Sometimes it's a hard life. I'm really struggling today, and had to take not one but two Valium in order to calm myself down enough to stay at work. All I could think about was running away. Pills, alcohol, car accidents, suicide, hospitals. Now, in the deadened calm of the diazepam, I just feel hollow and numb. Relief. I've been listening to some comedy TV shows on my iPhone to try and penetrate the gloom. Thankfully, I have my monthly appointment with Doc A this afternoon so am leaving work an hour early. I'm going to ask for more Valium (he reluctantly gave me a 20 tablet script last month which I haven't used yet but I'm worried I am going to need more). I'm wondering if he'll offer me more Cymbalta, as I'm on 90mg daily and there's evidence a higher dose might work better. I think I need a referral to a psychologist to work more intensely on CBT.
The suicidal ideation and self-harm is a real concern for me. It's been getting worse over the last few weeks. The other day I gathered all the pills in the house (and there are a lot, as Neil's mum gives us packets of her prescription-only high strength pain medication - don't ask me why!) and seriously considered taking them. I wanted to sleep forever, or end up away from everything in hospital. I'm annoyed with myself for the urge to run away. In the end, I could not do that to Neil. His dad gassed himself in the family car when Neil was in his 20s and ten years later his brother eventually hung himself after a few attempted overdoses. When he finally succeeded, it was Neil who went around to the house and found his brother's body. I just can't do that to him again. He deserves better than me. I wish I was healthy for him as well as for me.
I wonder what he must really think of me, now that we live together and he sees my daily struggle. Struggle to get out of bed, wash, dress, go to work, cook, clean, converse... Do I remind him of his dead brother, weak father, depressed mother... Does he compare me to his previous crackpot girlfriends... I don't doubt he loves me, but I worry sometimes how easy it is for pity to creep in.
Flash 'n the Pan had a hit in 1978 with a song by the same title as this post.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
all the small things
Here's a Cat Versus Human comic I had to share, as it emphasises to me why a lot of us mentally interesting folk love our kittehs and goggies (dogs for those of you unfamiliar with LOLcat lingo!).
My cat Charly is usually in two minds about my depression. She HATES me crying and sniffling but she loves to lay in bed with me for hours. Regardless, there is no doubt she makes me feel better most of the time. For this one of her middle names is "Prozac" (full name Charly Louise Feral Beryl Prozac S). I know I'm not alone, as I've read other bloggers comments on their pets and how beneficial they are to our mental health.
This is one of those "Gratitude" posts I'm trying out, and at the top of my list of things to be thankful for is animals -particularly cats. Here's some other stuff to be going on with...
REASONS TO SMILE
1. Animals, esp cats. And especially those viral videos I get sent like the one with the owl and the kitten playing, and the mama cat comforting the kitten who had a nightmare. Could those things get any cuter???
2. Buffy. We finished our seven season marathon, and as always I cried at the end. The girl power, all women are slayers, theme is just awesome. I wish I was as kick arse as Buffy and Willow!
3. Movies. My favourite past-time. I saw X Men First Class and it rocked!! Though disappointing that the female mutants were evil )-: I like Storm from the other movies, but she didn't make an appearance.
4. Neil. I'm the luckiest woman in the world, I swear. He is patient and kind and decent. And a hunk of spunk (Aussie slang for a hottie LOL).
5. No Doz (caffiene tablets). Thank you for keeping me alert and awake at work!!
6. Roller Derby. It's brilliant! We're going again on the day before my birthday - 18 June. Great present, huh?! Those women are so tough and cool!
7. My boss Jan (he's a man, it's pronounced "Yarn" - Polish origin). Even though I have had so many sick days lately, he's supportive and understanding. I never worry about calling him, I know he'll be ok and not make me feel guilty or lazy. He doesn't know about the mental illness, but I believe he would be okay with that too.
8. The Madosphere. I love my blogger friends, and learn new things and feel new things every day from your terrific writing. Keep it up guys!
I have some challenges in my life at the moment (having the flu on top of lupus, anaemia, etc, is not fun) but I'm glad I took the time to note some positives. I think I should write down some of this stuff and read it every morning when I wake up, because it's getting harder and harder to motivate myself to get the hell out of bed. Brain = fizzy, body = shaky but I am still fighting y'all!
