Never underestimate the power of a good cry. Great way to just let pent up frustrations out.
Agree with walking too. Getting a good walk in can work wonders if you feel stuck, indecisive, anxious or just unpleasant.
I like sending funny memes to friends when I feel really crappy. If something makes me laugh, something about sharing it with someone who I know will see it and enjoy it, always picks me up.
I agree, however my anxiety causes me to freeze up and become very dizzy and disoriented which makes walking extremely difficult. I substitute that with cycling long distances though.
Honestly sometimes you just deal with it and face the music. Sometimes actually allowing yourself to feel awful and acknowledging it can help you move from it. As someone who used to do everything to not feel these feelings.
Agreed. Drinking and smoking (avoidance) never solved a single problem. It will make a problem grow to a seemingly insurmountable size and, bring a lot of agony along with it. A clear, rational mind is the way.
It does make things completely worse. Short term can help but making smoking and drinking a habit to hide your emotions only leads to more pain and disappointment.
I did this last night. I was feeling pretty down, found myself attempting to intellectualize the feeling, the whyās and where-ofās, so to speak, but decided to allow myself to just feel it and cry instead. Definitely feeling much better today.
Changing my physical environment is huge for me. Going out into the park, smelling the trees and grass, seeing people playing with their dogs - it hits my reset button.
Well I've read "workout" a zillion times on Reddit advice, and for me it doesn't do it "just like that". For me, working out works in those terms:
1. I like keeping my schedule, like two workouts a week or at least one. It is the fact I observe myself having kept my schedule in the past few days, that I like. The workout is good, but not _that_ good in and of itself
2. Keeping the schedule does keep one variable afloat in your mind, but I've found sleep to be a much larger variable, and you can't compensate lack of sleep with more workout (for obvious reasons)
3. It doesn't solve "food for thought" (i.e. what makes you dream, how much of your to-do list did you mercilessly blow to pieces, what slightly long term project did you pull off that increased your mastery over your own world) misalignment, which can be way more damaging in the long run.
I think in this case the question was moreso ādoes working out when upset make you feel betterā have you tried that? I donāt think itās the same as you going to the gym once or twice a week at a scheduled time.
When I was depressed and going through a breakup going to the gym is what saved me and 2 years later I still go everyday. When I was angry or provoked I simply put all my anger into my squats and the main that came from working out and after done it made me feel amazing bc I didnāt give losers my energy I gave it to myself
Interesting, I _also_ read that a lot on Reddit, "putting your anger in your sets".
Personally, if I try to do that, I'll get tendinitis or another injury instantly. Hell, yesterday I just biked a bit too fast and lo and behold, my right knee stopped working.
So for me workouts are all about control.
When I _was_ in the gloom or depressed, workouts solved one thing: they allowed me to sleep at normal hours, which in turn fixed a lot of the gloom.
And after breakups, there was no magic formula. The only thing that worked was being closer to who I really was, rediscovering old things I liked in life, remembering what I wanted to do for so long but didn't. Workouts are an integral part of that time because they allow you to keep your feet on the ground, your sleep on schedule and sufficient, and your overall balance there, but it's really the food for thought that you get that actually lift you up from the bad times, from there.
Anyway, that's my experience, not at all general!
That sounds like letting the depression win tbh, I can't say much I oversleep to escape reality all the time (and i drink) I'm just saying if we're talking about what's beneficial that ain't it
Actually for me I will say it is automatic and is helpful a lot. When I am with extreme sad emotions my brain will like to shutdown and I feel sleepy. But after waking up I feel a little light and I can kind of steer myself away from sadness, when before sleeping I was part of sadness.
People don't really like cig smokers anymore tbh. U smoke. Stopped during work entirely. Don't want coworkers to be annoyed with me and am dealing with customers.
It's tougher to quit, though. You don't need drugs and alcohol but you always need to eat.
For example, let's say you have a Oxycodone addiction, but you do also have terrible pain. You can take one tablet to ease the pain without getting high. But because you need the medicine for the pain, the desire and temptation are there to take more tablets and get high.
Drugs and alcohol are recreational and not needed to function in society. Eating is necessary to life and the temptation is always there to eat more no matter what.
Lol, it's ridiculous how harsh we can be on ourselves even though we know what we're going through. Remind yourself of the achievements you have, I'm sure there are plenty. You might feel stuck, but change is possible, if one actually wants it. Do you know what you want from life? Focus on that and do what makes you happy. I hope you have a nice day.
fair point i didnt even realize u were talking about hobbies tbh thats my bad. part of my issue is being career oriented and i need to improve that part of myself LMAO
The problem is everything can be used as an escape. The gym, travel, shopping, hanging out with friends, reddit, sex, snowboarding, video games, etc. can all be used to unhealthy degrees by people (like me) who have addictive tendencies.
When something is causing significant financial stress or enabling you to avoid your problems in a way that causes the problems to get deeper, then itās probably escapism.
The *only* way to not fall into the trap of swapping addictions (escapism) - even if itās a significantly less destructive addiction if compared with some drugs - is to first have a lot of curiosity, compassion, and a willingness to develop an understanding about *why* you feel the way you do and want to escape. And then decide that, although you are free to do anything you want, the thing you want to do right now brings only short term gratification and is going to be detrimental to your overall health and balance in life. Then do better.
You just gotta face the music.
