Category: mental illness

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People Talk About How They Managed to Get Out of Deep States of Depression

I’ve been around many people who have struggled with depression during their lives.

Hell, I’ve had my own bouts with it, too.

And unless you’ve been through it yourself, it’s hard to explain to people what it’s really like. And snapping out it is totally different for everyone.

We hope that these responses will help some people out who are struggling.

Did you ever get out of a deep, dark depression?

These AskReddit users did and they shared their stories.

1. A combination.

“For me it was a combination of things..

Music – learned to play guitar on youtube

Books – found out about stoicism

Myself – I was listening to a Pink Floyd song (echoes) and theres a part where they say “I am you and what I see is me” and I realized that we are all going through something, and if I helped someone else then in return I was helping myself.

Lo and behold, I started to feel better about myself after helping others.”

2. You’re in charge.

“My dog. It forces me to get up and do something.

Feed him, take him outside multiple times a day. If I didn’t have him I would spend all my time off work in bed.”

3. Set your goals.

“Setting a schedule for myself.

Setting VERY small and attainable goals (read 1 page of a book, draw for 10 minutes, do a 5 minute exercise warm up, etc).

Making myself reach out to friends when I’m struggling, and getting proper meds.”

4. Get yourself going.

“Cold showers.

Honestly, I lost my job due to COVID and was going through a bunch of other stuff and would lay in the floor and sleep the day away.

Once I figured why not try it?

Oh man, that woke me up and got me just enough energy to start cleaning the house that id been putting off and that would feed into more motivation. Didn’t cure it completely but it helped get me jump started.”

5. Focus!

“Puzzles.

Jigsaw puzzles have brought me out of some dark pits. Gives me something to hyper focus on.

I don’t need to think about it too much or put effort into it, but I can sit there for hours doing one. It’s helped me feel productive again.”

6. Get things done.

“Cleaning up often helps me.

There’s something about staring at a messy room that always brings me down.

Just getting the dirty dishes clean feels like I accomplished something.”

7. Books and music.

“Books can be a great way to get out of your own head, music was able to somewhat help me.

As I got worse myself I had more and more time with nothing to do and being alone with my thoughts was pulling me deeper into the spiral of depression.”

8. Good tip.

“Try to only use your bed for sleeping.

Even if you spend the whole day on the couch instead, it will help your sleep and its a first step to potentially getting other things done.”

9. Start small.

“Exercise.

“‘Ill do 5 push ups and if I dont feel like more, thats okay.”

Or set a 5 min walk as the target. Keep going if you can.”

10. Take care of yourself.

“Eat and take vitamins.

You likely dont feel like eating anything. But you need to. Getting your daily vitamins can go a long way to healing and get easy to make food so you dont have to cook.

Canned soups were my best friend.”

11. No more alcohol.

“Mine was when my alcoholism was at its worst.

As you can guess, the solution was getting sober. At this point I was just drinking all day every day waiting for death to come on its own.

In the state I was in the only thing that meant anything to me was my mom’s dog, Ginger. I don’t really follow any religion, but I truly believe that Ginger is my guardian angel.

I was watching that sweet girl while mom was on vacation. I think it was day two, 8/11/2017, when I decided I had had enough. I needed to get better by any means, or else I wouldn’t be around to watch Ginger the next time mom took a vacation.

So I texted a friend who I knew was in AA, and gave him full decision making power over my life for the time being. After a 3 day hospital stay, I started going to AA meetings and learning how to exist without alcohol. I don’t go much anymore, but have never felt any threat to my sobriety. I know I am one of the lucky ones to have staying sober be so easy.

If you had asked me on 8/10/2017 (the day before I sought help) what I’d be doing today, I would have told you, “I’m not gonna live to see 2018.” But here I am in 2021, telling my story to anyone who cares to hear it and happier than I’ve ever been.”

12. Hobbies are good.

“Really diving deep into my creative hobbies. I had always dabbled in writing and music. Just jumping in with no real plans or expectations and seeing what happens.

