NextRightThing

After 106 days in a residential trauma center, I’ve been out for about a month now. I’ve been living in a mental health/sober living transitional house, while doing IOP.

It’s been a hard transition, but I’m getting used to this. I’m starting to accept that that part of my life is over and I need to look forward.

It was really hard going from a place where I was surrounded by so much love and support 24/7. It had been the first time I had ever felt safe. I was so worried I’d never feel safe like that again.

My anorexia started to come back full-swing. The staff in IOP (the same staff from residential, minus the techs) were super supportive and helped me a lot.

I’m trying to focus on the times I feel good. I’m remembering the bad doesn’t ever last. It’s okay and normal to still feel bad sometimes. I’m learning to accept my feelings, remind myself they won’t last, and remember when I’ve felt good and realize I will feel that again.

I’m focusing on doing the next right thing. I don’t need to have the rest of my life planned out. I don’t have to worry if I’ll ever be okay or when the next bad time comes. I just need to do the next right thing.
I don’t want to eat, but I do, because that’s the next right thing to stay in recovery.
I want to isolate, but I don’t, because it’s the next right thing.
I am working on being more present. Sitting in each moment, accepting it for what it is- even when it doesn’t feel the best.

I am beginning to think that I might actually be okay.

#NextRightThing #Recovery #ResidentialTreatment #IOP #Anorexia #AnorexiaNervosa #MentalHealth #MentalIllness

Weird times, right? If you're anything like me, your anxiety is on overdrive as you sift through pandemic news and all of the opinions that go along with the fear and unknowns associated with it.

Maybe, like me, you have children, too. And maybe, like me, your child also has an anxiety disorder. Maybe you find yourself utterly exhausted from trying to manage your own anxiety, along with your child's. You present yourself to your family as calm, cool, and collected to preserve your child's confidence that they will be ok. That you will be ok. That everything will be ok.

Inside your body, however, you're a tangled up mess of nerves. Your pulse is racing, your thoughts are irrational, your chest is heavy - and yet, you're still doing the laundry and preparing the meals. Your adrenaline is surging, but you're sitting down to play a family board game in an effort to distract your kids from the truth of why their school has been closed down.

Listen, we're in this together. WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER. I see you. If you are consumed with fear, anxiety, and panic - I see you. We are going to get through this. I'm here to remind you to "next right thing" your way through life right now. NEXT.RIGHT.THING. If you need to put the game board down and go lay in bed, then do that. If you need to put the laundry aside to go for a walk, then do that. If you need to postpone dinner to go take a bath, then do that.

Be kind to yourselves. Extend grace to yourselves. We can't know how to get through this, as we haven't traveled these waters before. However, we must remember that we have gotten through 100% of our hardest days thus far. We will get through these days, too. We will.

I'm Gina, and I'm honored to be an official Mighty Contributor. I'll be writing about my experience with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and my journey in parenting an anxious child. #MightyTogether #Anxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #NextRightThing