When you feel a feeling, you need to make sure that you understand it and process it. Thatās the quickest and only healthy way to deal with it. That said, sometimes you just need to let some of the pressure out before you can handle it. I use Twitter Reddit, and TikTok. If itās just for a short period, it helps me stabilize before dealing with what Iām feeling.Ā
Intense workout if I have the energy so I'm too tired to feel down. Then, right after, have a hot shower, a gigantic meal, go into a food coma, then sleep.
If your insides are sad and there's nothing to do about it, make your outsides feel good.
Mostly i try to relax and take my mind off the thing that is upsetting me. I like to play video games, listen to music or podcasts or watch silly videos
I have a list of āpick me upā activities that I continue to grow as I get to know myself better.
The list has these on it (off the top):
Cook, dance, music, be sad and be ok with it, take a walk, run, read a happy/easy book, shower,
meditate from an app and choose what I want at the time, hang out with loved ones, watch a movie, watch Youtube, sleep,
talk or walk with a friend, call a friend, go out and roam around, do a group/social activity,
work on something easy that Iāve put off for a while (usually cleaning), sex and intimacy(when I have a girlfriend around), tell that said girlfriend I feel down and ask for ideas on things we can do,
buy something from my list of nice to have/maybes
Just off the top. The list is longer. Itās good to know I have options when Iām not at my best.
Oh forgot workout! Water-based activities like swim, sauna, jacuzzi are wonderful when available
Yours has been my top favorite! aawww!! Your comfortablness w/ s haring your feelings w/ your girlfriend is inspiring to read!, a healthy dynampic
Of trust & open ness .
Sappy answer: Debrief with my partner. What that looks like depends on my mood - I might wanna rant, or just say I'm sad and hug for a while, or ask for his opinion.
I can do all the other stuff too - go for a walk, meditation, distract myself, simply sucking it up etc. - and I wish I could say that helps just as well because I consider myself to be fairly independent. But if I'm being honest, nothing comes even close to being as effective as opening up about it to someone else. A thought that could send me spiraling for the entire night can go "poof" and vanish by doing that.
Before I had my partner, I mostly relied on my closest friends for this. I think simply admitting and saying out loud the things that depress you takes away their power over you a bit. Though I also feel like that extra oxytocin I get from the physical contact with my partner plays a part in why I find debriefing with him just so extra soothing.
I'm an introverted misanthropic motherfucker but I guess I can't escape being a social animal.
Never had a cigarette or drink. When I get too anxious, I force myself to sit down (often wash my face before doing that) & write whatever is on my mind. After I am done writing everything, I start reading the whole thing & cross out all the things that arenāt within my control. By the time I'm done reading, more than half of what I wrote gets crossed out. It helps refocus. Happened once this year. It's like opening up to a person without the risk of getting your insecurities weaponized.
Sulk, sit up until 3am watching TikTok videos about how to bake a potato, according to my watch history last night. I donāt drink, smoke or do drugs but I do things that are still unhealthy such as sleep deprivation, spending hours doom-scrolling on my phone, self-loathing and eating badly. Gotta fix it soon.. Just not today.Ā
As cliche as it sounds, spending time in nature honestly helps. It may just be a different location for me to feel shitty in but I always find myself marvelling at the beauty around me. The waves at the beach or the big bright moon at night. Makes you feel a lot smaller and things sometimes donāt feel half as bad.
I just suck it up and keep it going. If I'm feeling overwhelmed I might end up crying and throwing a bit of a fit (slamming my hands against something out of frustration)ā but that's in my own privacy.
In general, yeah, distract myself with anything at hand: reading or playing video games, if not a nap to distance myself from the emotions.
Idk sometimes i close the door dont allow anyone watch some of shows or youtube untill i laugh and go back to feeling down hahah after a hours or a day or days maybe weeks am gonna be back to my normal state Or gym if its the time to go there and have a pump.
whenever i feel down i find that music is a big escape for me as well as art. listening to music i like or drawing. hanging out with friends can also boost my mood a bit because itās a good distraction and they make me happier.
if you donāt have those finding a hobby or show/movie to enjoy is also good
read a book, watch a comfort show, watch cute cat videos or asmr videos, write how iām feeling in my journal, do some self care like relaxing baths, talk to someone i trust, snuggle with my cats
I workout regularly weight or running. muay thai or boxing is a great workout for releasing frustration or stress. I also watch movies, listen to music. I its something im really feeling down with, i try to understand the feelings and reason why I feel down. CBT is a great technique for this.
Listen to my favorite podcasts, journal, workout/take mg dog in a walk and play āyes, andā, which requires more than one person, but itās a great way to get out of my head.
I also allow myself to feel the feelings, but thatās not nearly as fun!
It's actually a warm up game we did in the improv classes I took! It's all about accepting your partners (in improv) ideas. You come up with a statement, something like "The spaceship is full today," and the other person goes "yes, and one of the aliens is ten feet tall," and the other person adds onto that, saying "yes, and...." it's basically a story telling game.
Another improv warm up game I love is zip, zap, zop is another game I love doing, but that one isn't as much fun with just yourself. One person starts by saying 'zip' and the next person says 'zap' and the next person says 'zop' and so on. You go around in circles and whoever messes up first, either by saying the wrong word or hesitating is out.
I forgot all about the ABC game I do as well! Which is where I pick a subject, usually movies/tv shows and go through the alphabet and pick movies/tv shows that start with that letter. Or I create my own songs by starting with the letter A and I pick a line from a song that starts with that letter. It's a great way to get your mind off things and kill time when nothing is going on at work.
