How To Dump Depression and Anxiety In Early Sobriety
How To Dump Depression and Anxiety In Early Sobriety
(Part 2) Resuming Part 2 of suggestions regarding depression and anxiety in early sobriety. Don’t sit on your “pity pot” and do nothing. If you get inside your head for too long, you’re behind enemy lines. Stinging thinking leads to drinking. The urge to crawl into bed and hibernate is typical during depression. Don’t give in to it because the first thing that will happen is – guess what? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Do something, anything, preferably with someone you like. Stay away from well-meaning friends who tell you that you’re not an alcoholic. There’s a big reason why friends tell you this garbage. It’s because they would then have to justify their own drinking habits. Stay away from negative people and stick with positive people. Is the glass half empty or half full? Go for the full glass. Learn as much as you can about this disease. You can obtain most of the information you need on Google. Look up alcoholism and Bipolar and you might just find out that you could be Bipolar. Find a meditation group close to where you live and start practicing Mindfulness. Company beats misery. Avoid being alone as much as possible. In the book, Want to Lose Weight…… But Hooked on Food? There is a chapter about stress release suggestions. The book is about co-dependency and brain chemistry. Why do we drink, drug and suffer with emotional overeating issues? It’s all in the brain. Read the book and just substitute the word “sugar” for “alcohol” and bingo! You have another addiction that often replaces alcohol in early sobriety. By the way, AA also stands for Altered Attitudes and that’s the basis of recovery. You have to change your thinking to change your feelings (emotions) to change your behaviour. An addiction is an addiction, no matter if you ingest it or act out the addiction, like shopping, gambling, texting on your mobile phone, etc. The primary ingested addiction is food, often called emotional overeating. This is closely followed by alcohol, drugs, prescription drugs and social recreational drugs like cocaine and marijuana. Stop thinking about yourself and do something for someone else. Send your Mum some flowers; write a love poem to your partner; take over a household chore your spouse usually handles; volunteer to spend a night staffing a homeless shelter; cheer up an elderly relative or friend with a surprise visit. Take your kids to a funny movie. If you are far enough along in your recovery, do some Twelfth Step work helping another alcoholic/addict who is still struggling. Have you watched the DVD, My Name is Bill W? This is the true story of how AA developed in the United States. One alcoholic helping another alcoholic who is still drinking. It will quickly take your mind off self and you will help to build your confidence and self-esteem. In the movie, My Name is Bill W, Bill Wilson visits Dr. Bob in his home. Dr. Bob’s wife heard about the good work that Bill Wilson was doing and got in touch with him to see if he could help her husband, who was also a doctor. When the two men met for the first time, Dr. Bob was getting over a huge hangover and he said to Bill Wilson: “I doubt if you will be able to help me because you are also an alcoholic!” Bill Wilson’s response was: “I’m not here to help you; I’m here to help myself.” That shocked Dr. Bob and he decided he wanted what Bill Wilson had, and that was quality sobriety. The two men joined forces and went out into the streets looking for alcoholics. That was over 80 years ago and today, Alcoholics Anonymous has helped millions of alcoholics to achieve sobriety. Make a gratitude list. Be thankful for what you have rather than wishing for what you could have had. Make a list of people who like you, love you. Draw up a personal balance sheet comparing what you are like now with what you were like when you made the decision to get sober. In other words, what it was like, what happened and what you are like now. Make a “worry list” and include all the things that are bothering you, and then cross off all those that don’t have to be attended to today. You can worry about those tomorrow. Next to the remaining worries, note what steps you can take now to deal with them – then start dealing – don’t procrastinate. Try distractions. To get away from your problems for a little while, divert yourself with something you enjoy – a crossword puzzle, a jigsaw puzzle, a DVD, needlepoint work, a good book (serious or escapist), a hobby (if you don’t have a hobby, go on the internet and see what’s available in your area.) Take the dog for a walk or hose the garden. Try inspiration and listen to some classical or soul-searching music. Drive down to the ocean and watch the sun set or if you’re not close to the water, drive to a lake or little stream, where you can empty your thoughts and see them wash away downstream. Exercise daily, as this will give your endorphins a lift. Go for a walk, a jog, a bike