I’ve suffered from panic attacks my entire adult life and depression alongside with it. When they reached their worst point most people gave up on me.

I spent a lot of time after that learning more about music. I’d always played bass but I decided I wanted to be able to make music all on my own. I learned how to make mashups, then I learned how to make remixes, then I started composing originals.

I’d previously written two articles on the SCP wiki and then just sort of stopped. I decided to really expand my submissions and wrote a bunch of new articles. I even rewrote one of my old articles because it was kind of weak.

The funny thing is, that became a good measuring stick for me. I always told myself I was awful at everything, but I was basically compiling evidence I was good at something.

Having songs that get praised by people and added to someone’s personal playlists makes you feel validated.

Looking next to a story and see hundreds of upvotes mattered to me.

I realized that when I was depressed it wasn’t that I didn’t want to do anything, it’s that I kept convincing myself that I couldn’t. That I would fail. That I would just waste my time. That I didn’t even deserve success anyways.

And I was wrong.

I have ideas worth sharing, and I’m going to share them.”

Now we want to hear from you.

How did you get out of a deep depression?

Talk to us in the comments and share your stories. Thanks!

The post People Talk About How They Managed to Get Out of Deep States of Depression appeared first on UberFacts.

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How Did You Get Out of Deep Depression? Here’s How People Responded.

If you’ve never dealt with depression before, it is really terrible.

You feel aimless, sad, exhausted, and something as small as taking a shower or eating a meal seems like climbing Mount Everest.

But the key is figuring out how to get out of that terrible state. And accomplishing that is different for everyone.

Folks on AskReddit talked about how they were able to get out of deep depressive states. Let’s take a look.

1. That helped.

“I dragged myself out of bed and went for a walk with my little cousin.

Having him hand me flowers and point out planes was the most hopeful thing I’ve ever experienced.

It was if I was seeing the world from his joyful perspective.”

2. Gotta start somewhere.

“I commit myself to brushing my teeth every morning.

I tell myself I don’t have to do literally anything else all day, but this one tiny, easy thing I have to do.

So I brush my teeth, with full permission to go back to bed and wish I was dead right after. But usually once I’ve done it, I feel like maybe I can do one more thing today.

But that’s all! I don’t have to anything else at all today, but I can probably manage to brush my hair. So I do that.

And I just keep doing tiny, easy things, and when I can’t do anymore, I already gave myself full sincere permission to call it a day, so I lay on the couch and wish I was dead, and sometimes while I’m doing that, I’ll think of one more tiny, easy thing I can do, and I’ll do that, and maybe a couple other things.

I want to be clear that it’s not about tricking myself into being productive; it’s about being accepting of my bad days and giving myself permission to do the absolute minimum until the next day, when I will reevaluate where I’m at and what I can do.”

3. Motivators.

“At first: my son. I HAD to get out of bed, he couldn’t take care of himself as he was way too young. (2,5/3 years old).

But it got worse and worse and worse. I realized it was very bad when he came up to me with his toy car and I had absolutely no energy or desire to even say “oooh yes! Car!”

What eventually helped was being dragged to therapy by my aunt. I have had therapy for 2 years. After the first session I went home with one specific idea from my therapist and it helped me most: I put a journal next to my bed and forced myself to write ONE good thing about/for the day.

It started with 30 pages of one line: “Made breakfast for me and son”

Gradually there were 2 things: “Made breakfast for me and son” “Got dressed”

Two notebooks later I could write things as “Thought of a morning routine” And eventually “completed full morning routine”

I have recovered but still have setbacks as I have recurring depression episodes. My son is now 9 years old and he kind of knows what is going on when I have one of the episodes and he knows about the notebooks. To this day I still use them. It has never gotten back to just one line a day. Most beautiful thing? If I can’t think of something……….. my son can think of something.

I have even come across some things HE wrote down for me without me knowing. They’re like secret little surprises to find at night. Those are the BEST motivators!”

4. Give yourself permission.

“I gave myself permission to do nothing. This permission removed feelings of guilt & anxiety about the inactivity.

