Persistent Depressive Disorder

I have so many thoughts about this one today for yet another Great Discussion Topic For You To Learn From, And To Remember.

Let’s work through this hard one together with your thoughts, then my thoughts replies.

As we do it everyday right here in This Group💪🦋
👇👇👇👇👇

#MentalHealth #Depression #Anxiety #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #PostTraumaticStressDisorder #PTSD #Trauma #Grief #BipolarDisorder #Selfharm #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #MoodDisorders #ADHD #Suicide #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #Mindfulness #MadeVisible #ChronicIllness #Disability #Agoraphobia #AnorexiaNervosa #EatingDisorders #SocialAnxiety #BingeEatingDisorder #AlopeciaAreata #AutismSpectrumDisorder #Autism #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #Blindness #Relationships #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #FamilyAndFriends #MajorDepressiveDisorder #ChronicPain #Lupus #LymeDisease #PersistentDepressiveDisorder #MDD #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #Loneliness #CrohnsDisease

I want to celebrate 🎉 my Mighty Friends that Are Actually, Really—they told me so🙌🙌🙌 Building Something Great and Kicking To The Curb Doubt that keeps wanting to creep into our mindset And Fear that wants to hold us back and control us…

This Day, Your HUGE Transformations, is All Partly Because of the choices I empowered you with that you reached out to me too to guide you in how to use the tools and techniques I teach in my group titled Resilience and Mindfulness that is another body of work of love and friendship of mine that I am also So Proud of!!!!! 🙌🙌🙌🙌

Here, I am wanting All of us to Cheer for You and You… 💯💪🏆🏆🤩💛💛🙌🙌🙌🙌🎊🎊🎉🎈🎁🪅👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🍾

I 💛 my new friends and my group and All Mighties soooooooo much!!

Woohoo!!!!!!

And if you are not yet following me on here and if you aren’t participating in my group posts in the important conversations I keep creating for YOU, what are you waiting for?— Call to Action (as we said in my college Marketing degree and my Advertising and Marketing jobs:
Click to join & follow me on The Mighty Now💛🙌💯🦋🤗

I know I am only 1 person and I am only 1 part of this Amazing community and I am grateful for All that we All do Everyday Together.

Who agrees that we all make The Mighty Mightier and the Best Online Community Platform and Social Space Ever?!💯🙌💛💪🤩🦋

#MentalHealth #Mindfulness #MightyTogether #Depression #Anxiety #SocialAnxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #MajorDepressiveDisorder #MDD #PersistentDepressiveDisorder #MoodDisorders #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #Selfharm #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #Suicide #IfYouFeelHopeless #FamilyAndFriends #Relationships #ChronicIllness #Disability #ChronicFatigue #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #ChronicPain #Headache #Migraine #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #PTSD #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #Trauma #MadeVisible

To help encourage us to remember that we are more than our chronic illness(es) or any diagnosis, and to remember that we Are building friendships right here -

In the spirit of the current, Biggest, Buzz-Worthy, Trending Topic, MOVIES awards show airing Sunday night the Oscars🙌🤩🏆🍿🎥🎬

Let’s use this post all weekend Starting Now And And Into Next Week to connect through the art, power, storytelling, …and your particular views on any film. I will keep it as wide-ranged as that for a fun, varied, connecting conversation back and forth below 👇 in the comments!

#Loneliness #Grief #DistractMe #FamilyAndFriends #Relationships #IfYouFeelHopeless #Depression #Anxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #MajorDepressiveDisorder #DepressiveDisorders #PersistentDepressiveDisorder #MoodDisorders #MDD #Agoraphobia #MentalHealth #MightyTogether #ADHD #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #ChronicIllness #IntellectualDisability #AutismSpectrumDisorder #MyCondition #RareDisease #ChronicPain #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #ChronicFatigue #Migraine #Selfharm #Selfcare #Mindfulness #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #Suicide #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #PTSD #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #PostTraumaticStressDisorder #PsoriaticArthritis #Trauma #Cancers #AlopeciaAreata #AuditoryProcessingDisorder #CerebralPalsy #BipolarDisorder #DownSyndrome #Addiction #Lupus #HashimotosThyroiditis #AutoimmuneThyroidDisease #BipolarDepression #HypothyroidismUnderactiveThyroidDisease #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #AutonomicDysfunction #ParkinsonsDisease #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #POTS #EatingDisorders #AnorexiaNervosa #BingeEatingDisorder #Dyspraxia #BrainInjury #MotorDisorders

