Hello! Today’s post will be about how I handle moments of stress, anxiety, and depression. There are times where I completely shut down and want to just stay in my room and mope all day because of stress and depression. Thanks to the support I get from my loved ones and from seeing a therapist, I have gotten a lot better over the months.
One thing that my boyfriend always told me when I was feeling mopey was to get out of my room and do something. My bedroom is like my safe haven in a way. I’m always locked up quietly in my room, minding my own business either on social media, my computer, or playing my keyboard. There are times when my parents don’t even know that I’m home because I’m so quiet up in my bedroom. Anyway, when I’m feeling down, I try not to lock myself in my room as much since that won’t make me feel any better. Back in February, I started playing tennis again for the first time since I graduated high school. Doing that was a fun way to let out aggression, distract myself from my negative thoughts, and be active. It’s a win/win/win!
Speaking of being active, working out is another way that I distract myself from negative thoughts and depression. Last May I started walking down a road by my housing development that’s about 3 miles long. I woke up every morning and walked in hopes of losing weight to look fabulous for my sister’s wedding, which was going to be that August (I didn’t lose much weight though, because I started getting lazy around mid-July 😦 but that’s beside the point). I have plans to start walking in the mornings again to not only be active but to get myself out of my room and start the day off right. I also stretch in the mornings and do at-home muscle building exercises that are really starting to pay off. I just love flexing my back and arm muscles that I have now! Looking good definitely makes me feel good.
I also get out of the house by visiting my sister and her two sons at her home every once in a while. My sister and I were super close when she still lived with my parents and me. Becuase of my insane work schedule, we don’t see each other that often. When the opportunity comes, I use that to go see her and hang out just like old times. I go to see my boyfriend a lot as well whenever be both have the time to. We typically go see movies, go out to eat, and sometimes hang out at his place. I’ve been out of my house a lot more once he and I started dating. My sister and my boyfriend are two people that make me feel blessed to have in my life. They’re both supportive of me and make me happier than anyone has ever made me, which is why I love spending a lot of time with them.
If I can’t leave the house for whatever reason, I would do one of two options to distract myself from negative thoughts eating me alive. One would be to drown myself in music while doing an activity to clear my mind, such as cleaning. I did this the other day, actually. I cleaned my entire bathroom, my bedroom, and did laundry on a rainy day while listening to my Jams playlist on Spotify. I just recently started playing music while doing household chores, and let me tell you, it makes everything a lot more enjoyable. I got everything cleaned up and had a great time doing it (plus I got a workout from it; I was sweating so much by the time everything was finished).
Option two of distracting myself if I can’t leave the house is a little bit less productive than option one, but it still helps me deal with stress and depression. I just scroll through my social media pages, sometimes for hours at a time (don’t judge me). I would go to some of my favorite internet comedians’ accounts and watch their videos for a good laugh. Some internet comedians that have turned my entire mood around just from watching their videos are Reggie COUZ, Salice Rose, Anna Douglas. I recommend following them if you want a good laugh. I also follow some natural hair pages on Instagram for hair inspiration, I follow a bunch of nail polish pages, and I follow some makeup pages. I see posts from those pages more than I do from my actual friends. After a while of distracting myself with social media, I don’t even remember what it was that made me so stressed out and sad.
As I mentioned before, I also see a therapist for my depression, stress, and anxiety issues. I’ve never wanted to see one because I didn’t think that I was mentally ill. It turns out that you don’t have to be mentally ill to see a therapist. They’re just somebody that you can tell all of your problems to, and they give you advice on how to handle them. Thanks to my therapist, I’ve gotten better at planning when to do my homework assignments and projects, I know not to get anxious in certain situations, and I can finally keep my room clean!! Well, for a little while before clothes and paper get everywhere again. But there’s no way I’m ever letting it get as bad as it was a couple of months ago. I could barely walk through my room without almost tripping over something and breaking my neck. It was a nightmare.
Those are just a few ways that I’m able to bring myself out of a funk. I’ve been doing a lot better now than I was about 2 years ago. I still do occasionally have moments when I’m feeling down, but it’s not nearly as bad as it was before. Each and every day, I make improvements. I hope this is useful information for whoever is reading this.
Yours Truly, Tasha B. 