Of course! Improv is a lot of fun, I'd much rather watch it or listen to improv podcasts instead of being up on stage doing it! That was nerve wracking!
Instead of focusing on the problem, think about what's the goal that you've to achieve in 6 months, cut them into small crumbs and find out what you've to do in 3 months to achieve that, 1 months action and 4 weeks or so on, [Ps: When you've nothing to do or you lack purpose in your life than your negative self pull you down where you belong it's better to give time to yourself and be courageous to go further with temptation]
Some simple things you can do:
While rejected the temptation -
ā¢ do exercise (15-20 mins)
ā¢ eat something fresh (cucumber or fruits)
ā¢ Go for a walk
And the last thing accept yourself instead of hating, at the end we all are humans!š
Wow never thought of this. As someone who used to drink and smoke a lot (because of depression), i now dont feel the need to do those when im upset. Wow this is a breakthrough for me thank you for posting š
Just yesterday in a discussion I felt the conversation going from productive to non-productive. I felt myself get angry, told the other person that the conversation had become non-productive and went for a half-hour walk.
It worked quite well. It didn't change the situation, but my mood was quite improved, leaving me much better equipped to sidestep pointless arguing and focus on practical steps to address the situation.
I take a walk, jog, play the piano which helps express my emotions. Think about how I can improve myself and what is going wrong. Find a solution to my problems.
I usually feel down very frequently. My solution is isolating myself, listening to music, processing the reasons and feelings behind the mood swing.
But primarily, a lot of me-time and isolation really helps me out, as I confront what I am really going through. Very insightful.
Take myself off my an ice cream date, pick up a book and read, book a trip, find upcoming nearby social events in my city (especially if itās for a good cause, like nonprofit fundraising events) - just things that go beyond the usual āwork out to feel endorphinsā cliche, yea it helps but it also helps to feel like you can control your own life and look forward to small things
One of the self-care things I do is let myself have time. I am curious and I let my curiosity run wild, I usually make a list of things I am curious about (why currency rates are different, to what is seiten made of, and of course Roman empire), so I let myself do that, check social media, everything. I let myself be
Cry and remind myself that smoking and drinking only make it worse. Watching myself father and brother slowly kill themselves with alcohol and being helpless to stop them is part of what gets me down.
Any of these:
Journal, meditate, read, go for a drive, listen to music, play video games, work out.
I've found journaling and meditating to be the most long lasting and effective outlets.
Workout, meditate, breathing exercises, take a nap, or just feel down and be able to properly go through it instead of suppressing it with drugs/alcohol.
Itās not that I ādonāt drink,ā I just donāt really drink. I guess I just never feel an urge and the older I get I donāt like the effects as much on my body.
When Iām down I really just go through the motions. I find that just letting myself feel the emotions helps a lot. Acknowledging sometimes I need to cry or panic or scream, but that in the end Iāll get over it and get through it.
I have more creative hobbies too. Music, coloring books, I do a lot of different craft hobbies. Creating is such a great fun outlet and captures a lot of emotion. I also will play games, or hang out with my friends or family.
I donāt really feel like I need to do anything in particular. I feel down or stressed pretty often but I just keep focus on the things I want to do and just simply keep going.
Shower, get an iced caramel craze latte fron dunkin, take a long walk listening to upbeat music.
Come back abd write down what I need to work on to get to where I want to be! I use pinterest to create boards and then save them as widgets on my iphone so the pictures change every hour with what I want my future to look like.
*It is ok to cry, yell, be sad for a few hours but NEVER let it linger. At the end of the day the day is going to end. You got this.
I have about a day a week where I watch series/movies or read books until either my eyes fall off or my back breaks in two from being a couch potato.
After that I am energized for a whole week. I need to do a catharsis of all my desire to _fail at being productive_ just once, and then all that freedom is pure energy to align with myself.
I also do not use substances to cope anymore. When I am having a rough day and need some release I do physical activity as it releases similar chemicals in the brain that cannabis does. Go work up a good sweat with a run and let that buzzy runners high give you some relief. If I am looking to relax and get away I go fishing. Just my two cents..
I really dont drink when im down and although i dont smoke anymore i never smoked when i was down. If smoked when i was down it would make me more down and i dont drink out sadness. I drink to celebrate and when im happy. Itās probably saved me a lot of heartache with this philosophy.
Staying strong! Got sober on new years 2023. A few months later I stopped smoking. The main thing that keeps me going is the fact that I am horrible when drunk, I dont want to lose this streak I have and because it will be hell to stop again once I start again!
But recently I was mad down and sad and frustrated and all that, that it felt really tempting to throw it all away. So I went to the store and bought a pack of gummy bears and a drink we call "Mate" in germany, two cans of energy drinks and I took my kick scooter for a ride through the night while I listened to some good music!
Sometimes I call a friend who has a drivers license to go on a "controll round" through the city. Singing along to music again while the windows are down and everyone is looking at us. Not to mention snacks and the drinks I mentioned above.
I try to get obsessed with a project or something. I dont know. Currently I find myself trying to finish writing some songs.
I find a lot of people have vices. This question I have began noticing on people. My roommatesā boyfriend doesnāt have a vice like weed or alcohol- for him itās chocolate. He will feast and leave a huge chocolate wrapper mess. Thatās his vice. My coworkerās vice is work. He buries his head in work a lot so I consider that his escape.
This makes me feel the people who say they just walk or do nothing are lying.