Keying in after a while…i wish all those struggling and still up and about my best wishes and prayers. It’s been so many years i have been dealing with my grief, despair and anguish. Been on medication for quite long and from the looks of it I will have to continue till my end life. Medication and occasional counselling keeps me functional and operational but the deep melancholic loss and longing persists varying in its intensity different times in the day or in weeks. The worst part in my case is the acute loneliness of my grief. I’m a divorcee (the separation so shameful and embarrassing and in the end in complete helplessness) and have no kids or even any extended family worth a name. I live alone with my pooch (God bless her 😢) doing everything on my own - household chores mostly. Professional setbacks too forced me into early retirement and so just about manage with whatever investments I made. My life is both frugal and hermit like for all these reasons. Won’t bother with all my sordid details any further something I have already done often in the Mighty over years.

The pain though is excruciating and debilitating and panic repeatedly sets in. The few friends who do know my loss & trauma are all tired and guess so bored but I can imagine them caught in their own routines and whatever challenges modern life dominated by work and family throws at one. My distress remains so deeply my own and singular it’s also difficult for others to relate as may be my own inability to empathise with those battling severe setbacks, losses and trauma. A catch 22 situation the mentally frail like myself have to contend. This splendid isolation then compounds your misery and grief. Negating the self and just be is possibly the best antidote. If only…The impersonal social space, the numbness modern life inflicts…most i gather (but i still don’t understand how ) inure themselves and as far as I see most of my few friends and acquaintances life has been kind. Most partake in the winner takes it all mindset. Along with self acknowledged and patent failures of your own you are further burdened with this shame then of being perceived a loser, a failure, a wimp. So…these and resulting humiliation, loneliness only compounds misery…Then the fear being so alone…been weeks since anyone visited me. The phone rarely pings let alone rings. Most if so are spam messages or marketing calls. The emptiness of my apartment and the loud silence makes me feel on Sahara scorched and parched by isolation being blazed by some curse, voodoo and wretched fate scalding my soul. With what is actually happening and how even my so called best of friends already avoidant (more in helplessness I wager), my visiting or trying to meet anyone or even pinging just seems to be me inflicting on people…a scrounger or a desperate refugee for mercy! death will truly be liberating and so comforting under the circumstances. 😔
#Grief #Shame #Loneliness #Dysthymia #SuicidalThoughts #Anxiety

Keying in after a while…i wish all those struggling and still up and about my best wishes and prayers. It’s been so many years i have been dealing with my grief, despair and anguish. Been on medication for quite long and from the looks of it I will have to continue till my end life. Medication and occasional counselling keeps me functional and operational but the deep melancholic loss and longing persists varying in its intensity different times in the day or in weeks. The worst part in my case is the acute loneliness of my grief. I’m a divorcee (the separation so shameful and embarrassing and in the end in complete helplessness) and have no kids or even any extended family worth a name. I live alone with my pooch (God bless her 😢) doing everything on my own - household chores mostly. Professional setbacks too forced me into early retirement and so just about manage with whatever investments I made. My life is both frugal and hermit like for all these reasons. Won’t bother with all my sordid details any further something I have already done often in the Mighty over years.