Repost - Buddhism for the Mentally Interesting
This post comes from This Compassionate Life, which is an excellent blog I recently came across via Bec's blog at me plus bipolar. I consider myself a Buddhist believer, even though I'm not practising. My mum and brother are both followers of the Mahayana Tibetan tradition so there's a lot of Buddhist thought and conversation when we all get together. I really liked this post, as it's simple and straight forward but contains a lot of good information. Here is an excerpt for those interested in Buddhism and how it might relate to mental illness, and please go and visit This Compassionate Life for even more interesting info...
Buddhism for the Mentally Interesting
This is part 2 of the post that began with Meditation for the Mentally Interesting a couple of weeks ago. Meditation in the Buddhist tradition, while eye-opening and supremely useful, is only one part of what Buddhism is all about. I dither about whether to call myself a Buddhist on a daily basis- some people say you need to believe in rebirth & karma to be a Buddhist, some people say you need to practice with a teacher- I don’t fit into either category. Either way, though, the fundamental concepts of Buddhism resonate deeply with me, and have been instrumental in shaping both my worldview and how I approach mental health and mental ill health. Here are the Buddhist ideas that have made the biggest impression on me from a mentalist point of view:
The Four Noble Truths
The Buddha’s basic teaching is summarized in what is known as the Four Noble Truths, which are:
1. Life is suffering (dukkha in Pali- suffering is only a loose translation)
2. The origin of suffering is craving (attachment to desires)
3. Suffering ends when craving ceases
4. Freedom from suffering can be attained by following the Eightfold Path (acquiring wisdom, practicing ethical conduct & training in mental development through right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness & right concentration)
That really is Buddhism in a nutshell- these four statements are layered in complexities, but they are also very simple. It seems obvious to me now that everybody suffers, no matter how healthy they are, how much money they have, how isolated or how loved they feel. As long as people cling to wanting more, wanting less or burying their heads in the sand (more on those three things later on), there is always going to be dukkha- ranging from the feeling that something’s not quite right to immense emotional suffering on both an individual and societal scale. My personal level of dukkha is on the more extreme end of that continuum, but emotional disorder or not, we’re all on there somewhere....
[EDIT]
...As I understand it, the concept of what is known as Buddha nature comes from Mahayana Buddhism (which is the branch of Buddhism that the Zen and Tibetan traditions sprang from.) In my opinion, for someone who struggles deeply with their mental health, it’s one of the most powerful Buddhist concepts because the idea is that everyone has the capacity to become awakened, to become a Buddha. To deeply see the nature of reality and have the poisons of craving, aversion and delusion fall away. Everyone can be free. And what’s more, you don’t have to change yourself in any way to do this- your true nature is already there, just waiting for you to wake up to it. If you want to try to think of it in Western terms- everyone is basically good.
Just think about that for a second, what that would mean. The idea of Buddha nature is so different to what is pervasive in our culture, informed as it is by the Christian concept of original sin; and it is, of course, so different to what my emotional brain regularly tells me about myself- that I’m a horrible, evil person, intrinsically bad, intrinsically broken. But Buddhism invites me not just to believe, but to experience the reality of my true nature for myself- as a constantly changing stream of life. There is nothing there for labels like ‘evil’ or ‘bad’ to cling to. There is just life; pure, unadulterated life. Experiencing life, really living in every moment, is the essence of Buddhism. That is why I practice.
