quote:
Originally posted by ladybug:
A person is "ripe" for mental illness when they do not get enough sleep, eat poorly (on the run at fast food places) and are dealing with the emotional or health issues of those they love...depression just creeps up on us.
It took me a long time to recognize those as my three key triggers. While I've only had two major episodes of clinical depression, I've suffered all my life from dysthemia (low-level chronic depression) which went undiagnosed until my mid-thirties.

I've learned that I have to maintain these three main areas of my life: SLEEP - sleep deprivation is one of my worst triggers; DIET - I have to disregard all other fad-diets and essentially eat three healthy, well-balanced meals a day (good serving of protein, minimal carb, lots of fruit/veggie, and glass of water is my basic formula), plus a snack at mid-morning, mid-afternoon and a bowl of cereal before bed (if I don't eat something before bed, I wake up in the middle of the night starving and can't get back to sleep). (I also eat chocolate, not more than is healthy, but enough to bring comfort and joy!)

My third trigger is STRESS - I have to keep my mental/emotional life as toxin-free as possible. That has meant letting go of the negative people in my life, (which meant letting go of a few old "friends" recently when I was forced to make changes in my lifestyle). It's also meant learning Tai Chi, breathing/stretching exercises and learning how to STOP and just be...living life at my own pace instead of trying to run my life around everyone else's schedules and expectations. That was very hard to take control of, and lots of people didn't understand and left my life, but I'm much healthier, happier and more contented now than ever before, so what does that say!!

The thing I'm working on now is believing in myself, not letting anyone else define who I am, or define my worth by any other measuring stick than my own...which has become my core truth now...I am worthy simply because I exist. All else - what I do or choose not to do, what values I hold or choose to reject, what abilities I have or don't have - are my expressions of who I am, but they're not the totality of WHO I am. I'm much more than my depression, more than my words, more than my beliefs, more than any one facet anyone may think they see of me.

So these days, I'm working toward seeing my true beauty and an awesome phenomenal woman when I look in my mirror...and ignoring all the negative tapes in my head, ignoring all the quirks, failures and mangled thinking that have kept me from seeing who I really am all these years.

[ January 30, 2006, 04:05 PM: Message edited by: Eagle Heart ]