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The Black Dog Thread

Started by Grugz, 02 January, 2016, 09:54:32 PM

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Proudhuff

Quote from: Funt Solo on 19 July, 2022, 01:00:16 AM
My wife's been using mold-able wax earplugs to drown out the noise of the busy road near our house. A bit cheaper than noise-canceling headphones, but a bit more effective than normal sponge earplugs.

There are grants in England for double glazing to replace windows and doors near busy roads and motorways, I was looking at the Govt website only the other day, doesn't apply in Jockland unfortunately.
DDT did a job on me

JayzusB.Christ

Sorry to hear about it, Jade.  I've had noisy neighbours and it's genuinely soul-crushing.  I really hope you can get it sorted.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Hawkmumbler

Been in a bit of a funk for the majority of this week.
I keep getting what I can only describe as existential vertigo. The realisation i'm so bound up in so many elements of life that i've let an entire decade slip me by. I got an email showing I graduated school ten years ago almost to the day and just stopped and sat still for an hour straight wondering just what I had done with that time. Will the remaining 5 or 6 decades of my life be just like that one? Will it slip away from me before I have time to do anything meaningful with it? Will I ever have the time or resources to DO anything meaningful with it. Where am I going and what am I doing, and do I have any say in either?

I need a holiday, first off. Not had a break from the grind in nearly 8 years. That at least I know I can do. Hopefully it helps.

Funt Solo

I saw a science piece on the BBC the other day that was explaining how we lay down memories - and if it's an exciting experience (mostly this just means: new) then we effectively record it in our brains in more detail - like the equivalent of more frames-per-second.

They used this to explain why, when you're a kid, the summers seems to last forever (because most of the things we are experiencing are new), but when you're a 'dult, a year can seem sometimes to blip past in a flash (because most of the things we experience are not new).

One of the take homes was this idea that if you want life to stretch, you need to seek out new experiences. (I'm not advocating that as a salve - just repeating what the 'cast had been saying.)
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

Proudhuff

Enjoy yourself, its later than you think...
DDT did a job on me

JayzusB.Christ

It's true. I remember my few months in Thailand, when time seemed to crawl by, even though I was having the time of my life. Since then I feel like ten years have passed in a couple of months. Time to start organising some new experiences, I think.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Funt Solo

I was just doing a bit of a spring-clean (in the summer), and found some mental health cards that mini-Solo (10) created for me a few months ago. Each features the character "ice cream goat" (half goat, half ice cream) and a pithy piece of motivational advice:

- "You can do it! I know you can!"
- "It is okay to be sad, just you can be happy too."
- "When you are sad, think of cute things. It helps you not be sad."
- "Say a nice thing and it will make you feel nice."
- "If you are mad, remember that it is temporary."
- "When you are sad, think of the stuff you like."
- "No matter how big your problems are you are big enough to deal with them."
- "Breathe in, breathe out. If you did not just do that then poop to you."
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

Definitely Not Mister Pops

Quote from: Funt Solo on 22 July, 2022, 12:24:17 AM
...
- "It is okay to be sad, ..."


Best mental health advice ever
You may quote me on that.

JayzusB.Christ

Now I really want to see what Ice Cream Goat looks like.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Barrington Boots

There's something so beautifully simplistic about those, I'm tempted to make them for myself (although I also would like to see this fabled Ice Cream Goat)
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Barrington Boots

I've been struggling a lot with bad dreams these last few months. I'm in a bit of a cycle where I fall asleep, exhausted, but awake 4 hours later having had a nightmare and then lie awake until the alarm goes, re-living it.

Usually these dreams are about death - sometimes my parents, but more often either my wife's or my own - and not about the actual event (where I get crushed by a fridge or something) but the terrible aftermath: wandering around a house bereft of its former occupant yet full of the things that made up their day to day lives. Another often recurring one I have is that my house catches on fire and I'm unable to rescue my cat: later I find him all burned black, hiding under something, just a little charred husk in his shape. I often wake up in tears.

I'm pretty sure I'm processing grief: my father-in-law passed away at the start of the year and my best friends Dad, who I'd known for decades, also died a few months later. I've done my best to support two people I really love and the effect the bereavement has had on them has been dreadful to watch. I do wonder if, in doing so I've swallowed my own feelings a bit and this is how things are coming out.

Anyway, I'm also pretty sure this will pass. I know I shouldn't, but I feel guilty just giving voice to this given these bereavements have impacted others more than me - but I just wanted to write this down somewhere and it's been helpful to do so.
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Funt Solo

Sorry for your loss, Barrington.

I often reflect on my own experiences when I'm told about others. Earlier this year I was struggling with insomnia - which sounds like a similar pattern to yours but without the abundant nightmares. Once I'd woken up in the middle of the night, there was no more sleep. It's a bit difficult to know for sure whether that was due to a period of acute anxiety and depression, or the other way around. Probably a bit of a spiral - lack of sleep usually doesn't help with mental health. When the anxiety was somewhat alleviated, the sleeping pattern improved. I did end up on meds for a bit - that, and some counseling. I found (in my situation, where I had started to casually ideate suicide) that seeking help was necessary. Up until that point in life I'd always self-managed.

---

Mini-Solo has drawn an Ice Cream Goat for the board ... I just need to get it scanned.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

Funt Solo

++ A-Z ++  coma ++

JayzusB.Christ

"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

Barrington Boots

Thanks Funt.
I love the Ice Cream Goat! I'll print it up and stick it by my desk!
You're a dark horse, Boots.