The pain though is excruciating and debilitating and panic repeatedly sets in. The few friends who do know my loss & trauma are all tired and guess so bored but I can imagine them caught in their own routines and whatever challenges modern life dominated by work and family throws at one. My distress remains so deeply my own and singular it’s also difficult for others to relate as may be my own inability to empathise with those battling severe setbacks, losses and trauma. A catch 22 situation the mentally frail like myself have to contend. This splendid isolation then compounds your misery and grief. Negating the self and just be is possibly the best antidote. If only…The impersonal social space, the numbness modern life inflicts…most i gather (but i still don’t understand how ) inure themselves and as far as I see most of my few friends and acquaintances life has been kind. Most partake in the winner takes it all mindset. Along with self acknowledged and patent failures of your own you are further burdened with this shame then of being perceived a loser, a failure, a wimp. So…these and resulting humiliation, loneliness only compounds misery…Then the fear being so alone…been weeks since anyone visited me. The phone rarely pings let alone rings. Most if so are spam messages or marketing calls. The emptiness of my apartment and the loud silence makes me feel on Sahara scorched and parched by isolation being blazed by some curse, voodoo and wretched fate scalding my soul. With what is actually happening and how even my so called best of friends already avoidant (more in helplessness I wager), my visiting or trying to meet anyone or even pinging just seems to be me inflicting on people…a scrounger or a desperate refugee for mercy! death will truly be liberating and so comforting under the circumstances. 😔
#Grief #Shame #Loneliness #Dysthymia #SuicidalThoughts #Anxiety

There is More talk about Self-Care than the Most Critical Key to Happiness and Great Relationships of all types——-“SELF-LOVE”.

With this in-depth look at what Self-Love looks like-for your own personal growth, I would like you to take an honest look inwards and determine if you Practice Self-Love.
If you’re not, or if you’re not doing all of the bullet points given below, don’t worry— “Each morning, we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.”

As always, let’s have a great conversation about this topic below 👇 in the comments where you can use this space for your own place in your mental wellness journey. Not your mental illness journey— I am here as a friend to guide you through to the other side as much as possible—yes, that is where I stand, and the magic only happens if you let me—so how about more group members join in for your sake.

The Mighty friends that have opened themselves up to this opportunity are telling me and showing me that they are really starting to get it, and they are taking bigger, new, determined steps in their lives.

"Self-Love" refers to a deeper internal state of accepting and valuing yourself unconditionally, while "self-care" focuses on taking practical actions to maintain your physical and mental wellbeing, like getting enough sleep, eating healthy, and engaging in activities you enjoy; essentially, self-love is the mindset that drives you to practice self-care. Self-Love is the mindset too that heals the pain and keeps you in the light, Determined to keep pushing away any darkness and to stop doubting yourself.