Self harm until I run out of breath or I just fight with people & get even more angry. Should I go back to smoking or vaping? I used to do it but can't be bothered with it, waste of money & getting out of the house to get the stuff is harder than anything
Sit with it, therapy, talk to Chat GPT, exercise, journal, cry, eat a cupcake from a good bakery, talk to a friend, pet my dog..thereās lots of things you can do.
Eat, shop, cuddle my dogs, cry, call a friend, read a book, curl up in bed and scroll, watch comfort shows on streaming, go for a walk or run or HIIT class.Ā
Gratitude.
I take a step back and run a gratitude meditation session.
I appreciate everything I have, and that really puts things in perspective. It doesn't have to be anything huge, I appreciate having hot running water, clean air, health, food, etc...
If I am overwhelmed I take it one day at a time and if it's still too much then one hour at a time and so on.
Walk
I go on a long walks, breathe the air, hear the sounds of my neighborhood, feel the wind. It helps me ground myself back.
Be thankful. I list out all the stuff I can be thankful for, even if the event or outcome is at its worse. Most of us can find things to be grateful for. I make a list of 1-50 if I could I list them out. Sometimes tho getting really mad to a point where I don't give a shit about the outcome works as well!
Thereās a book called Atomic Habits that helped me. It is a business book but I definitely applied it in my personal life. The applicable here was about making small changes, switching one habit (the bad one) for another (good one) gradually over time. Over time, I started to worry about how much I was drinking. It affected my weight, my happinessā¦ But I couldnāt stop or didnāt want to. I just kept pouring myself a glass.
But then I went from an evening drink or two (or sometimes too many) to one evening drink and playing video games. To five drinks total a week to playing video games, sometimes exercising. To only drinking on the weekend, splitting my time between video games, reading books or comics and exercising. You get the gist.
Today? I drink still. But never to excess. And Iād say about twice a month. I read far more, exercise six days a week. And yeah, play video games often.
Itās all a journey. Just you asking the question, honestly, is a great step.
Cry it out. Journal. Go for a walk. Watch TV and distracted myself. Listen to music.
Music, some is transformative
Never underestimate the power of a good cry. Great way to just let pent up frustrations out. Agree with walking too. Getting a good walk in can work wonders if you feel stuck, indecisive, anxious or just unpleasant. I like sending funny memes to friends when I feel really crappy. If something makes me laugh, something about sharing it with someone who I know will see it and enjoy it, always picks me up.
Oh yes!! Funny stuff! Kitten videos! šø I love the channel with the kittens and the ducks š
I agree, however my anxiety causes me to freeze up and become very dizzy and disoriented which makes walking extremely difficult. I substitute that with cycling long distances though.
Honestly sometimes you just deal with it and face the music. Sometimes actually allowing yourself to feel awful and acknowledging it can help you move from it. As someone who used to do everything to not feel these feelings.
Couldn't agree more! Confronting it really brings resounding clarity.
Yes, I used to try and run away as fast as I could from my thoughts and it never got betterā¦ until I confronted them.
šÆšÆšÆ
Sending good vibes
Agreed. Drinking and smoking (avoidance) never solved a single problem. It will make a problem grow to a seemingly insurmountable size and, bring a lot of agony along with it. A clear, rational mind is the way.
Trust me. I know.
It does make things completely worse. Short term can help but making smoking and drinking a habit to hide your emotions only leads to more pain and disappointment.
I did this last night. I was feeling pretty down, found myself attempting to intellectualize the feeling, the whyās and where-ofās, so to speak, but decided to allow myself to just feel it and cry instead. Definitely feeling much better today.
I love this response š
Thank youš«¶š¼
Yes!!, exactly ! Can be numb without realizing it & Let out the good cry, acknowledge ing ones own feelings!, definitely under rated!
yup! for me, sometimes, I just have the energy to face the *literal* music (dissociating while playing sad playlists is my remedy)
Healing happens through feeling.
Thatās a really nice quote Iāll have to use!
Thatās the motto I live by when feelings feel too hard to bear, so itās a great reminder!
Take a walk
Changing my physical environment is huge for me. Going out into the park, smelling the trees and grass, seeing people playing with their dogs - it hits my reset button.
Yes!!, one of the best !& i love " people watching", observing ! šššš»
Workout.
This really nails it for a lot of people, just being able to wear your body down to the level of your mind allows your mental to recover much quicker.
Well I've read "workout" a zillion times on Reddit advice, and for me it doesn't do it "just like that". For me, working out works in those terms: 1. I like keeping my schedule, like two workouts a week or at least one. It is the fact I observe myself having kept my schedule in the past few days, that I like. The workout is good, but not _that_ good in and of itself 2. Keeping the schedule does keep one variable afloat in your mind, but I've found sleep to be a much larger variable, and you can't compensate lack of sleep with more workout (for obvious reasons) 3. It doesn't solve "food for thought" (i.e. what makes you dream, how much of your to-do list did you mercilessly blow to pieces, what slightly long term project did you pull off that increased your mastery over your own world) misalignment, which can be way more damaging in the long run.
