Comments on: Mood Swings

By: nette

nette — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 02:21:06 +0000

Hi, another mood-swinger de-lurking.

About the “this is temporary” thing… When I realize my thinking is going haywire I can usually get a handle on the crazy part. The sad part is harder to beat.

My barely-scientific observation is that changes in day length affect people’s moods, even if they don’t officially have seasonal affective disorder. As the vernal equinox approaches the amount of daylight increases more and more steeply– where January 6 might have 3 minutes more sunlight than January 5, March 6 will have 12 more minutes of sunlight than March 5. March and November are my hardest months because of this.

And not to get too “count your blessings” at you, but you’re sooooooooooooo lucky to have people who can give you what you need. My D-type is like an immature version of MasterDoc, and isn’t at a point where he can deal with me saying “I’m a little crazy right now; you can either do terrible things to me (please!) or I will get anxious and weird.” He hears the words “anxious and weird” and flees. He doesn’t quite get that it’s actually pretty sane of me to realize that I’m wavering and ask him for help.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:54:56 +0000

I’m on a down swing, so I fully identify. My medication’s still working and keeping me from dropping all the way to the bottom, but I can feel there *is* a bottom down there. And considering how my life is relatively good, it’s horribly difficult to keep from feeling bad about depression. It is an illness, but rational explanations don’t help when you’re feeling irrational.

By: Nadia

Nadia — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:22:36 +0000

@dara I appreciate your comment. I have at times managed to tell myself “this too shall pass” and get through the depression relatively ok. But lately when I get depressed I’m so far gone emotionally and mentally that I *can’t* perceive things as temporary. And this is why I’m wondering if medication isn’t doing its thing. When I’m properly medicated, I can do what you suggest and ride out the depression.

@Vanilla Kinks Thanks. It helps to know I’m not the only crazy one out there! lol (Truly, I know many people with various mental illnesses. I think we need to get the stigma to go away considering it’s an ILLNESS and not something that’s voluntary.)

By: Vanilla Kinks

Vanilla Kinks — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:50:08 +0000

I suffer from mental illness too. In my case, bi-polar disorder. I totally understand what you’ve said in this post. So been there!

By: dara

dara — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:13:18 +0000

I may not have been reading/talking here long enough to really comment, but I have to say this: what you ‘realized’ (hey, this is manageable) is actually what’s there all along…

I dealt with horrible depression symptoms for a good several years until I realized them for what they were (temporary at the ABSOLUTE best) and began telling myself that every time they came up. From the point that I acknowledged them for what they were (my thoughts and brain-workings making things worse) until today, very seldom have I had a bout I couldn’t compete with. It may seem like absolute drivel but I promise you your mind (which you may think is messed up) is actually your biggest ally. The first, and most important step, is learning how to alter your thought patterns. Stay focused on the ‘this is manageable’ aspect and it will be.