Key points to remember:
* Self-love:
* A feeling of intrinsic worth and acceptance, regardless of circumstances
* Becoming your own best friend - treating yourself with the same respect and understanding you would give a close friend.
* Be the love you never received.
* Includes embracing your flaws
* Foundation for setting healthy boundaries and prioritizing your needs
* learn to say no when needed and clearly explain why
* Don’t seek Anyone’s validation
* Positive self-talk: Use encouraging language to speak to yourself, focusing on your strengths and accomplishments.
* Pay attention to your thoughts and feelings, recognizing negative self-talk and actively replacing it with positive affirmations/relabel upsetting thoughts
* Say something nice to yourself in the mirror — looking into your eyes & smile at yourself & say “I love you”and your name. (Yes, I actually stop myself to do this & it’s Wonderful)
* cultivate self-compassion
* Encourage Yourself
* Talk to someone you trust who *Has The Capacity To Listen*-and, Another Big Key Here is that ***Being vulnerable - completely honest and thorough- about what you’re going through with someone else is a major form of self-love because you’re taking the time to dig deep, regardless of how uncomfortable it is, And, on top of that, you’re showing yourself that you want to work out whatever’s going on with you***
* avoid comparing yourself to others
* practice gratitude
* Seek out opportunities for growth
* Creating a safe zone all your own is an act of self-love because it gives you a designated area where you can focus on your needs and emotions instead of other people’s. The key here is creating a space that feels good and peaceful when life is neither of those things.
#MentalHealth #Mindfulness #Selflove #Selfcare #Selfharm #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #Suicide #Trauma #MajorDepressiveDisorder #PersistentDepressiveDisorder #Depression #Anxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #Agoraphobia #BingeEatingDisorder #EatingDisorders #EatingDisorder #ChronicIllness #ChronicFatigue #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #LymeDisease #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #PostTraumaticStressDisorder #PTSDSupportAndRecovery #PTSD #BipolarDisorder #BipolarDepression #AutonomicDysfunction #AuditoryProcessingDisorder #Deafness #ADHDInGirls #ADHD #AspergersSyndrome #AutismSpectrumDisorder #Addiction #CerebralPalsy #IntellectualDisability #Disability #Blindness #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #BorderlinePersonalityDisorderBPD #Fibromyalgia #ChronicPain #Migraine #IfYouFeelHopeless #BrainInjury #MotorDisorders #MultipleSclerosis #RheumatoidArthritis #Arthritis #Grief #Loneliness #AnorexiaNervosa #Relationships #SocialAnxiety #FamilyAndFriends #Caregiving #CrohnsDisease #CysticFibrosis #AlopeciaAreata #Cancers #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #ParkinsonsDisease #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #POTS #Stroke #Diabetes #SelfharmRecovery #RareDisease #DownSyndrome #AddisonsDisease #IrritableBowelSyndromeIBS #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #ObsessiveCompulsiveandRelatedDisorders #ObsessiveCompulsivePersonalityDisorder #DissociativeIdentityDisorder

Patience - The attitude of understanding that things happen in their own time, including our own experiences.

The importance of patience is also a way to accept the present moment without resistance.

Patience is a form of wisdom.

I would like you to think about where in your life, and in your mental health, that you can apply Patience.

And, as always, to help You even more- Let’s have a convo about this topic by commenting below 👇

Jay Shetty sat down with Alicia Keys on one of the most critical podcasts for us, his (free) podcast called “On Purpose” which is the worlds’ #1 Mental Health podcast.

Side Note: Before he became an award-winning podcast host, Jay Shetty has been a great teacher and guide throughout my journey to mental wellness.

In this conversation/episode called “5 Ways To Overcome Self Doubt & Build Confidence Within, Nov 11, 2024;
Jay Shetty asks Alicia Keys:

“What was the work you had to do in order to go from someone who was anxious, doubtful to become someone who manifested this beautiful, incredible full life?

What was the work in the beginning stages that you had to reorient your mind?”

To this, Alicia Keys says: (who by the way Also lives a life with intention/on purpose with Mindfulness)

“I think one of the things that I had to come to terms with is that pretty much nothing is going to come in the time frame that you think is going to come.”

“And I realized, wait, you know, as hard as I try to push the thing forward, when it's time, it's time. And if it's not time, it doesn’t matter what I do. It doesn't matter how much sleep I don't get.

It's not going to be time until it's time. And so I think that that steadiness of like kind of, you just have to put one foot in front of the other is just as simple as that.”

“And so I discovered that that is how we get where we're going.

Like this increment of small, ***determined*** moments.”

And, she also advises “Have Grace with yourself. It’s alright. You are doing your best and you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Have some grace.
And we can start again and try again and it’s ok.”

Let’s recap the attitudes of our healthiest mental state that I have covered so far in this group: Beginner’s Mind, Acceptance, Non-Judgment, and now too, Patience.

