roll up for the village fete! move to our village if your 'fete' is to be happy!

[ThatVikRinA22]

6th thread folks....

keep talking/posting.

[SnowyMouse]

Definitely appreciating being home. Sorry you're shattered, CiQ

[ColouringInQueen]

Thanks snowy feeling rather daunted by the rest of the school hols now. Brain is starting to race and that rings alarm bells for me.

Thread seems quiet recently. ..

[ThatVikRinA22]

hope you have a lovely relaxed weekend snowy.

ive just completed my last shift for a fortnight. Queen Bee at work tried to stiff me with her workload tonight but thankfully my supervisor saw it and stepped in.....she was not a happy bunny but hey ho. He is now aware and says he will watch out more for it.

i pulled onto the drive and found a hedghog on my doorstep - what sweet little things they are.

im just having a wind down now and a glass of red before bed.

[LEMisdisappointed]

Popping into the beer tent for a swift half, anotehr busy day ahead which may be scuppered by rain - sea monster is jinxed i reckon. Had a lovely couple of days though - we deserved that break. Although if i never see anotehr bit of lego again........................

Hope you are all well, i have to go and build a bungalow (from lego of course)

[SnowyMouse]

Yes, it has been quiet, busy summer holidays for some?
I'm glad your supervisor is on the ball now, vicar

Have fun with the lego LEM!

[ColouringInQueen]

Hi lem glad you had a great time.

Are you up to much today snowy?

Any suggestions to calm a racing, agitated, overwhelmed brain v welcome. Struggling today can't think straight. Trying to keep myself in the moment, breathing exercises, distraction when I have enough concentration but proving v tough. Need to firm up some tactics so I cope with rest of school hols. ..

Hi everyone else hope you're having a good weekend x

[TheSilverySoothsayer]

CiQ there are a number of things you could try.

One is a kind of overload technique. Sit down somewhere and set a timer for 5 min. Give your brain permission to race as much as it wants and wherever it wants. When timer goes, let brain slow down again.

[ColouringInQueen]

Thanks silvery will give that a try.

My main prob is I can't seem to calm it down! I've downloaded all the things I've been trying to remember, tasks etc onto a to do list. Going out for the day tomorrow but that's sorted, next week pretty organised, my brain just wants to run screaming from the room (dh says I look washed out) and its only been 3 days with the kids - and they've been nice days. Feels like just volume/overload but never had this before dep/anx/Prozac this year, only mildly occasionally... hmm... back to wondering if I'm on the right AD - could this be drug-related? Possibility of switching when kids go back to school.... but til then will need some time lying down in a dark room...

Just had a monsoon like shower - very exciting!

[LEMisdisappointed]

I hate that mind racing thing CiQ - i usually get it in the middle of the night, i hate it, i first noticed it when i was pregnant with DD2. I would describe it to DP as "everythings going too fast" I tend to find its a rehash of the day or visualisation of things im worried about. straingely enough it can even be pleasant events too, but it isn't a pleasant thing by any means. keeping in the moment is hard but i think thats the aim, its easier said than done, i find. We have just had the monsoon and thunder here too, isn't it funny, my anxiety over the past few months is worse than its ever been yet I could quite happily go and stand in the garden and enjoy the storm and of course im loving the spiders these days. Storms and spiders were right at the top of my "shitabrick" list, along with height - i went on a high ride with DD yesterday and whilst i was mildly uncomfortable about it, no panic. Yet spending money on groceries, food, anything sends me almost into meltdown - am going to discuss this with my counseller on friday. Its getting to the point where i almost cannot shop :(

We have built a chalet bungalow from lego - it took ages but its uber cool.

ciq, i am beyond shattered, a couple of early nights should help me, its a long six weeks but i do like the holidays however its hard to know how to keep DD occupied. We don't have anything else planned for the rest of the holidays, thank GOD for the english heritage membership win! It will fly by though - would help if the weather were to hold out though.

I have lost touch a bit with the thread this week as it has been so mentally busy - hopefully will be able to take a few days to recover and catch up.

Take care all xx

[LEMisdisappointed]

straingely??

[ColouringInQueen]

Hi lem thanks v much for your thoughts. Bet the bungalow is fab! Hope you get to rest a bit over the next few days.

It is weird what triggers the anxiety isn't it? I had to walk into a school field to deliver something for an activity I'm helping at next week and anxiety was stupid.

