One of my past therapists suggested a behavioral way to affect my mood when I am depressed. There is a corresponding cognitive aspect, as well.
When I was feeling down (and at the time, it was always), I was to smile, to make sure my posture was good --- shoulders back, head up --- and pick up my feet when I walked, rather than letting them kind of shuffle. These are behaviors most of us have when we feel positive and cheerful. (And I do find that when I am feeling most depressed or anxious, my head is bent way down, I look at the ground, and it requires much effort to not only bring my head up, but to keep it up.)
Cognitively, I was to consciously make positive statements to myself. If I found myself making a negative statement (I'm such a clutz!), I was to find a way to state it more positively (I may not be a ballet dancer, but I can get where I'm going!). These may not be the best examples, but I'm having difficulties making positive statements out of negatives right now, which is weird because I had a fairly good day. Except for eating all that chocolate. Why do I even buy it?
A friend of mine has been working on changing her mindset to a more positive one, and she says it seems to be working. I vaguely remember it working for me in the past. Therefore, I'm going to work on it.
A sample of negatives I want to make more positive:
- I have no control over my eating and can't stop eating all the sweets in the house.
- I'm fat, and I'm stupid for not doing what I need to do to get healthier.
- I'll be alone and lonely forever.
- I'm lazy and I'll never find new work and I'll always be poor.
- I never pay my bills on time. I'll have bad credit and never be able to buy a house.
Now I'm just depressing myself. If this is what's going on inside my head (and there is more), then no wonder I'm a wreck. I need to spend some time thinking about how to reframe/reposition these statements. More fun for me.
I accomplished many things today: I ran errands; I bought some things I needed for the house and for personal needs; I bought an iced tea machine because I just don't make it myself --- this will be a lot easier; that damned candy, some of which is in the fridge, so I didn't eat it all; priced out things I'd like, such as curtain rods for the living room and bedroom and hand mixers; and I just shopped without buying. I saw pillows that would look great in my bedroom. I some perfect ones for the living room. But ... I'm not earning money, so it makes no sense to spend money on non-necessities (the iced tea machine is so a necessity; it's cheaper than buying pre-made tea or soda!). I've been thinking I should consider buying a simple sewing machine so I could make things for the apartment, instead of buying them. Right. Not like me to try to load myself down with too many things to do or think about.
So I will work on being more positive, and I still have my therapy homework to do.
Is there something in your life that you could frame in a more positive way? Do you want to be more positive? What are your strategies?
Um... I was waiting for the part where you turned those statements into positives. Tomorrow's post perhaps? I'll check back... and check again....
ReplyDeleteJulie
There is an Iced Tea machine? I need one of those!
Yeah. Working on those.
ReplyDeleteMr. Coffee Iced Tee Maker. There are other brands; this is just the one I ran into when I was ready to buy. $20.
I keep saying to myself that I can make my own iced tea. But to make a lot at once, one needs to make a pan of boiling water. And one must have a container to pour this water into, one that won't crack or melt on contact with said water. So I end up not making tea. I used to make sun tea, but I don't have a glass jug anymore, and that is really too much tea for one person, even someone who likes iced tea as much as I do. So now I have this little thing, which is still in the box but which I intend to have working by the end of day Sunday.