Then, once I had given myself permission, I relaxed and rested. My body and mind needed that.

Eventually, I got better and felt like doing something again.”

5. You gotta do it.

“Forced myself to see a doctor and get on meds.

Nothing in my life and relationships with people changed, no trigger.

After months I just picked one of those rare “motivated enough to go make myself a sandwich” moments and dragged my *ss to the hospital instead.”

6. Big improvement.

“I had a bad bout of depression the end of last year. I wasn’t going to end it, I don’t think, but I didn’t care if I died.

Just straight apathy for living and everything.

On my absolute worst night, after an entire day of sitting on the side of the bed and staring at the floor, I called my mother. It was late and though we are close, I don’t often call her out of the blue. She knew something was wrong when she answered.

The next day I made an appointment with a doctor and a therapist. I got on medication to fix my non-existent seratonin and started opening up about my feelings with professionals, friends, and family. I realized how much people cared about me.

As the meds started to build up, I found myself exercising everyday, just like pushups and planks and stuff. I started buying more fruits. I eat a lot of berries. All this made me feel physically better.

After a few weeks I got passed up for a job that I had interviewed twice for, thought I had, really wanted, and kind of needed. It didn’t put me into a crashing depression. I was disappointed but it was just a problem to overcome.

Depression is a sickness just like anything else. I totally understand that many of the Americans reading this don’t have insurance but a month supply of lexapro using the Good Rx app is dirt cheap.

I hope the people reading this can find a purpose and a happiness. Life is neat. I know it sucks for you right now though.”

7. Man’s best friend.

“My dog has helped so much with my anxiety and depression.

I would see him just living in the moment and started making attempts at savoring the moment when I felt good. A nice breeze on a hot day, baby animals, a sunset. And then I discovered mindfulness, which led to practicing gratitude and loving-kindness.

I wanted to have more energy to play with my dog so I paid better attention to my diet. The way I used to before I developed a chronic illness. My dog is one of my biggest motivators.”

8. Support system.

“Honestly, my friends and family.

I’ve been so deep into depression that I spent 2 days trying to take my own life. Repeatedly. I remember that I texted my best friend how I was feeling but she didn’t answer so I immediately thought she hated me and wanted me dead. I climbed up on my balcony and almost threw myself off it. But my neighbor came home and I didn’t want to traumatize them.

I ended up in hospital hours later but I was released. My friend texted back and her message was “I wish I texted you back sooner.” But what really sealed the deal was that I was in the psych ward following another suicide attempt. My entire family (unknown to me) was cleaning and refurbishing my apartment. I called my sister to check on my cat when I heard my other little sister.

She didn’t know where I was exactly, she just knew I wasn’t feeling right in my head so she kept repeating “I love you, I love you” Over and over to make sure I heard her. Sometimes I still want to die but then I remember her repeating “I love you” And suddenly I can either find the strength to continue or check myself into a mental ward.”

9. It’s a big world.

“Astronomy.

Something about realizing how huge the universe is & still I was born. For what? Maybe just to be. For so long my depression came from not living up to the expectations I thought I should’ve been. So many people live searching for a purpose, but you ARE the purpose.

Out of all the planets in all of the systems in the WHOLE universe, we found ourselves in the one planet we know of that can sustain life.

Also changing the way I see religion as a result. I was taught (catholic) that we must live good lives to please this man in the sky. But with astronomy I started seeing everything different. To me, God is the universe. It created itself, & created us.

Not for a greater purpose, but just to live. We don’t have to strive to be a perfect human because we are already living in this heaven that as far as we know is the only one. I don’t want to live my whole life for this after life & miss the one Im in.

Perspective changed.”

10. Time to eat.

“Eating.

Doesn’t matter if you want to do it or not, your body needs it so badly. It takes a lot of work to get to the kitchen and scavenge some leftovers or a big snack, but it pays off wonderfully.

It might not make you happy, but it helps give you a little boost of energy to take care of yourself through the day.”

11. Time to move on.

“Quit my job.

