What do you do to cope when things are too heavy?

[Rainork]

Honestly, I'm just interested to know.
For me, a have a multitute of coping methods that I use and it will often depend on how bad I am.
My most common go-to is playing piano (in a really bad depression stage I would just sit and play the same song on repeat so I wasn't sat in bed crying- kinda feel sorry for my roommate at the time), I will also journal to try and work through things I'm feeling.
When I'm functioning a bit better; i will go for long walks, paint and write music.
And, in my less healthy days, I get drunk so I can feel 'something' (:

What are some of the things that help you cope when the weight of the world is crushingly heavy?

 

[lysergamide]

Drinks!!! Weed until I sleep for two days straight!!!!!!!!! Poppers!!!!! Fucking N2O Right up my mouth so I can have a laugh !!!!!!! Abusing prescription meds with alcohol as a combo!!!!!

 

[Afterglow]

Honestly? I just sleep.

I'm not sure if it's a coping mechanism, I use it as more of a temporary shutdown, it works well enough.

 

[Leonard_Bangley39]

i cut myself on my arms whenever i feel too shitty

 

[aesthetic]

i make deep cuts on my arms and legs with a razor blade.

 

[PrismHon]

Smoke weed and binge eat junk food I think are the main two for me.

 

[Rainork]

Honestly? I just sleep.

I'm not sure if it's a coping mechanism, I use it as more of a temporary shutdown, it works well enough.

I feel this to be fair, I slept for nearly 24 hours straight last week because when I woke up, I concluded I'd rather not be and went back to sleep again.

i cut myself on my arms whenever i feel too shitty

i make deep cuts on my arms and legs with a razor blade.

I'm sorry to both of you that this is your way of coping- I also do the same but was trying to keep my post a lil more positive I guess.
I hope you can find other ways to deal with the shit of this world

 

[Tautochrome]

I stare at walls or something. Feed myself stupid stories about own apotheosis. Pretend I don't care about things. No normal helpful copes you could use unfortunately

 

[PartyDress]

Pretty much nothing. Try to think of other things.

 

[Tzrmd]

I just push it down and then sleep or play videogames

 

[TwoSoulsLiveInMe]

Every night I get to choose between alcohol, weed, and cutting myself. Sometimes all three :) It always helps, until the next night

 

[OccasionalVisitor]

I don't do much really. Sometimes I play games. When things get tough I write stuff down. I have a bad habit of staying up really late just to feel like I have more time. I used to cut myself, but eventually managed to stop. The urge never really goes away, and that's especially apparent after a bad day.

You said you paint and play the piano. I think creative hobbies are great. How long have you been doing art and music?

 

[Rainork]

I don't do much really. Sometimes I play games. When things get tough I write stuff down. I have a bad habit of staying up really late just to feel like I have more time. I used to cut myself, but eventually managed to stop. The urge never really goes away, and that's especially apparent after a bad day.

You said you paint and play the piano. I think creative hobbies are great. How long have you been doing art and music?

Ahh, gaming! That's just a go-to all day for me, didn't even think about the fact it's a way to cope.
Art, I used to do in my teen years and only really got back into this year.
Music, basically my whole life. I sway in and out of it but have been playing various instruments since before I can remember!
Do you do anything creative?

 

[OccasionalVisitor]

Ahh, gaming! That's just a go-to all day for me, didn't even think about the fact it's a way to cope.
Art, I used to do in my teen years and only really got back into this year.
Music, basically my whole life. I sway in and out of it but have been playing various instruments since before I can remember!
Do you do anything creative?

No, but I've always wanted to get into making art. I was thinking just starting with sketching. Funnily enough, I tend to gravitate towards nerdy things, like math and computers, but art has always caught my eye.

I'm glad you're trying art again, I hope you have fun with it!

 

[Rainork]

No, but I've always wanted to get into making art. I was thinking just starting with sketching. Funnily enough, I tend to gravitate towards nerdy things, like math and computers, but art has always caught my eye.

I'm glad you're trying art again, I hope you have fun with it!