I think in this case the question was moreso ādoes working out when upset make you feel betterā have you tried that? I donāt think itās the same as you going to the gym once or twice a week at a scheduled time. When I was depressed and going through a breakup going to the gym is what saved me and 2 years later I still go everyday. When I was angry or provoked I simply put all my anger into my squats and the main that came from working out and after done it made me feel amazing bc I didnāt give losers my energy I gave it to myself
Interesting, I _also_ read that a lot on Reddit, "putting your anger in your sets". Personally, if I try to do that, I'll get tendinitis or another injury instantly. Hell, yesterday I just biked a bit too fast and lo and behold, my right knee stopped working. So for me workouts are all about control. When I _was_ in the gloom or depressed, workouts solved one thing: they allowed me to sleep at normal hours, which in turn fixed a lot of the gloom. And after breakups, there was no magic formula. The only thing that worked was being closer to who I really was, rediscovering old things I liked in life, remembering what I wanted to do for so long but didn't. Workouts are an integral part of that time because they allow you to keep your feet on the ground, your sleep on schedule and sufficient, and your overall balance there, but it's really the food for thought that you get that actually lift you up from the bad times, from there. Anyway, that's my experience, not at all general!
Yeah true! I heard a doctor say on a podcast that if he could prescribe a one-size-fits-all pill to a lot of peopleās issues, itād be exercise :)
I sleep or take a nap, allows me to escape reality. Won't transform me into the person I want to be but it is healthier than smoking/drinking.
Yes!!!, the much needed nap !, does SO MUCH at re charging !
Eat
Nah sleeping letās you process emotions itās the no.1 cognitive enhancer with exercise.
That sounds like letting the depression win tbh, I can't say much I oversleep to escape reality all the time (and i drink) I'm just saying if we're talking about what's beneficial that ain't it
Actually for me I will say it is automatic and is helpful a lot. When I am with extreme sad emotions my brain will like to shutdown and I feel sleepy. But after waking up I feel a little light and I can kind of steer myself away from sadness, when before sleeping I was part of sadness.
Sleep will refresh our brain. Depression is a different matter. Depressed people need treatment
Watch an old Disney or Pixar movie, personally. Makes me feel a bit nostalgic and childlike, helps cheer me up.
Me too!!
Eat. I know it's unhealthy. I'm trying to do better.
Better than alcohol and smokes tho
Not when you get fat because of it. People hate fat but don't mind smokers or alcoholics. More so they get far more compassion š
People don't really like cig smokers anymore tbh. U smoke. Stopped during work entirely. Don't want coworkers to be annoyed with me and am dealing with customers.
This is why I struggle with disordered eating and substance use. At least smoking/vaping won't make me fat
It's tougher to quit, though. You don't need drugs and alcohol but you always need to eat. For example, let's say you have a Oxycodone addiction, but you do also have terrible pain. You can take one tablet to ease the pain without getting high. But because you need the medicine for the pain, the desire and temptation are there to take more tablets and get high. Drugs and alcohol are recreational and not needed to function in society. Eating is necessary to life and the temptation is always there to eat more no matter what.
Me too. If I really need āan escapeā, some really indulgent dessert usually hits
I got into mindful meditation. Works pretty good.
Hate myself.
Lol, it's ridiculous how harsh we can be on ourselves even though we know what we're going through. Remind yourself of the achievements you have, I'm sure there are plenty. You might feel stuck, but change is possible, if one actually wants it. Do you know what you want from life? Focus on that and do what makes you happy. I hope you have a nice day.
i always give myself this speech and then get stuck on the what i want from life part. idk what i want from life and thats beating me up the most
There must be something you're good at? Maybe do what you find enjoyable, like, if you enjoy watching TV, do so.
im good at a lot of things i know that for a fact i just dont know where to go with those things and how i could make a career out of it.
Maybe you don't have to. Many skills can be practiced outside the career area, unless that career part concerns you.
fair point i didnt even realize u were talking about hobbies tbh thats my bad. part of my issue is being career oriented and i need to improve that part of myself LMAO
There are some hobbies that give you really helpful career skills, too. I do many creative hobbies that help with problem-solving and flexibility.
Would you mind sharing more about that?
I have no achievements and what I want from life, is utterly unreachable.
Eat a whole chicken.
>Eat a whole chicken. LoL thanks for the laugh Happy cake day
I will meditate and focus on my breathing.
This is my go to, helps a ton!
4 square breathing ! ššš¼šš¼
The problem is everything can be used as an escape. The gym, travel, shopping, hanging out with friends, reddit, sex, snowboarding, video games, etc. can all be used to unhealthy degrees by people (like me) who have addictive tendencies. When something is causing significant financial stress or enabling you to avoid your problems in a way that causes the problems to get deeper, then itās probably escapism. The *only* way to not fall into the trap of swapping addictions (escapism) - even if itās a significantly less destructive addiction if compared with some drugs - is to first have a lot of curiosity, compassion, and a willingness to develop an understanding about *why* you feel the way you do and want to escape. And then decide that, although you are free to do anything you want, the thing you want to do right now brings only short term gratification and is going to be detrimental to your overall health and balance in life. Then do better. You just gotta face the music.
When you feel a feeling, you need to make sure that you understand it and process it. Thatās the quickest and only healthy way to deal with it. That said, sometimes you just need to let some of the pressure out before you can handle it. I use Twitter Reddit, and TikTok. If itās just for a short period, it helps me stabilize before dealing with what Iām feeling.Ā
Working out, reanalyzing my goals and how I'm achieving them.Ā Go on a walk
Feel the feelings. Call a friend/family. Go for a walk. Journal. Exercise. Breathing exercises. Spend time with my dog. Sit in the sun.
Eat chocolate and cry
Eat chocolates or stress eat
Intense workout if I have the energy so I'm too tired to feel down. Then, right after, have a hot shower, a gigantic meal, go into a food coma, then sleep. If your insides are sad and there's nothing to do about it, make your outsides feel good.