On week 3 now of unemployment and never been happier. Turns out my soul sucking job of 6+ years as an accountant has been slowly killing me inside to the point of being suicidal. I’d been doing the job of 3 people for 2+ years (sh*tty company=high turnover issue – shocker) and I fully intended on sticking it out at least 1 more tax season before quitting.

But the first ~2 weeks of January were so bad, workload wise, the worst ever in my entire 6 years working there, that I put my notice in for the end of Jan.

Taking a few months off to work on myself and re-discover my hobbies and interests again before looking for another job, hopefully less soul sucking. I realize most people don’t have this luxury but quitting that sh*thole has given me life back.”

Have you ever been able to snap out of a deep depression?

If so, how did you do it?

Please tell us your stories in the comments. Thanks!

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People Sharing Anxiety Symptoms Highlights How Individualized the Illness Can Be

Society as a whole is more open and accepting than it used to be when it comes to treating mental illnesses the same way we treat physical ones.

Part of this movement depends on the people who struggle with these types of issues being willing to put their personal business out into the world, risking judgment and negative feedback.

If we really want to understand what it’s like, and how anxiety can look and feel different depending on who is living with it, we need to listen without comment, though.

So, here are some tweets that offer you the chance to do just that.

14. Those little message notifications can wreck havoc.

13. So many ways to feel embarrassed.

12. And worrying that people aren’t going to understand.

11. This person is poetic.

10. It’s not a fun to live.

9. Complete with emojis.

8. Not being able to go and do what you’d like.

7. There are a lot of people outside.

6. Physical manifestations are common.

5. And then freaking out when you run out of tomorrows.

4. Chronic fatigue is no joke.

3. Not much worse than second guessing.

2. Worry can be so exhausting.

1. Easy to deal with, right?

It’s fascinating to me how brains work, and how the same affliction can appear differently in different people.

Do you or someone you love struggle with anxiety? Do you see your symptoms here, or are yours missing?

Share with us in the comments!

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Take a Look at These Mental Health Tips If You Are Struggling with Depression

There’s no magic formula to get through the days and weeks when you’re battling a mental illness like depression.

Some days you’re the one ready and willing to give tips and other days, you’re in desperate need of some new coping mechanisms.

But whatever sort of day you’re having, #HowIFightDepression is here with some real, tested ways to help, so check it out.

12. Quiet resolve.

11. Give yourself a break.

10. Remember that it lies.

9. Don’t wait until you feel like it.

8. Don’t judge yourself by others standards.

7. One small task. You’re not alone.

6. Asking for help is brave.

5. It’s not a win/lose scenario.

4. Don’t stop.

3. Some days, kids help. Others…

2. You’re worth it.

1. Any or all.

 

If you need to hear it today, you matter to people, so keep going.

Tomorrow might be better.

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A Woman Leaves Her Boyfriend Sweet Notes to Help His Depression and They Will Make You Feel the Love

It’s so important to be surrounded by positive, compassionate people in your life. And this story perfectly illustrates that fact.

If you or any of your loved ones have ever struggled with depression, you know it can be extremely crippling and can affect your life in a number of negative ways.

A man who suffers from seasonal depression has a lovely girlfriend who helps him through the hard times, even when she can’t be near him. The two are in a long-distance relationship. He lives in North Carolina and she lives in Jamaica. The man shared the series of notes that his girlfriend left him in his apartment to help him work through his depression.

He wrote on Twitter “My gf knows that I suffer from seasonal depression, and in order to help me with it she left me random messages in my apartment to make my smile. It’s been a week since she left and I’m still finding them the most obscure places.”

Here’s the first note he shared on Twitter, and she encouraged him to get out and go to the gym. Always a great idea!

And, of course, some inside jokes were in order.

Some good night notes are always helpful.

She also left some great notes to wake up to in the morning.

Another note included some helpful advice like letting light into his apartment and eating healthy meals.

And he was still finding notes even six days after his girlfriend left.

Her final note looked ahead to a bright future for both of them.

He summed it up pretty good with a final tweet in the thread.

It’s pretty obvious these two love each other a lot, despite the physical distance between them.

