Anxiety and Depression

@mckenzie, I'm sorry things are not going well for you right now. I do hope your day goes well and you can start feeling better soon. I saw where you wanted to talk about depression, sarcoidosis, anxiety, panic attack, and being lonely without a companion. Well, I think I could talk about any and all those topics. I deal with depression, on a daily basis, it's pretty much a constant for me to work on it even on my better days. Because I know if I'm not working on myself, even if it's just reminding myself to be affirmative to myself. Always working on my self-esteem and self-worth, because if I don't I know that it won't take much to sink lower each time it comes up and I don't deal with it. Sarcoidosis: I was diagnosed with it in 1987, I am thankful to know that I do not have anything active at this time. But through the years, when I feel an episode coming on it is usually when I'm feeling stressed, so it is important for me to continue to try and stay away from things I know will stress me out. It has affected different areas of my body and I am continually needing to deal with them. I try to stay as active as I can and involved with friends and family and volunteering, trying to help others, and that helps me feel useful and that I can contribute to my community. Anxiety & panic attacks: I find myself having to deal with anxiety pretty often, and this goes along with what I said above. For me, my physical health and mental health is connected in every way. When I feel panic and very anxious, I use my mindful exercises. Try to ground myself in my surroundings. By that I mean to stop for a little bit and be very aware of everything, even the sounds around me. I have learned to take deep breaths in through my nose, count to five, hold for five, and release through my mouth slowly, counting to five.
Well, let's see, that brings me to feeling lonely at times without a companion. I do feel lonely at times, I think we all do at different times. All the things I've listed above help me with that too. I also have a dog who is very comforting, take her for walks, and we usually run in to people, some I know and some I don't, but they are always commenting on my dog that she is cute, very good and things like that. I do a lot of writing, I enjoy writing poetry and that helps too. I do hope things start settling down for you and you begin to feel better soon. I am so happy for these groups that we can come together and share our experiences and ask questions and help each other. I wish you well and I hope something I said may help you to at least know that you are not alone! We are all going through something in our lives, and even if it's not the same things the feelings are very similar.

Jump to this post