble paying attention. If you are having problems staying focused, don't just take a questionnaire - get assessed by someone who is qualified to get you the right help.

Irony: Lots of articles have commented that Facebook often shows so much of the success, the happiness, the vacations, etc., but seldom shows the hard work, the sweat, the "learning experiences" (commonly called failures) along the way. When you can't see around the curve, remember that we don't get a bird's eye view of where we've been or where we are going.

Are you an optimist? A pessimist? Or can you find a whole new way to describe the situation? Often, there is more than just a yes/no answer. Go find it and see if that helps you solve the problem.