(05-14-2020, 12:14 AM)BeReel1010 Wrote: Unfortunately I cannot say the same, I feel my anxiety has gotten much worse, and my depression falling deeper as this virus continues. Little back story...way back when I was in HS I always thought I was fat which was part of what started my depression. No one ever knew because I was an all star athlete and (played sports all year round), had many friends, etc. I always wore a smile but deep inside crying bc I hated myself. I was shy, and always questioning how people looked at me. Anyway fast forward to now- when I look back I wish I could slap some sense into my younger self bc I was not fat at all. When I went to college I really did gain weight, a lot more after my pregnancy, like a lot.I am sorry you are having a tough time. is there anyway you can workout at home? I take barre class but the studio is closed. I am doing it online but it’s not the same. I don’t work as hard at home. Today I went for a jog/walk. It felt good. I felt exhausted afterwards like I do when I went to the studio. I will be incorporating jog/walk into my daily routine. I am so slow but I don’t care. I go to a nearby trail that isn’t popular. I saw 5 total people and did not speak to any. I am not wearing a mask and I do hold my breath when I pass a person. I can’t workout with a mask, I have enough trouble just breathing while running,lol.
The one thing that has always helped both my depression and anxiety was going to the gym and working out. During my “gym time” after work I’m able to clear my head, focus on the now and felt so good every time I left. I lost 80lbs last year and was finally starting to feel a little better knowing my goal was 60lbs away. Since the gyms have been closed since March I’ve been gaining it all right back. It’s not even about food, I’ve seen endless nutritionists and they were all stumped. The only way I can lose weight is by working out. Lately my anxiety and temper is becoming shorter by the day. I’m constantly thinking about when this is going to end, when things will open, what life is going to be like as I’m sure many people are, but it’s more of an obsession for me. I lose sleep over it. I’ve been having more nightmares now than ever before.
I haven’t stopped working thru all of this either which I believe is the only thing keeping me sane. Even though I put in 10k steps or more a day it’s just not the same. Funny bc I’m not even a gym rat, I just go for 1-2hrs after work and it does wonders for my mental health. So unfortunately my answer to the OP is no, pre-existing anxiety and depression has not helped me thru this.. for me it’s only made it worse.
Sorry that came out wayyyyy longer than I thought, but if anyone has any other coping mechanisms I’m all ears or eyes rather
Have your tried writing exercise called Morning Pages by Julia Cameron. It really helped me with getting my mind to shut the hell up and stop ruminating thoughts. I use a cheap spiral notebook and do it middle of the day or whenever. I never reread it and throw it away when it is full. (Google it, Idk if I can post links)
h**ps://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/morning-pages/
I hope today is a little bit better than yesterday.
I’m definitely not organizing closets. We had purged a lot prior to covid. My clothes and drawers could still use more purging. I don’t have the desire to do it and I am ok with it,
I think lots of people will gain weight being home. It’s way to easy to eat anytime and lots of people are wearing stretchy lounge clothes. Going back to fitted clothes will be interesting.