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Psych Ward Nurses Share the Moments That Totally Shocked Them

Working with the mentally ill or criminally insane is definitely one that only a few among us are well-suited to tackle. What a tough gig.

It’s always interesting to peek behind the curtain, and these 15 psych ward nurses are here with some truly jaw-dropping tales.

15. Naked as a jaybird

Years ago, I was a student nurse doing my psych rotation in a catholic facility. The nuns still wore habits and the building was like something out of the dark ages. I’ll skip talking about the line of patients waiting to undergo ECT treatment in the basement and instead tell you about Maggie. She was a tragic case. She had been on Lithium for years and it really kept her psychotic episodes in check until reached toxic levels and could no longer take it.

One hot summer afternoon, we heard this banshee screaming coming from Maggie’s room. We rushed in there to see what was going on. Entering the room, we are greeted by a scene I will never forget. This late seventies woman is standing on the window ledge, naked as a jay bird, screaming through the window screens at the nuns in the courtyard, “you fucking penguins are going to burn in hell”. The poor sisters are scrambling to and fro trying to get away from the ranting madwoman’s viscous verbal assault as we were trying desperately to pull her off the grating.

I knew then and there, that I would never become a psych nurse.

14. Those were the days

Prison guard here: guy cut his scrotum open to let people know he was serious (dont know about what)

Guy 2 : cut off a butt cheek (or a big part of) and threw it at me as i tried to stop him.

Guy 3: punched a wall 3 times really hard (bloody knuckles) and told me he punched the devil cos he was telling him to stab me but im cool so he told the devil to fuck off.

Guy 4: pretended to drown himself in a toilet ( basically splashed pee on his face and rolled around crying

Guy 5: had sex with a window air vent and was complient yet confused when i asked him to stop

Those were the days….

13. He played the piano like a pro

Had a catatonic guy who could play the piano like a pro, classic, jazz, ragtime, but otherwise just sat in his chair and stared.

12. She wanted to be a vampire

Not me, but someone I knew was in a ward with a girl who wanted to be a vampire and drank blood from her own tampons.

It’s as atrocious as it sounds. She was around 16 and schizophrenic.

11. That’s MY tooth!

I’m an RN in boston in a psych hospital and I’ve seen some shit.

One of the things I’ll never ever forget was we had this manic guy that had been transferred from another unit cause he kept getting in fights over there and all the other patients were trying to attack him. I was still working nights back then and at about 3am he came up to me and said his tooth hurt and he needed to see a dentist right away. I said I don’t have a dentist for him to see but when the doctor comes in the morning we can take a look.

Gave him some Tylenol and sent him back to bed.

About 5 minutes later he came out saying it really hurt and he needed to see a dentist to pull his tooth. Again I told him theres no dentist but maybe I can get some more pain meds. In the middle of me explaining this to him he sticks his hand in his mouth and rips his molar out of his head and handed it to me. Blood starts pouring out of his mouth but he did even to seem to notice. After I clean him up and get the bleeding to stop and call the doctor to get him some ativan he goes “make sure you give me that tooth back when I leave, that’s MY tooth don’t try and steal it”. Fucking wild shit.

10. He was given a whole tub

This was actually in a state hospital that is part of the prison system for mentally ill offenders.

Patient asked for Vaseline. Which is fine. They can have Vaseline, whatever.

But this patient was given a whole tub, so of course he stripped completely naked, covered himself in Vaseline, and ran. It was a secure unit, and he didn’t escape, but we couldn’t get him back into his cell all shift because he was too fucking slippery.

No more tubs.

9. I never corrected her

I was a CNA for about 4 years and the saddest ever was my client/resident constantly thought I was her daughter. She went to Harvard and was an extremely brilliant lady in her time. She was non verbal but every time I walked into her room she would exclaim “Elizabeth you came”. I loved this lady so much, she would only eat when I fed her she was extremely combative with everyone but me. I ended up quitting my job there but visited her every single day. To the point that her family kind of accepted me as their family. I finally found out that Elizabeth took her own life at 21 and the fact that she thought I was her gave her extreme joy. I never corrected her and I like to think I gave her peace when she passed holding my hand. She was an amazing lady and I miss her to this day.

