FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
Dr Antonio D'Costa
Below are some tips to help you rebuild your life.
Tip 1: Accept. Accept. Accept.
Trying to live your life as if you don’t have these disorders is exhausting and pointless. If you can come to terms within yourself that you have these problems then you can live your life accordingly. That means, being aware to not set yourself up for failure by trying to do things that cause you to have a setback.
For the anxiety and depression especially, know what triggers you have so you cannot put yourself into the middle of those triggers. There are times where certain triggers can throw your depression into a full scale meltdown.
When it comes to the obssessive thoughts, learn to recognise them and teach yourself not to succumb to them. It will take time, it may not completely go away, but you can control it.
Tip 2: Don't let the labels stop you from finding yourself.
Do not let the labels affect you. Don't say "I can't do this because I have…."
Research what your specific symptoms are through a psychiatrist, and start working on them. There are a lot of online resources that can help: Quora, Reddit, Facebook, Apps. A lot of people have already gone through what you are facing, and researching and learning how they deal with their everyday lives, and consulting your psychiatrist will help you in getting your own life back into shape. Reach out!
Tip 3: Let go of the past.
Whatever you have been through is not your fault, so forgive yourself. If you suffered humiliations and embarrassments, forget about it! You were being human and reacting to something that was foreign to you and most especially, not wanted by you. This is a time you'll lose a lot of "friends", and connect with some new ones. Just take your time. Try your best to be as sociable as possible. If you try and decide "No, I can't", that's fine too, as long as you try to beat it the next time.
For friends that you may have alienated, you can try to reconnect with those people if you desire their friendship, or again, let it go.
Tip 4: Take your time healing, it's not a race.
Don’t let your depression, anxiety or obssessive thoughts rule you. Don’t let them. The more aware you are of their presence in you, the more control you have over them. As bad as you may feel sometimes, your life could be so much worse and there are way too many people who do live worse lives. So if what you have is "the worst" you have to deal with, you are lucky.
Tip 5: Don’t be afraid to be honest with other people about your disorders.
It helps sometimes to just explain why you are reacting the way you are, being honest. You may let them know how much you hate this, and how it causes you problems. Some people truly will understand and others will just look at you like you’re an alien and walk away. That’s fine. Remember, it’s their ignorance, not yours.
It's not your fault. If you ever feel suicidal ring a help line immediately.