Buddhism for the Mentally Interesting
This is part 2 of the post that began with Meditation for the Mentally Interesting a couple of weeks ago. Meditation in the Buddhist tradition, while eye-opening and supremely useful, is only one part of what Buddhism is all about. I dither about whether to call myself a Buddhist on a daily basis- some people say you need to believe in rebirth & karma to be a Buddhist, some people say you need to practice with a teacher- I don’t fit into either category. Either way, though, the fundamental concepts of Buddhism resonate deeply with me, and have been instrumental in shaping both my worldview and how I approach mental health and mental ill health. Here are the Buddhist ideas that have made the biggest impression on me from a mentalist point of view:
The Four Noble Truths
The Buddha’s basic teaching is summarized in what is known as the Four Noble Truths, which are:
1. Life is suffering (dukkha in Pali- suffering is only a loose translation)
2. The origin of suffering is craving (attachment to desires)
3. Suffering ends when craving ceases
4. Freedom from suffering can be attained by following the Eightfold Path (acquiring wisdom, practicing ethical conduct & training in mental development through right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness & right concentration)
That really is Buddhism in a nutshell- these four statements are layered in complexities, but they are also very simple. It seems obvious to me now that everybody suffers, no matter how healthy they are, how much money they have, how isolated or how loved they feel. As long as people cling to wanting more, wanting less or burying their heads in the sand (more on those three things later on), there is always going to be dukkha- ranging from the feeling that something’s not quite right to immense emotional suffering on both an individual and societal scale. My personal level of dukkha is on the more extreme end of that continuum, but emotional disorder or not, we’re all on there somewhere....
[EDIT]
...As I understand it, the concept of what is known as Buddha nature comes from Mahayana Buddhism (which is the branch of Buddhism that the Zen and Tibetan traditions sprang from.) In my opinion, for someone who struggles deeply with their mental health, it’s one of the most powerful Buddhist concepts because the idea is that everyone has the capacity to become awakened, to become a Buddha. To deeply see the nature of reality and have the poisons of craving, aversion and delusion fall away. Everyone can be free. And what’s more, you don’t have to change yourself in any way to do this- your true nature is already there, just waiting for you to wake up to it. If you want to try to think of it in Western terms- everyone is basically good.
Just think about that for a second, what that would mean. The idea of Buddha nature is so different to what is pervasive in our culture, informed as it is by the Christian concept of original sin; and it is, of course, so different to what my emotional brain regularly tells me about myself- that I’m a horrible, evil person, intrinsically bad, intrinsically broken. But Buddhism invites me not just to believe, but to experience the reality of my true nature for myself- as a constantly changing stream of life. There is nothing there for labels like ‘evil’ or ‘bad’ to cling to. There is just life; pure, unadulterated life. Experiencing life, really living in every moment, is the essence of Buddhism. That is why I practice.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Mad Cow
I wrote a post yesterday which I then deleted. It's the first time I've done that, and some of you have asked about the missing entry. I guess it was clear from the couple of lines you could read that it was a low-mood mopey post, and those reading regularly will know anyway that I've been somewhat under the weather.
Once I'd written the post, I published it and then went to read it over for editing. Put simply, it sucked. It whined on about how attached I am to being ill, and how I feel envious of my blog friends who are currently "worse off" than me (with regards to ED, or being in hospital, etc). Utter crap, something I felt for a minute and then pretty much "got over". One thing I've learnt about myself is that I don't need to give voice to every thought and feeling I have. Some of them just aren't worth the air time. And that's what was going on yesterday. Even if I am feeling low, intellectually I know that I am okay and surviving, and I don't want to be in the grips of a fullblown BPD attack or major depression. I feel extremely sympathetic for my friends who have recently suffered relapses.
Today, I'm mostly just tired and lethargic. But, contrary to what was said in my previous/deleted post, I am not too tired to keep fighting. If fighting the good fight is all there is, then so be it. What are the alternatives? None.
Once I'd written the post, I published it and then went to read it over for editing. Put simply, it sucked. It whined on about how attached I am to being ill, and how I feel envious of my blog friends who are currently "worse off" than me (with regards to ED, or being in hospital, etc). Utter crap, something I felt for a minute and then pretty much "got over". One thing I've learnt about myself is that I don't need to give voice to every thought and feeling I have. Some of them just aren't worth the air time. And that's what was going on yesterday. Even if I am feeling low, intellectually I know that I am okay and surviving, and I don't want to be in the grips of a fullblown BPD attack or major depression. I feel extremely sympathetic for my friends who have recently suffered relapses.
Today, I'm mostly just tired and lethargic. But, contrary to what was said in my previous/deleted post, I am not too tired to keep fighting. If fighting the good fight is all there is, then so be it. What are the alternatives? None.
