When you feel your mood starting to slide...

[MrsFTHC]

What do you find helps you keep on track? I'm feeling a bit under pressure at the minute and since over the last few days I've noticed those thoughts coming back through, the ones that tell me I'm rubbish, stupid, useless at everything, hate myself, everyone hates me, no good to anyone etc. I'm trying to push them away but does anyone have any techniques that they find useful when these thoughts start to creep in? Thanks

I'm so sorry you feel like this MrsFTHC.

Rather than trying to push the thoughts away... (like when someone tells you not to think of an elephant, what do you think of..?!) ...it may help to acknowledge the thoughts and then put them aside.

Are you a visual person? Could you imagine filing them away in an unimportant cabinet? Or visualise making them smaller and smaller until they disappear?

Another thing that may help is to think of or even better write down 5 positive things about your day every day.

They can be really little things like 'today my hair looks good, it's sunny outside, I didn't have to wait long for the bus, I had a nice sandwich for lunch, I made my DC smile'

If you can't think of 5 start with 2 or 3. You will start training your brain to make positive connections.

You know all these negative thoughts are not true. Be kind to yourself

Was taught this in CBT and it has helped prevent a major relapse since my breakdown (though I have the odd slide). It's for the thoughts that relate to self-worth.

Every time you notice the thought, acknowledge it instantly and try to recognize it for what it is. It's you and your internal voice. You are in control of it and you should not accept anything it says without first questioning it if it's critical . If you can try to keep catching the thoughts before they manifest fully then they'll have less of a chance of making you fee worse/creeping in/bullying you from the inside and causing a downward spiral.

It's not easy at first as it's usually a very ingrained habit (I found it stupidly hard at first) but it does help.

Agree with PP about the list writing.

And without wanting to sound too 'woo' , a bit of light meditation (plenty of 5/10min clips on youtube) can do wonders. Your brain activity shifts to the left when you meditate and it's been proven that more left side activity can help lessen/prevent low mood/depression. (The left side is more responsible for 'logical' thinking and the right for emotion etc so it does have a scientific basis)

*feel worse oops!

Thanks, I'm trying to be kind to myself but it feels like absolutely everything is proof of how useless I am and I'm just failing at everything. Today I have been trying to challenge the thoughts, it's very hard to do though. I don't mind a bit of woo so will look into meditation.

I'm reading an amazing book atm called The Compassionate Mind. It helps understand why we get in these frames of mind and how to treat ourselves with compassion instead of beating ourselves up or fighting/running away from stressful or depressing feelings. Actually, it is fascinating on the subject of depression - it explains how depressive-type moods/ thinking originally evolved as a defense mechanism... Anyway, it's really helpful! I have recommended it on umpteen threads lately .

Mindfulness.

Have you got an iPhone/pad (possibly on android too, not sure)? There's several apps on there - I'm using one called Headspace at the moment which I like a lot.

Google a guy called Jon Kabat-Zinn, an American doctor at the forefront of using mindfulness techniques for a range of conditions including stress, addiction, depression and chronic pain. There's a specific technique combining mindfulness and cognitive behavioural therapy (called MBCT - mindfulness-based cognitive therapy) you can actually do courses in.

The only caveat is that during a spiral/depression is not the time to start learning these techniques - you need to lay the foundations when you're stable so that you can then put them into practice.

Thanks, I've got a waterstones voucher that I haven't used yet so will get that book. I've just installed the headspace app so will give it a go. Rappy, that sounds really interesting, I'll look into it properly when I'm feeling a bit more on track.

[hugs]

I really swear by mindfulness - even used it for childbirth!

If your voucher stretches to it, JK-Z's Full Catastrophe Living is a great intro to his work.

This is a book specifically on mindfulness and depression. I've got it and it's very good:

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1593851286

PS - they're also available as audiobooks on iTunes.