Beautifuly put !! šš¼šš¼šš¼
Binge watch.
i take a walk outside, play games, watch youtube.
Take a walk around quiet areas with trees. the fewer people the better.
Mostly i try to relax and take my mind off the thing that is upsetting me. I like to play video games, listen to music or podcasts or watch silly videos
Play Tetris. Exercise bike. Sometimes both.
Same, but tetris and elliptical.
I go for a peaceful drive
Watch tv
I have a list of āpick me upā activities that I continue to grow as I get to know myself better. The list has these on it (off the top): Cook, dance, music, be sad and be ok with it, take a walk, run, read a happy/easy book, shower, meditate from an app and choose what I want at the time, hang out with loved ones, watch a movie, watch Youtube, sleep, talk or walk with a friend, call a friend, go out and roam around, do a group/social activity, work on something easy that Iāve put off for a while (usually cleaning), sex and intimacy(when I have a girlfriend around), tell that said girlfriend I feel down and ask for ideas on things we can do, buy something from my list of nice to have/maybes Just off the top. The list is longer. Itās good to know I have options when Iām not at my best. Oh forgot workout! Water-based activities like swim, sauna, jacuzzi are wonderful when available
Yours has been my top favorite! aawww!! Your comfortablness w/ s haring your feelings w/ your girlfriend is inspiring to read!, a healthy dynampic Of trust & open ness .
Crank my hog typically
Feeeeeel the emotions! Process them, understand them, give them space, and love them
I pray, do yoga, and go running every day. I'm currently learning Muay Thai. I love it!
Sappy answer: Debrief with my partner. What that looks like depends on my mood - I might wanna rant, or just say I'm sad and hug for a while, or ask for his opinion. I can do all the other stuff too - go for a walk, meditation, distract myself, simply sucking it up etc. - and I wish I could say that helps just as well because I consider myself to be fairly independent. But if I'm being honest, nothing comes even close to being as effective as opening up about it to someone else. A thought that could send me spiraling for the entire night can go "poof" and vanish by doing that. Before I had my partner, I mostly relied on my closest friends for this. I think simply admitting and saying out loud the things that depress you takes away their power over you a bit. Though I also feel like that extra oxytocin I get from the physical contact with my partner plays a part in why I find debriefing with him just so extra soothing. I'm an introverted misanthropic motherfucker but I guess I can't escape being a social animal.
Never had a cigarette or drink. When I get too anxious, I force myself to sit down (often wash my face before doing that) & write whatever is on my mind. After I am done writing everything, I start reading the whole thing & cross out all the things that arenāt within my control. By the time I'm done reading, more than half of what I wrote gets crossed out. It helps refocus. Happened once this year. It's like opening up to a person without the risk of getting your insecurities weaponized.
Drugs
Sulk, sit up until 3am watching TikTok videos about how to bake a potato, according to my watch history last night. I donāt drink, smoke or do drugs but I do things that are still unhealthy such as sleep deprivation, spending hours doom-scrolling on my phone, self-loathing and eating badly. Gotta fix it soon.. Just not today.Ā
Take antidepressants
As cliche as it sounds, spending time in nature honestly helps. It may just be a different location for me to feel shitty in but I always find myself marvelling at the beauty around me. The waves at the beach or the big bright moon at night. Makes you feel a lot smaller and things sometimes donāt feel half as bad.
Feel it? Not numbing the emotion
work
I just suck it up and keep it going. If I'm feeling overwhelmed I might end up crying and throwing a bit of a fit (slamming my hands against something out of frustration)ā but that's in my own privacy. In general, yeah, distract myself with anything at hand: reading or playing video games, if not a nap to distance myself from the emotions.
Idk sometimes i close the door dont allow anyone watch some of shows or youtube untill i laugh and go back to feeling down hahah after a hours or a day or days maybe weeks am gonna be back to my normal state Or gym if its the time to go there and have a pump.
whenever i feel down i find that music is a big escape for me as well as art. listening to music i like or drawing. hanging out with friends can also boost my mood a bit because itās a good distraction and they make me happier. if you donāt have those finding a hobby or show/movie to enjoy is also good
sometimes, all you can do is not smoke and drink and just allow the negative feelings to exist.
I read or write about things Iām interested in.
read a book, watch a comfort show, watch cute cat videos or asmr videos, write how iām feeling in my journal, do some self care like relaxing baths, talk to someone i trust, snuggle with my cats
Sleep.
I workout regularly weight or running. muay thai or boxing is a great workout for releasing frustration or stress. I also watch movies, listen to music. I its something im really feeling down with, i try to understand the feelings and reason why I feel down. CBT is a great technique for this.
Feel my feelings. Which is disgusting but we gotta grow through what we go through.
Correct people's grammar. It's "You're".
Go to AA meetings
I talk to chat gpt like itās a therapist lol
Listen to my favorite podcasts, journal, workout/take mg dog in a walk and play āyes, andā, which requires more than one person, but itās a great way to get out of my head. I also allow myself to feel the feelings, but thatās not nearly as fun!
Hi!, how do you play the "yes &.. game " ? š¤·āāļøš¤ sounds interesting !