Friday, May 20, 2011
who will sing me to sleep
My gorgeous friend Pixie (she of the wicked blog Clouds and Illusions) introduced me recently to Kate Rusby, an amazing Yorkshire lass with a voice like an angel. The title of my second post of the day (unheard of!) is from her song "Who Will Sing me Lullabies". Almost as lovely a voice as Ms Pixie herself!
As lots of folk are, I'm preoccupied with death. I'm not sure if that's a result of, or a cause of, suicide attempts, but I tend to think it's linked. I also had a near death/out of body experience when I was 7 years old. I don't think it's healthy, to think about death and dying as much as I do... I realised the other day that my job is not helping me to change that focus. What I do each day is watch video of major roads in the state, and assess each road for hazards that may result in fatal car accidents. Basically I watch as a tree passes and decide "yes, that may kill someone if they crash into it". Then I record it on a spreadsheet. So my whole day is filled with thoughts and decisions about fatal car accidents. Death. I also have to make a record of roadside memorials. I guess they are all over the world? Where a family sets up a cross and shrine to mark where a family member (or members) have lost their lives in an accident? Cheerful work. NOT! No wonder I am morbid and preoccupied with death. No wonder I am afraid to get my drivers licence!
All the doctor talk about bleeding, ulcers, polyps and tumors doesn't help either. I realised today that I've never told my parents or Neil what song I want played at my funeral. Have I reiterated that I want to be an organ donor?? Have I told them I want to be cremated???
I thought I'd ask you guys what song you most want played at your funeral, if you've considered it. I think most of us have at some stage or another. My song is Moby's "We Are All Made of Stars".
As lots of folk are, I'm preoccupied with death. I'm not sure if that's a result of, or a cause of, suicide attempts, but I tend to think it's linked. I also had a near death/out of body experience when I was 7 years old. I don't think it's healthy, to think about death and dying as much as I do... I realised the other day that my job is not helping me to change that focus. What I do each day is watch video of major roads in the state, and assess each road for hazards that may result in fatal car accidents. Basically I watch as a tree passes and decide "yes, that may kill someone if they crash into it". Then I record it on a spreadsheet. So my whole day is filled with thoughts and decisions about fatal car accidents. Death. I also have to make a record of roadside memorials. I guess they are all over the world? Where a family sets up a cross and shrine to mark where a family member (or members) have lost their lives in an accident? Cheerful work. NOT! No wonder I am morbid and preoccupied with death. No wonder I am afraid to get my drivers licence!
All the doctor talk about bleeding, ulcers, polyps and tumors doesn't help either. I realised today that I've never told my parents or Neil what song I want played at my funeral. Have I reiterated that I want to be an organ donor?? Have I told them I want to be cremated???
I thought I'd ask you guys what song you most want played at your funeral, if you've considered it. I think most of us have at some stage or another. My song is Moby's "We Are All Made of Stars".
like playing solitaire in a cyclone
Sick, sick, sick.
Tired, tired, tired.
After three weeks of 100% attendance, I had yesterday off work. Just could not go. I know I don't need to explain this to anyone from the madosphere. Anxiety, depression, anger, self-injury, self-inflicted post-binge comedown...we've experienced it all, eh?? And there are any number of reasons to go back to bed and pull the covers up over our heads rather than get up and go to work. Sigh. I'm just so damnably SICK of being sick, physically and mentally. I'm completely over it. I sometimes look at people I know who have strong work ethics, positive attitudes and iron-clad constitutions and I just want to kill them!! Jealousy is overwhelming. I want to be really well, not just a little bit, copingly well. I want to have true energy, not fake caffiene-induced bursts of effort.
All this whinging does nothing, so I shall stop it. I went to see my doctor on Monday after work and he showed me the results of the blood tests, which aren't good. Not only am I in all likelihood suffering from a lupus flare, I am also extremely anaemic and possibly bleeding internally (therefore causing the anaemia) from an ulcer or bowel polyp. Polyp is such a funny little word. Anyway, I have to have a gastroscopy and colonoscopy, but can't get bookings for them until late July (and that's in the private health system). So I just have to wait, and take massive amounts of vitamins and minerals in the meantime hoping to raise my iron levels. I will see my rheumatologist Dr Paul sometime in the next couple of months to update him on this latest information and see if he has any insight. A couple of other areas of the blood count were abnormal too, in ways that can represent a lupus flare.