Do it! I think the best thing about art, is that there is no right or wrong, whatever you create is exactly what you're meant to create.
And if you ever doubt yourself- remember some people buy colourful splats on a canvas for more money than most of us will have in a lifetime.
I hope you have fun with it also

 

[nitrogenous]

I honestly call helplines a lot. I know it's mostly shit (and would make me feel worse off), but sometimes they are helpful. It really depends on who is on the other end and if they're not helpful I just disengage and try to quickly end the call (I'm not at the stage to be brave enough to just end the call abruptly even thought that's probably the best way to do it).

Distraction wise, if I'm up to it I do solo karaoke a lot as I love singing and recording myself singing in the booth. Taking bubble baths if it's not too late at night and not too hot weather wise, watching some variety shows (if I'm able to concentrate/not ruminating too much) and if none works and it's night time, I try to take my night meds early as they usually sedate me to sleep.

For now, the distractions just help me delay my plan or go through my life day by day, but I'm fully aware it's not solving my problems (and too much avoidance can actually making things worse). But I suppose, this is what I do now. I know I need to have more things that's easier to do when I don't feel like getting out of bed or doing anything, but I haven't found any other techniques yet…

 

[calebzz1]

This is a great post.

The three main hobbies I can truly enjoy with poor vision are listening to music, audiobooks and dancing.

I have connected more to music and find myself moving a lot to the beat which is fun.

I try to fill my time up by entering sweepstakes, giveaways and doing surveys but these are filler hobbies to make myself feel like I'm doing something as I can't get a conventional job.

Ideally, I would go back to my old hobbies which were reading, watching television, movies and playing video games but my vision is too unstable at the moment unfortunately.

I wish I could occupy myself with work but unfortunately I'm nowhere near enough to do so as a result of my physical symptoms.

 

[Rainork]

This is a great post.

The three main hobbies I can truly enjoy with poor vision are listening to music, audiobooks and dancing.

I have connected more to music and find myself moving a lot to the beat which is fun.

I try to fill my time up by entering sweepstakes, giveaways and doing surveys but these are filler hobbies to make myself feel like I'm doing something as I can't get a conventional job.

Ideally, I would go back to my old hobbies which were reading, watching television, movies and playing video games but my vision is too unstable at the moment unfortunately.

I wish I could occupy myself with work but unfortunately I'm nowhere near enough to do so as a result of my physical symptoms.

Awh no, I'm sorry to hear about how your eyesight effects your life, that must really suck. I wish I could think of some potential ideas to offer to help :(
I can't believe I missed dancing off my list! In the last few weeks especially, I've been driving to the beach and dancing barefoot in the sand throughout the night (I don't particulary like the idea of being seen so I dance from midnight until 4am).

 

[calebzz1]

Awh no, I'm sorry to hear about how your eyesight effects your life, that must really suck. I wish I could think of some potential ideas to offer to help :(
I can't believe I missed dancing off my list! In the last few weeks especially, I've been driving to the beach and dancing barefoot in the sand throughout the night (I don't particulary like the idea of being seen so I dance from midnight until 4am).

No worries, it's fully curable at least.

My condition is poorly understood but I'll be having a second appointment with my neuro-ophthalmologist to schedule a procedure that can improve my symptoms.

I would definitely like to go to a beach at night.

I imagine going there and encountering a sea creature lurking in the ocean which would lead to a profound encounter that would change my life in an interesting way.

 

[fatalgarden]

depends how healthy im feeling really. if im just feeling depressive and shutting down i'll do something like watch a movie or leave youtube playing and fall in and out of sleep, if i'm more anxious and restless i tend to be really impulsive and just do whatever gives me dopamine while seeking out youtube videos or scrolling thru social media to find distractions

 

[whywere]

I look at pictures that I have taken of Hawai'i and tell myself that I am going back in a few months to relax, catch some rays and meet lovely folks from around the world.

I also like coming to this site and helping folks feel better about themselves, as we are all together in this as family.

Walter