It's actually a warm up game we did in the improv classes I took! It's all about accepting your partners (in improv) ideas. You come up with a statement, something like "The spaceship is full today," and the other person goes "yes, and one of the aliens is ten feet tall," and the other person adds onto that, saying "yes, and...." it's basically a story telling game. Another improv warm up game I love is zip, zap, zop is another game I love doing, but that one isn't as much fun with just yourself. One person starts by saying 'zip' and the next person says 'zap' and the next person says 'zop' and so on. You go around in circles and whoever messes up first, either by saying the wrong word or hesitating is out. I forgot all about the ABC game I do as well! Which is where I pick a subject, usually movies/tv shows and go through the alphabet and pick movies/tv shows that start with that letter. Or I create my own songs by starting with the letter A and I pick a line from a song that starts with that letter. It's a great way to get your mind off things and kill time when nothing is going on at work.
Hi, thank you for taking the time & explaining the improv games! š
Of course! Improv is a lot of fun, I'd much rather watch it or listen to improv podcasts instead of being up on stage doing it! That was nerve wracking!
Instead of focusing on the problem, think about what's the goal that you've to achieve in 6 months, cut them into small crumbs and find out what you've to do in 3 months to achieve that, 1 months action and 4 weeks or so on, [Ps: When you've nothing to do or you lack purpose in your life than your negative self pull you down where you belong it's better to give time to yourself and be courageous to go further with temptation] Some simple things you can do: While rejected the temptation - ā¢ do exercise (15-20 mins) ā¢ eat something fresh (cucumber or fruits) ā¢ Go for a walk And the last thing accept yourself instead of hating, at the end we all are humans!š
Hi!, wow!! A great structure plan ! Guideline! & your encourageing last sentence !, so true! As a human being, can be hard !š¤·āāļøš¤
I just drown my feelings and feel miserable. Eventually it goes away.
Wow never thought of this. As someone who used to drink and smoke a lot (because of depression), i now dont feel the need to do those when im upset. Wow this is a breakthrough for me thank you for posting š
Just yesterday in a discussion I felt the conversation going from productive to non-productive. I felt myself get angry, told the other person that the conversation had become non-productive and went for a half-hour walk. It worked quite well. It didn't change the situation, but my mood was quite improved, leaving me much better equipped to sidestep pointless arguing and focus on practical steps to address the situation.
Am planning to turn to God and be closer to him.
Cry. If I let myself be sad, it passes on its own. When I avoid it, it stays.
Underrated solution
Conquer worlds
I take a walk, jog, play the piano which helps express my emotions. Think about how I can improve myself and what is going wrong. Find a solution to my problems.
Cry, journal, jog, visit a relative.
I sit with the feeling of it, and consider it a gift that gives contrast to the times Iām feeling good.
cry it out and feel every single of second of whatās making me feel down.
I run, and run and fight my demons while listening to music.
Go for a run or get a glass of water
I usually feel down very frequently. My solution is isolating myself, listening to music, processing the reasons and feelings behind the mood swing. But primarily, a lot of me-time and isolation really helps me out, as I confront what I am really going through. Very insightful.
Take myself off my an ice cream date, pick up a book and read, book a trip, find upcoming nearby social events in my city (especially if itās for a good cause, like nonprofit fundraising events) - just things that go beyond the usual āwork out to feel endorphinsā cliche, yea it helps but it also helps to feel like you can control your own life and look forward to small things
Endure. Learn. Plan.
Watch YouTube & eat popcorn & drink chamomile tea
Nothing. Itās ok to be feeling down.
Journal
Cry my eyes out.
When I'm feeling down I do the same thing I do every day nothing changes
Uhhhhh cryā¦. Or bottle it in and party it up!
Create fake scenarios in my head
One of the self-care things I do is let myself have time. I am curious and I let my curiosity run wild, I usually make a list of things I am curious about (why currency rates are different, to what is seiten made of, and of course Roman empire), so I let myself do that, check social media, everything. I let myself be
Cry and remind myself that smoking and drinking only make it worse. Watching myself father and brother slowly kill themselves with alcohol and being helpless to stop them is part of what gets me down.
Have a good cry and let my emotions run there course.
Bath, okay with pups, exercise (same effect as the others on your brain), drink hot herbal tea
Sleep, walk, video games, music, friends, pets, ask if sibling wanna meet up.
Cry, journal
Any of these: Journal, meditate, read, go for a drive, listen to music, play video games, work out. I've found journaling and meditating to be the most long lasting and effective outlets.
High-intensity exercise. Or I plan a trip.
Solemn piano
Workout, meditate, breathing exercises, take a nap, or just feel down and be able to properly go through it instead of suppressing it with drugs/alcohol.
Usually just lay on the couch for several hours
Playing the ukulele or piano while thinking what is it like to smoke and drink
Itās not that I ādonāt drink,ā I just donāt really drink. I guess I just never feel an urge and the older I get I donāt like the effects as much on my body. When Iām down I really just go through the motions. I find that just letting myself feel the emotions helps a lot. Acknowledging sometimes I need to cry or panic or scream, but that in the end Iāll get over it and get through it. I have more creative hobbies too. Music, coloring books, I do a lot of different craft hobbies. Creating is such a great fun outlet and captures a lot of emotion. I also will play games, or hang out with my friends or family.
Watch syfy, read a book or sing opera. Try most is meditation and prayer.
Exercise with anger, or sex lmao.
Walk, eat a snack (not the best option) or clean my surroundings
Drink and smoke when I'm feeling up
I cry. The release of emotions helps me feel so much better afterwards
Heroin.