#MentalHealth #Mindfulness #Relationships #FamilyAndFriends #Depression #Anxiety #MajorDepressiveDisorder #PersistentDepressiveDisorder #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #SocialAnxiety #ChronicFatigue #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicIllness #BingeEatingDisorder #EatingDisorders #MoodDisorders #MotorDisorders #BipolarDisorder #BipolarDepression #Agoraphobia #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #ChronicPain #AutismSpectrumDisorder #Migraine #Selfcare #Selfharm #Grief #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #SuicideAttemptSurvivors #Suicide #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #PTSD #PostTraumaticStressDisorder #Trauma #Caregiving #IfYouFeelHopeless #Fibromyalgia #AutonomicDysfunction #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #CrohnsDisease #CerebralPalsy #Addiction #Disability #ADHD

And then, we will all Keep Doing This VITAL, easy, short practice.

One of the many things I learned from the “Resilience Skills” University online course I took that I keep teaching you about here only in this group is that Resilience Needs Mindfulness.

And, 1 of the first things to learn about Mindfulness is how to practice conscious breathing and why.

Mindfulness conscious breathing exercise to practice daily 3 or 4 times—
In/Out: This is the first practice on Conscious Breathing:

breathe in (a good, deep inhale), and say or think “I know that I am breathing in”,
breathe out (a longer, full exhale), and say or think “I know that I am breathing out”

After a while of practicing this, you can shorten the cue words to saying or thinking simply “In” on the Inhale, and “Out” on the Exhale.

“When we continue to practice like this, something wonderful happens—-we stop the thinking.
This is already a miracle happening because when we think too much, we are not truly ourselves. But this way, our mind and our body becomes aligned/in the same place; instead of our body here but our mind is elsewhere— in the past or in the future.

If we practice breathing in and out with some concentration, we attain what is called the oneness of body and mind.
The body and mind are unified and you begin to be there truly yourself.

When you are not really there, you cannot see things clearly and deeply. You miss everything, everything seems to you not clear, vague.”

Running to the future or going back to the past- you miss life, that is only here in the present moment.

Breathing in and out consciously is how to get back to the present moment.

What you are looking for —joy, inner peace, freedom …is all in the present moment.

If you feel agitated and not solid, vulnerable, breakable — then you practice this in order to get solid again:

Practice sitting in a stable position and practice breathing in and out. Saying “breathing in, I see myself as a mountain, breathing out I feel solid.

From time to time, a very strong emotion overwhelms us. That emotion could be anger or despair or fear. And when we are overwhelmed by a strong emotion we feel very vulnerable, like we may die, But we are more than our emotions. We are more solid than we think. And therefore, practicing being solid like a mountain is very helpful.

Source: Thich Nhat Hahn’s The Art of Mindful Living (read by the great man himself on YouTube — I am always so calmed by his voice even.)

#Mindfulness #MentalHealth #Selfcare #Depression #Anxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #MajorDepressiveDisorder #PersistentDepressiveDisorder #MoodDisorders #PTSD #PTSDSupportAndRecovery #Agoraphobia #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #Trauma #BipolarDisorder #BipolarDepression #AnorexiaNervosa #Addiction #EatingDisorders #Selfharm #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #Grief #Suicide #Fibromyalgia #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #CerebralPalsy #Cancer #MultipleSclerosis #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #ADHD #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #PanicAttacks #PanicAttack #ChronicFatigue #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #MyCondition #Relationships #FamilyAndFriends #RareDisease #RheumatoidArthritis #Arthritis #CrohnsDisease #NarcissisticPersonalityDisorder #Caregiving #SocialAnxiety

For MORE-

Here’s the direct link to my group:

Resilience and Mindfulness

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Your friend in this hard thing called life (and even in TRD which I am example of it not being a permanent thing 🙌🎉🎊💪💃),

Dawn

P.S.
Don’t forget about coming back in to this group frequently, read through all of the posts, and you can reply to Any of the posts to participate at anytime (it doesn’t just need to be around when I posted it)—

participating- by starting or joining in on a conversation thread in the posts is key to getting me to help You even more directly and is key to Your own growth in your journey, plus, You can also inspire others with your comments and replies.

#PersistentDepressiveDisorder #MajorDepressiveDisorder #Depression #MoodDisorders #Anxiety #MentalHealth #ResilienceInterventions #inspire