8. All of our mouths were wide open

We had an older black lady who would walk up and down the ward constantly mumbling. It never stopped. I think she would get something like Thorazine to calm her down but she would fight it and her eyes would be all droopy and she’d slow down but she kept going. Nobody understood a word she said and she was there for at least over 6 months. She was punched out once by a patient while he was on the phone because she kept walking by ranting. He just lost it.

Anyway I’m up there doing a patrol one day (I was security) and shes ranting and walking up and down the ward as usual and they call her to come get her meal. She sits down and opens her tray and stops ranting and states clear as day: “I didn’t order no diabetic tray BITCH.”

Every last person turned to her and all of our mouths were wide open. That was the only thing she ever said clearly.

7. Sure as shit

We had a psych patient on our floor that wasn’t really “crazy” crazy, just really confused and unpleasant in general.

One night I was mixing his drink with some thickener, and per usual he started yelling about me poisoning him. I explained what it was and that we’re all here to help him, not hurt him, and he responds with, “I’m just going to die.” His vitals were fine, he was alert, no red flags, and like I said, he was always pretty unpleasant so I didn’t think much of it.

Sure as shit, he coded an hour later and we never got him back.

Edit: coded is slang for “code blue” which is what they call over intercom/pagers when someone’s stopped breathing, or their heart has stopped.

6. Looking for booze

Obligatory not me, but my former best friend told me the story.

She wasn’t a nurse but did an internship at a psych ward for adults and part of her internship was supervising the adults outside in the garden, making sure they didn’t harm themselves, others and/or run away and to talk to them.

She and about 5 patients were outside on a beautiful summer day, each relaxing and smoking in silence, basically just chilling like fully functioning adults. Until one woman, about early 70s (no alzheimers or something) took her chair, pulled it right next to my friend, stepped on it, clumsily climbed the stone wall surrounding the small outside area, yelled “Bye, bitches!” and ran away.

My friend and the others just sat there, staring after her, not being able to believe what they’d just seen.

She was found 15 minutes later, just wandering through the city looking for booze.

I just can’t not laugh at the thought of this granny climbing the wall and yelling “Bye, bitches” while fastly waddling away

5. Problem solved!

This might not fit perfect, but I love this story.

How about in an inpatient addiction clinic? The first one that comes to mind was something I witnessed between a patient and another floor tech. We had a man who was in serious detox, drug if choice was meth. He was throwing a huge tantrum, not uncommon in DTs, people will do just about anything to get a fix. We weren’t a locked facility, so it wasn’t like he was stuck there. He genuinely wanted help, that’s why he stuck around, and we were there to listen and help him through the shakes, hallucinations, and other symptoms.

He was slamming his fists on the desk at this point, and he had started just yelling “I just want some fucking ice!” (Slang for crystal meth) Well, the tech with me was inexperienced, although much older than me, and while I talked to him and tried to calm him down, she went back to our staff kitchen and got him a glass of ice. Like, frozen water. She brought it out to him and put it in his hand like, Problem Solved!, and the guys just froze with confusion, staring at it. The patient and I both realized at the same time she thought he wanted ice and we just started at eachother and started laughing. He was in for a rough couple of days, but I’ve never seen someone jump from near psychotic episode to giggling so fast.

4. I couldn’t have seen what I saw

When I was in nursing school I had a clinical in the state funded psyc ward downtown. I was assigned to sit with this one girl to “monitor” her behavior. She spent about thirty minutes doing nothing but eating pudding cups with a plastic spoon. She ate like 6 of them in half an hour. Then out of nowhere she very calmly licked her spoon completely clean and pulled her shirt sleeve up before shoving the entire spoon into an incision in her arm near her bicep… then very calmly said, “Ohps.”

The nurses that worked there didn’t believe me. They kept saying I was making it up and that I couldn’t have seen what I saw.