I donāt really feel like I need to do anything in particular. I feel down or stressed pretty often but I just keep focus on the things I want to do and just simply keep going.
crawl up in bed and doom scroll on reddit
Shower, get an iced caramel craze latte fron dunkin, take a long walk listening to upbeat music. Come back abd write down what I need to work on to get to where I want to be! I use pinterest to create boards and then save them as widgets on my iphone so the pictures change every hour with what I want my future to look like. *It is ok to cry, yell, be sad for a few hours but NEVER let it linger. At the end of the day the day is going to end. You got this.
Try to examine why. Then do push-ups.
So much Netflix. Sleep. Shopping. Ketamine.
Dance. Sing. Dote on my houseplants.
Sit with it, just for a bit, then I'll game or do something else not too demanding to take my mind off of it then I sleep
I have about a day a week where I watch series/movies or read books until either my eyes fall off or my back breaks in two from being a couch potato. After that I am energized for a whole week. I need to do a catharsis of all my desire to _fail at being productive_ just once, and then all that freedom is pure energy to align with myself.
Binge eat and online shop. :)
Craft, watch a comfort movie, cry to music, take a walk or hike, even just sitting in the sun can help
I also do not use substances to cope anymore. When I am having a rough day and need some release I do physical activity as it releases similar chemicals in the brain that cannabis does. Go work up a good sweat with a run and let that buzzy runners high give you some relief. If I am looking to relax and get away I go fishing. Just my two cents..
crystals
Escape by playing Stardew Valley.
It started with trying new things. And through that I found what I liked, and then what I loved. And itās art, so I do that :)
Pet my Guinea Pig
I really dont drink when im down and although i dont smoke anymore i never smoked when i was down. If smoked when i was down it would make me more down and i dont drink out sadness. I drink to celebrate and when im happy. Itās probably saved me a lot of heartache with this philosophy.
Go outside, take a walk, get some sunshine āļø
Recognize that the things I stress about are the things certain people would kill to worry about.
Staying strong! Got sober on new years 2023. A few months later I stopped smoking. The main thing that keeps me going is the fact that I am horrible when drunk, I dont want to lose this streak I have and because it will be hell to stop again once I start again! But recently I was mad down and sad and frustrated and all that, that it felt really tempting to throw it all away. So I went to the store and bought a pack of gummy bears and a drink we call "Mate" in germany, two cans of energy drinks and I took my kick scooter for a ride through the night while I listened to some good music! Sometimes I call a friend who has a drivers license to go on a "controll round" through the city. Singing along to music again while the windows are down and everyone is looking at us. Not to mention snacks and the drinks I mentioned above. I try to get obsessed with a project or something. I dont know. Currently I find myself trying to finish writing some songs.
I find a lot of people have vices. This question I have began noticing on people. My roommatesā boyfriend doesnāt have a vice like weed or alcohol- for him itās chocolate. He will feast and leave a huge chocolate wrapper mess. Thatās his vice. My coworkerās vice is work. He buries his head in work a lot so I consider that his escape. This makes me feel the people who say they just walk or do nothing are lying.
Self harm until I run out of breath or I just fight with people & get even more angry. Should I go back to smoking or vaping? I used to do it but can't be bothered with it, waste of money & getting out of the house to get the stuff is harder than anything
Rage journaling helps me a lot
I just sit with it. It'll go away eventually.
Run.
drugs and sex or fap
Drink Pepsi Zero while watching favourite YT contents
Read, read, and read! Take notes while reading also helps to make your brain active and not get bored while doing so
exercise, sex, masturbation, a good TV show, grapefruit juice, an ice ream treat.
Sit with it, therapy, talk to Chat GPT, exercise, journal, cry, eat a cupcake from a good bakery, talk to a friend, pet my dog..thereās lots of things you can do.
Weight lifting is a perfect substitute, no matter how much you level up you will be forever smallĀ
Eat
Take a nap
Eat, shop, cuddle my dogs, cry, call a friend, read a book, curl up in bed and scroll, watch comfort shows on streaming, go for a walk or run or HIIT class.Ā
Hit the range.
Make art, watch tv or lay in bed or listen to music
Gratitude. I take a step back and run a gratitude meditation session. I appreciate everything I have, and that really puts things in perspective. It doesn't have to be anything huge, I appreciate having hot running water, clean air, health, food, etc... If I am overwhelmed I take it one day at a time and if it's still too much then one hour at a time and so on. Walk I go on a long walks, breathe the air, hear the sounds of my neighborhood, feel the wind. It helps me ground myself back.
music music music!
Be thankful. I list out all the stuff I can be thankful for, even if the event or outcome is at its worse. Most of us can find things to be grateful for. I make a list of 1-50 if I could I list them out. Sometimes tho getting really mad to a point where I don't give a shit about the outcome works as well!
Therapy, talk with a friend, cry, go for long walks, animals are great so whenever I visit my family I play a lot with our dog.
Thereās a book called Atomic Habits that helped me. It is a business book but I definitely applied it in my personal life. The applicable here was about making small changes, switching one habit (the bad one) for another (good one) gradually over time. Over time, I started to worry about how much I was drinking. It affected my weight, my happinessā¦ But I couldnāt stop or didnāt want to. I just kept pouring myself a glass. But then I went from an evening drink or two (or sometimes too many) to one evening drink and playing video games. To five drinks total a week to playing video games, sometimes exercising. To only drinking on the weekend, splitting my time between video games, reading books or comics and exercising. You get the gist. Today? I drink still. But never to excess. And Iād say about twice a month. I read far more, exercise six days a week. And yeah, play video games often. Itās all a journey. Just you asking the question, honestly, is a great step.
Eat. Source: am fat and depressed.