ride, a swim, join a tennis club or do something that will get you out of the house and into some fresh air. Get out your relaxation music and start meditating. If your head is too full of garbage; take the garbage outside by doing some creative visualisation. Try changing your diet especially if you are eating too much sugar. Sugar is sometimes at the root of bouts of depression or anxiety and by monitoring how much sugar you ingest, you might surprise yourself how quickly your negative moods will lift. Be inventive and creative by building something, painting a room your favourite colour or sew something for yourself. Try out a new recipe or try writing some poetry about how you are feeling. Writing a poem would switch your thinking to using nice words. Your subconscious does not know the difference between right and wrong and it will absorb all the negativity you are conjuring up in your mind. Change your thinking and you will change your feelings (your emotions) and ultimately, you will change your behaviour. Try writing your biography and you may just find that this will help you get rid of a lot of anger. Of course you will edit it before showing it to friends and family. Be kind to yourself; you deserve it. If you have some money left over from food shopping, splurge on a new outfit for yourself. Just don’t get too hooked on shopping or you will end up a shop-a-holic. Give in – for one day, stop fighting your depression and give in to it by saying: “OK, today I feel like a frog in a bog, so I’m going to go to sleep early tonight. When I wake up tomorrow morning, I’m going to feel much better.” Keep telling yourself that you are going to feel better tomorrow and your subconscious will eventually believe you. If you keep telling yourself “I feel terrible and life’s not worth living” your subconscious will accommodate you with more negativity. If you think you can, you can and if you think you can’t, you’re right. In the meantime, I would suggest helping yourself cope with you anxiety and depression by looking at supplementing your diet with an amino acid and a natural relaxant to help you sleep at night. Magnesium can be taken before bed to assist with a deep and restful sleep and helps to reduce stress. Tyrosine Pure Mood Food is necessary for the manufacture of dopamine and noradrenaline, which are required for concentration, alertness, memory and a happy, stable mood. Blues Free is designed to support a better mood. Hydroxytryptophan is needed by the brain to make Serotonin which is the natural happy chemical produced by brain cells and has a controlling effect upon mood and feelings, appetite, sleep, confidence and mental energy. Sleep Eze is another useful sleep enhancer and I use it myself. Melatonin is best taken at night when the pineal gland is meant to secrete its own melatonin to promote a natural restful sleep and awake refreshed in the morning without that “sleeping tablet hangover”. I like it because it is not addictive. Everyday Stress Lozenges. These Everyday Stress Lozenges contain all natural passion flower petals to help you relax under pressure. A natural herb with relaxing and calming effects upon the nervous system, to help you perform under pressure without slowing you down. Adrenal Plus Support If you support the function of your adrenal glands, you have more chance coping with the everyday pressures of life. Many people suffer with morning fatigue and depression due to sluggish function of the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands are 2 small glands that are situated just above the kidneys and when they are working efficiently, they produce extra surges of energising hormones such as cortisol, adrenalin and DHEA to help you face the challenges of the new day. In other words, the adrenal gland hormones increase your resistance to stress and provide the drive and energy to succeed. Adrenal Natural Glandular provides tissue from the entire adrenal gland, both medulla and cortex portions. This supplement may assist you to help fight adrenal fatigue. Super Digestive Enzymes will assist with your digestion of carbohydrates, protein and fat. I’ve ordered some Super Digestive Enzymes myself today to help me with my own digestive problems attributable to my age. I haven’t fallen off my perch yet! Super Digestive Enzymes promote efficient digestion of carbohydrates, protein and fat. Digestive enzymes are vitally important for good health, but unfortunately many people (including myself) don’t produce enough of them. As we get older, the production of digestive enzymes by the stomach, pancreas and small intestine declines. This reduction begins around the age of 35 years. Many people in their 60s and beyond are extremely deficient in digestive enzymes and this contributes to nutritional deficiencies because they can’t get all the goodness from the food they eat. The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.Know someone who might benefit from this article? Share it!
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