- Anxiety when it comes to working
- Don't let myself put things off due to anxiety; force myself through it
- Anxiety only increases when things get put off
- I am not lazy; my anxiety is what prevents me from doing things
- I have internalized many of the things my parents tell me
- I need to learn to turn off the pathological critic in my head
- Think of my parents as a caricature - characters who act in certain ways that can be passed off as being "that's just how they are"... For example, the cookie monster acts a certain way, just as Big Bird acts a certain way as a different character. You wouldn't expect them to act any other way.
- Medication:
Anxious people tend to not want medicine because they have anxiety over the medication.
Medication does not turn you into a different person - rather, if you spend a lot of time dwelling on things, you may dwell on things less often. If you feel like staying in bed all the time, it may give you the ability to go out more often.
- I didn't get to tell her that I can't afford it. That depression is what inspires me to be creative. That I don't want my parents to be able to know what my problems are. I don't think she understood me when I said I'm uncomfortable with the idea of using medications in general, either. I've always known my mother to be a person who says "something's wrong with you? let's pump you full of meds, I'm sure that will fix it!"... I'm sure medication has its uses sometimes, but I don't think it should be the answer to everything just because it exists.
- Kevin:
He could stand to be more empathetic when it comes to my depression, insecurities, and emotions.
I talked about how he once made a joke about me being suicidal, and how he can sometimes belittle my feelings that way.
He could use some practice with empathetic listening.
- The key to comforting a woman who is upset:
Give her kleenex.
Put your arm around her.
Sincerely tell her it will be okay.