As soon as the shelter in place order was issued in Illinois I immediately got to work on collecting all the right elements of a plague doctor uniform.
“i can’t do simple hygiene bc im depressed”
that’s easy babe! just do simple hygiene
Y’all always have to wallow in your misery instead of considering maybe, just maybe, the encouragement people like this give is just telling people to do one, easy thing instead of worrying about a whole routine. Can’t make yourself shower? That’s fine, just brush your teeth. Don’t have the energy to do your hair? Okay, just brush your teeth.
Making 1 small change that can start improving your mood leads to other small changes. When I couldn’t make myself shower I would make sure I changed underwear every day. And then I started using baby wipes to keep myself fresh. And then I worked my way back to trying to take showers every day. My record might not be perfect but I’m getting better.
It’s really unhealthy to keep the mindset that anyone who isn’t miserable and suffering under their mental illness or emotional problems doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Maybe they’ve just grown to learn how to love and care for themselves in spite of what they’re going through.
I don’t know what any of you people think professional help looks like, but when you walk in and say “i’m too depressed to do anything” they don’t just nod and say “well you’re broken forever i guess”. they don’t say “here take this pill and it’ll fix everything”. they work with you one step at a time and explain to you that you CAN in fact do simple things even though you’re depressed. it isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible, it just happens in small steps, but it isn’t getting any easier when you react to every instance of someone trying to help by refusing to listen.
The advice he gives is seriously so solid. A lot of times it’s hard to motivate yourself to do something because it seems too daunting to commit to a full routine, so doing one simple thing can help you get motivated for the next simple thing and so on and so forth. Other posters are right, therapists, at least the ones worth anything, don’t just throw pills at you and tell you you’re never going to improve oh well, they give you simple manageable tips to improve your situation.
Recovery is about baby steps at a gentle pace, not using it as a crutch to never ever try to make your situation better. No one said recovery is easy, but it does take at least a smidgeon of willpower/effort on your part. You have to want it enough to be willing to try. I’m not saying you have to Just Do It and fix your life overnight but if you aren’t willing to try then no one can help you.
PRAISE THE LORD
also clean your teeth because you’ll regret it sorely if you don’t and then your paychecks will disappear in your dentist’s account and you don’t want that
All of this is good advice, and you know what? Beyond that??? A pretty significant chunk of people suffering with mental illnesses aren’t self motivated yet.
Hearing someone else encouraging you to do the thing- even one thing! Even a small thing! Can be the difference between taking that first step and continuing to suffer in the mire. Don’t be a crab pot. Don’t drag your siblings down for offering encouragement to others, or for using it to get better.
[Description: a short, silent video of Dearborn staring at a wall as the shadow of my hand entertains her. At the end she turns to look at me like she knows I’m being a goofball.]
Hey friends, turns out that despite direct debit and direct deposit information being COMPLETELY IDENTICAL, I was incorrect that the IRS can use your bank info from when you paid taxes you owed to send your stimulus check electronically. They are now saying that if you didn’t get a refund for your 2019 (filed in 2020) or 2018 (filed in 2019) taxes, if you paid both years, you’ll have to log in and give them your bank info, or wait and get your check by mail. This feels like a penalty for not overpaying the government, but whatever.
Anyway, if this is the case for you like it is for me, you should go here and click “get my payment”. It will ask you riddles three (SSN, DOB, and street address) and allegedly allow you to send them your bank info so they can do a direct deposit. I say allegedly because:
a) It does not appear to accept any given permutation of my address, including the letter-for-letter one on my 2019 and 2018 tax returns, which are identical, or the format it tells you to enter it in when you click the little question mark.
b) After three tries it locks you out for 24 hours and if you try again within that 24 hour window it locks you out for another 24 hours.
So I’m apparently not going to be allowed to make another three attempts until 7am tomorrow and see if it wants like, the Latin declension of my street address or some goddamn thing.
Guess I’ll see that money in September. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Signal boost for my gig economy followers (and others) who may have owed taxes this year. If you haven’t gotten your stimulus check yet, this may be why.