Only later on, like four hours later (it was a 12 hr clinical), the orderly notice the girl had some blood on her shirt. He took her into her room to change her clothes and noticed that an incision on her arm had dehisced and had been bleeding.

Then eventually agreed to send her to the hospital for testing.

The X-ray showed the entire spoon, sucked into the fat of her upper arm, through an incision where they’d removed a birth control implant in the week before…

Apparently the girl had slowly been picking at the sutures and opening it bit by bit until it was deep enough to fit an entire plastic spoon….

The girl admitted that the “ohps” was because it had gotten sucked in and couldn’t be pulled out, not because she’s stuck a spoon in her arm….

Totally bizarre.

3. I had to gather my thoughts

Psych ward counselor here. Early in my career I had a teenage girl with suicidal ideations and severe depression. The year before, on thanksgiving, her dad pulled a gun from under the dinner table and blew his brains out in front of everyone. I normally form a response pretty quickly, even a “wow,” but when she told me I got quiet, leaned back, exhaled, and had to gather my thoughts.

2. Straight out of the movies

I’m not a nurse but was a patient once. Giant dude got upset one dude changed the channel from a football game he was watching and smashed his skull with his fists. Not fully, but enough that when they brought him back a few days later he started seizing and had to be removed again. Didn’t see him again.

Also, there was one lady who was straight out of the movies. Walking around preaching the end of days loudly and sweating like crazy.

1. Two of her own fingers

Not a nurse, pharmacist.

Had one of our Clozapine patients miss a monthly meeting to discuss their medication. Called around, found out she was in the ICU having eaten two of her own fingers then visited her mother for coffee, still bleeding.

Had a friend tell me of another patient, made a cut in his thigh and reopened it regularly until the whole thing was a scar tissue cavern, by some miracle avoiding infection. Started using his “meat pocket” to hold pens and coins and anything he could collect in his ward. Nobody knew until a paperclip pierced the side and he finally wound up with an infection that took him to ICU where they found his stash.

Yep, I’ll stick with sitting on my butt with a computer!

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Enjoy These Funny Tweets About Anxiety When You Need a Break

Dealing with anxiety really sucks. It can affect your job, your relationships, and every other aspect of your life in negative ways. But one way to deal with the ailment is to try to laugh at it, at least every once in a while.

As the old saying goes, laughter is the best medicine.

At the very least, these tweets will remind you that you are not alone in your struggle.

1. This should help

2. You can do it!

3. Please?

4. Need a little change

5. Pretty funny

6. #GetAnxious

7. Pleased to meet you!

8. Ahhhh, that’s better

9. Which one will it be today?

10. Get prepared

11. Damn!

12. Hahahaha

13. Nothing but mumbling…

14. Very true

15. That’s not a bad idea

16. Uh oh

17. Run!

18. That’s a brilliant idea

19. Don’t tell me that!

20. Oh, the possibilities…

Keep your chin up! Things will get better!

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Scientists May Have Found a Link Between Eating Beef Jerky and Manic Behavior

It’s a sad, sad day for me and m fellow lovers of cured beef products.

NBC News has reported that processed meats that contain nitrates (like jerky, cold cuts, hot dogs, etc.) may provoke symptoms of mental illness – specifically, mania.

The claim comes after a study published in Molecular Psychiatry found that a significant number of participants began exhibiting symptoms of mania – like racing thoughts, intense euphoria, and irritability – shortly after eating some type of cured meat.

In fact, patients who had recently consumed products like salami, jerky, and dried meat sticks were more likely to have been or be hospitalized for mania than subjects in the control group.

Scientists narrowed the link down to the nitrates, which are preservatives added to many cured meats. People who were fed nitrate-free jerky acted less hyperactive than those who were given the nitrate-rich sticks.

That nitrates may not be exactly harmless to humans isn’t news – you can find numerous studies that contain warnings and show multiple risks associated with consuming them regularly. They don’t just make you hyper, either. They can lead to the formation of cancers and promote inflammation in the gut, though most scientists will admit that more research needs to be done in order to pin down exactly how and why consuming them has such negative outcomes for many people.

