Expanding my Horizons2 @expandingmyhorizons2 - Tumblr Blog

icried4you

Digital Portraits by Grif

butchlet-rights

planetarium presenters trying to explain to a busload of 4th graders how incomprehensibly vast space is

butchlet-rights

me, 10, who will never be the same again:

byjove

We as a community need to stop romanticizing the skinny chronically depressed emo trans guy and start romanticizing the fat happily married 30+ year old trans guy who wears goofy dad clothes.

heatandapathy

This is an absolute religious experience that I was not prepared for

broadlyaudrey-deactivated202106

even when i am not posting, know that horrible sentences are raging within me

hannughunt

daftpatience

he did stay in the bed after i put it back down ;w;

daftpatience

before anyone’s like “gimme da baby” I will happily share the baby

jasper-rolls

there’s a difference between “just do a little yoga it will cure your depression forever :)” and “going for a run won’t solve your problems but it will make you feel a little better and that’s the first step” but this site seems to treat them as the same thing

marylizabetha

Taking care of yourself is still good even if it won’t cure you. Cleaning my room won’t cure my anxiety or make me less lonely but it is a healthier environment to live in.

wizzardhat

The reason why “just do yoga :)” or “just clean your room! :)” is so annoying is because it implies that treating the symptoms will fix the problem because they are the problem, when that just isn’t true. Lack of energy is a symptom of depression, lack of motivation to keep your environment clean is a symptom of depression. If I clean my room once, then it will just get messy again because the root of my problem was not addressed. That would be like putting someone with a fever in an ice bath and saying they’re cured because their temperature came down.

But depression is often a chronic condition, and like any chronic illness, managing symptoms as much as possible will still improve your quality of life. So yes–being active, keeping your living space neat, making sure you eat well and sleep an appropriate amount will help. It will not cure you, but–and this is key–in tandem with proper mental health care, it will make a difference.

So sure my room will probably get messy again–but if I have a good day, and I take advantage of it to clean, than for the next few bad days I can take some comfort from being able to mope in a clean room. A short walk will help me clear my head and get me out of the house. I know it sucks when your entire problem is that its hard to do the things that would make you feel better, but pushing back a little bit at a time is the only real way to wrestle back control, and it’s worth it.

expandingmyhorizons2

Behavioral activation actually is the first thing we do as psychologists to help you with depression. So yes, do the things you’ve got it in you to do. Not as a cure all, but as a piece of the recovery puzzle.