In some ways, lupus reminds me of Borderline Personality Disorder. It tucks itself away, hidden somewhere deep inside so that you think you have it licked. Then when you relax, pat yourself on the back and congratulations for a job well done then BAM! It comes back full force, and makes a total fool of you. I can fight it, and strategise against it (immunosuppressant, anti-psychotic, NSAID, anti-depressant, mind/body medicine, DBT, CBT, therapy, meditation, rest, blah blah) but in the end, it never, ever, ever goes away. Not permanently. Not for any length of time. Just long enough so that you take your eye off it for a second, and thus give it chance to take over again. I'm just so damn tired of having to be VIGILANT.
Yesterday's "mental health day" off work was made marginally better by the arrival of a fantastic parcel of zines I bought from Sarah at This Lunatic Express. I think most of my followers also check in over there, but for anyone who doesn't know Sarah, she's a great writer and has experienced a lot. Her zines cover all aspects of her eating disorder, BPD, bipolar, anxiety, hospitalisations and more. Reading them made me admire her even more, she is brave and honest and I need a kick up the ass for feeling so sorry for myself when people like Sarah have a lot more to deal with than me. Get her zines, people. Read them. She rocks.
This morning I got up and showered and dressed, then laid back down in bed. "I can't go today, honey" I said to Neil. He hugged me and said "You need to go to work, babe. You need to try, even if you come home during the day if you feel bad." I didn't know whether to slit his throat or hug him back. "Otherwise, it just gets too easy to say "I can't" and no longer try," he continued. Hating him, loving him, knowing he was right, I got up and went to work. He's right. For me, it does get easier the longer I avoid things. And I need to work. Financially I just can't afford to go back to the way things were unless it's completely 100% unavoidable. Today it wasn't 100%. Tomorrow, who knows...
(Title from Darren Hanlon's song "People Who Wave At Trains". I like to wave at trains, by the way. Not local, public transport trains, but definitely long distance holiday-maker trains. When I travelled across the US on Amtrak trains I loved waving out the window to the little kids who waved to me. Good times.)
Tired, tired, tired.
After three weeks of 100% attendance, I had yesterday off work. Just could not go. I know I don't need to explain this to anyone from the madosphere. Anxiety, depression, anger, self-injury, self-inflicted post-binge comedown...we've experienced it all, eh?? And there are any number of reasons to go back to bed and pull the covers up over our heads rather than get up and go to work. Sigh. I'm just so damnably SICK of being sick, physically and mentally. I'm completely over it. I sometimes look at people I know who have strong work ethics, positive attitudes and iron-clad constitutions and I just want to kill them!! Jealousy is overwhelming. I want to be really well, not just a little bit, copingly well. I want to have true energy, not fake caffiene-induced bursts of effort.
All this whinging does nothing, so I shall stop it. I went to see my doctor on Monday after work and he showed me the results of the blood tests, which aren't good. Not only am I in all likelihood suffering from a lupus flare, I am also extremely anaemic and possibly bleeding internally (therefore causing the anaemia) from an ulcer or bowel polyp. Polyp is such a funny little word. Anyway, I have to have a gastroscopy and colonoscopy, but can't get bookings for them until late July (and that's in the private health system). So I just have to wait, and take massive amounts of vitamins and minerals in the meantime hoping to raise my iron levels. I will see my rheumatologist Dr Paul sometime in the next couple of months to update him on this latest information and see if he has any insight. A couple of other areas of the blood count were abnormal too, in ways that can represent a lupus flare.