In the meantime, if you have a history of cancer in your family, a history of poor mental health, or have existing psychiatric or gut disorders, you might do well to avoid nitrates – and all process meats containing them – until the research is in.

I can tell you I plan to (continue) doing so, though saying no to hotdogs at the ballgame is gonna be tough.

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Here’s the Depression Symptom No One Talks About, but Everyone Should Know

Many people still assume that the major symptoms of depression are feeling sad and lying in bed all day, contemplating suicide, and other seemingly obvious hurdles that people face on a daily basis.

This viral Twitter thread, posted by @mollybackes, reminds people that what they think it feels like to live every day with depression might not be quite right. That there are symptoms and barriers to living a “normal” existence that non-depressed people probably don’t realize.

She calls it The Impossible Task.

Her thread explains exactly what that means, how it feels, and the way it can affect people’s lives.

Photo Credit: Twitter/mollybackes

And just like any other mental health condition, it can be tricky to nail down.

Molly offers advice about coping with the Impossible Tasks and how others can help.

Photo Credit: Twitter/mollybackes

She also goes into how people with depression and other mental illnesses can work to be kinder to themselves…

Photo Credit: Twitter/mollybackes

And answers some more common questions. Like treatment strategies:

Photo Credit: Twitter/mollybackes

And what to do if you’re living with somebody who has depression:

Photo Credit: Twitter/mollybackes

Also, what to do if you’re struggling right now:

Photo Credit: Twitter/mollybackes

Ultimately, it helps to be kind to yourself and those around you. And for them to return the favor.

Photo Credit: Twitter/mollybackes

One of the best ways to empathize with someone is to walk in their shoes, and this entire thread is a great way to begin doing just that if you’re trying to understand the people in your life who are suffering.

Oh, and Molly had one last thing to share.

Remember this on the hard days, friends and keep moving forward.

You can do it!

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“Game of Thrones” Actress Sophie Turner Taught Twitter a Lesson on Why Jokes About Mental Health Aren’t Funny

Sophie Turner, whom most of us know as Sansa Stark on HBO’s Game of Thrones, doesn’t shy away from controversy. She’s a fiercely outspoken person who always speaks her mind, regardless of the potential blowback.

Turner has spoken out on mental illness before, and her recent foray into the Twitter swamp seems to suggest that the issue remains near and dear to her heart.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Her latest Twitter diatribe about why we should never joke about mental health is one we should all remember, so let’s go to school, shall we?

It began when Piers Morgan, famous jerk, popped off about how he agrees celebrities are trying to make mental illness “fashionable” and perhaps they’re not really suffering. He was responding to an original comment from Beverley Callard, an English actress who talked about her own struggles with depression in an interview.

Photo Credit: Twitter

“Real mental illness is very dark and it takes a great deal of strength to ask for help. I think we are now definitely chipping away at the stigma. But we have to be careful mental illness doesn’t become like a Gucci handbag. There is a danger it can become ‘fashionable.’”

The last sentence, obviously, is the bit Piers Morgan agreed with and many people, Turner included, couldn’t take sitting down.

Photo Credit: Twitter

I’m not sure how Callard could say in one breath that we’re making headway when it comes to de-stigmatizing mental illness, then in the next breath say that celebrities were in danger of treating them like a new handbag. Actresses like Julia Louis Dreyfus spoke out about their breast cancer and treatment, yet no one would think of accusing her of trying to make cancer “fashionable.” So why should mental illness be any different?

Photo Credit: Twitter

Photo Credit: Twitter

Photo Credit: Twitter

Every voice counts when it comes to fighting the battle against mental illness, so people should speak their truth if they feel comfortable, whether they’re celebrities or not.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Because the best way to change minds, hearts, and, eventually, the healthcare system is to make every single person realize there is someone in their life who has struggled, is struggling, or will struggle with mental illness.

The post “Game of Thrones” Actress Sophie Turner Taught Twitter a Lesson on Why Jokes About Mental Health Aren’t Funny appeared first on UberFacts.