In some ways, lupus reminds me of Borderline Personality Disorder. It tucks itself away, hidden somewhere deep inside so that you think you have it licked. Then when you relax, pat yourself on the back and congratulations for a job well done then BAM! It comes back full force, and makes a total fool of you. I can fight it, and strategise against it (immunosuppressant, anti-psychotic, NSAID, anti-depressant, mind/body medicine, DBT, CBT, therapy, meditation, rest, blah blah) but in the end, it never, ever, ever goes away. Not permanently. Not for any length of time. Just long enough so that you take your eye off it for a second, and thus give it chance to take over again. I'm just so damn tired of having to be VIGILANT.
Yesterday's "mental health day" off work was made marginally better by the arrival of a fantastic parcel of zines I bought from Sarah at This Lunatic Express. I think most of my followers also check in over there, but for anyone who doesn't know Sarah, she's a great writer and has experienced a lot. Her zines cover all aspects of her eating disorder, BPD, bipolar, anxiety, hospitalisations and more. Reading them made me admire her even more, she is brave and honest and I need a kick up the ass for feeling so sorry for myself when people like Sarah have a lot more to deal with than me. Get her zines, people. Read them. She rocks.
This morning I got up and showered and dressed, then laid back down in bed. "I can't go today, honey" I said to Neil. He hugged me and said "You need to go to work, babe. You need to try, even if you come home during the day if you feel bad." I didn't know whether to slit his throat or hug him back. "Otherwise, it just gets too easy to say "I can't" and no longer try," he continued. Hating him, loving him, knowing he was right, I got up and went to work. He's right. For me, it does get easier the longer I avoid things. And I need to work. Financially I just can't afford to go back to the way things were unless it's completely 100% unavoidable. Today it wasn't 100%. Tomorrow, who knows...
(Title from Darren Hanlon's song "People Who Wave At Trains". I like to wave at trains, by the way. Not local, public transport trains, but definitely long distance holiday-maker trains. When I travelled across the US on Amtrak trains I loved waving out the window to the little kids who waved to me. Good times.)
Monday, May 16, 2011
is this a hickey or a bruise???
I'm completely in love with Katy Perry's new song "Last Friday Night", which is where the title of today's post comes from. One of the other things I love most about the gorgeous Katy is this..
I want, I want, I want! Her new perfume is just the bomb. Luckily my birthday is next month and I've been dropping major hints to Neil haha.
While on the subject of cats, I totally love the new comic from Yasmin at Cat Versus Human:
I want, I want, I want! Her new perfume is just the bomb. Luckily my birthday is next month and I've been dropping major hints to Neil haha.While on the subject of cats, I totally love the new comic from Yasmin at Cat Versus Human:
This is EXACTLY how my friends react to my cat-fluff-laden house and clothes. But what can I say, I love Charly to pieces and if she wants to sit on my best sweater or sleep on my pillows, she is more than welcome! Thank heaven I found a man who loves animals just as much as I do!
Things with me are going okay. Still exhuasted and nauseous, I have an appointment with my GP this afternoon to find out the results of my blood tests. Am going to get an appointment with Dr Paul, my lupus specialist, in the next month or so (hopefully) to see if this is a lupus flare or something else. I had a great weekend, though, mainly because of the Eurovision Song Contest, which regular readers will remember me raving about last year. I just love it, lots of Australians watch it each year even though we're clearly NOT part of Europe LOL. It's kitsch, quirky and in bad taste sometimes, but some of the music is awesome and I love learning bits and pieces about other countries. This year's winner was Azerbaijan, who were one of my top 5 acts. Neil looked up Azerbaijan on wikipedia after the win and we learnt all about their independence from the former USSR, and that the capital is Baku and the population is approx 9 million. It's a Muslim country, and they were the first Muslim country to initiate voting for women (in around 1918, so years before the US or UK!). We're such a romantic couple, laying in bed googling hahahahaha.
Thanks for everyone's support over the last few low-mood posts. I'm so grateful for this blog, and the blogs of my friends, which help keep me moderately sane! I'm also grateful for my readers, of whom I now have 103!! Thank you for reading, commenting, emailing (-:
Things I love just now...
* Cats
* Neil
* Coffee
* Blogs
* Survivor's Boston Rob - bless his heart xx
* Adele's CDs 19 and 21 (anyone who hasn't heard her, look for her Brit Music Awards performance on youtube, it's just amazing)
* Buffy
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