Interesting how you describe racing mind -I'm not sure I'm using the right word. It's like I can't concentrate, my brain is spinning and trying to make it stop or clear it is nigh impossible. I don't think I was ever this bad before this year's diagnosis. It feels overwhelmed.

When you say shared do you mean physically or mentally - or both? Sorry for all the questions!

Hello to everyone x

[SnowyMouse]

Good afternoon all!

I'm enjoying the cooler weather, how is everyone else finding it?

Sending good thoughts xx

[TheSilverySoothsayer]

CiQ did you try the thing I suggested? Any change? I have plenty more suggestions...

LEM how old is/are DD (sorry I should know this) - I will try to remember what I did when mine were little.

snow it was cooler, and it rained a lot (this means I can now weed garden if I want ), I even hoovered with new hoover (stealth boast) which it has previously been too hot for honest. Now it's hot again.

[SnowyMouse]

Congrats on the hoovering Silvery I hope it cools down again.

[ColouringInQueen]

Night all. Will try and catch up properly tomorrow. Been visiting dbrother and family today and off to bed now.

Hope people had a nice weekend x

[EdwiniasRevenge]

Just popping in.

Things for me are generally good. Generally more able to do the chores I need to. Am sleeping much much less.

Have had some days out. Have balanced that with some days slobbing around at home.

I did come on the other day to have a winge. We were having a bit of a craft day and I had 3 children constantly asking me to help with their different crafts. I struggled to cope with that and at one point I may have downed tools and had a mummy tantrum until they got the message.

But I came on MN and found a thread where I could offer some niche advice so did that instead of ranting here..

Still got some challenges ahead. Still haven't opened my mail (but only have a couple of days left to do my tax credits renewal).

Next few days are school uniform shopping. With strange shaped children this is a nightmare (dtd2 is insisting on trousers but needs a 33-34" leg but aged 10ish waist; dd3 also insists on trousers but has short legs, I wish thry would go for skirts they are so much more flexible...and don't start me on school shoes but I'll do that in a couple of weeks).

I have decided not to go away this year as I can't really afford the spending money (have vouchers for acommodation which I will use next year). They are going thurs night with xp though.

So in the next 4 days I need to
Renew tax credits
Shopping in city centre probably
Shopping in out of town centre
Shopping at school uniform shop
Pack.

Hmm any guesses what I will doing friday?!?!?

Oh and any tips on how I can habe lower expectations of myself and be less self critical would be good (trying to get my head in the right place for returning to PGCE.

[SnowyMouse]

Hi Ed. Nice to see you again, and that things are generally good . It sounds positive.

Good luck with the post and all the shopping.

Do you have any reflective tools you can use. E.g. What you did, what went well, what went not so well and what you would do in future/what you would change?

I'm at home today, dodged the showers to post the post earlier.

[EdwiniasRevenge]

Thanks

I do use reflective tools....my positives are always shorter than my negatives :(

[SnowyMouse]

hmm. Maybe limit yourself to the 3 or 5 most important in each category?

[LEMisdisappointed]

popping in to say hi - good to see you ed and to read that you are doing well!

I have a meeting this afternoon about the fellowship i applied for forever ago and had given up on. I am not sure why they want this meeting - but I am so so nervous. It is a very informal meeting but im still scared

[SnowyMouse]

Ooh, good luck LEM

[LEMisdisappointed]

Was not good news so gutted

[SnowyMouse]

Oh no, I'm sorry LEM, hugs.

[mamakoukla]

LEM - good luck - a bit of nerves is natural. It is an unknown situation and it is something which has meaning for you. Whatever the outcome, concentrate on the positives this has had for you and the things it has made you reflect upon.

CIQ - I find that making myself physically slow down and mentally concentrate on what I am physically doing helps calm my brain down a bit. I guess the term is mindfulness, which has come up a number of times across the threads. PTSD is an anxiety disorder and I found that symptom management brought relief to some aspects. I avoid overburdening myself - or it can lead to panic and trying to do too many things = overwhelming and brain cannot focus as well. I have spent a few months relearning habits about how much I do, how I go about doing it and also giving myself some extra breathing space and also quiet time. When my brain is whirling away, noise and chaos is extremely distressing. DD is delightful but a full-on chatterbox and likes to be engaged in things, preferably with company. I plan activities which give me a bit more room on those days that I need them - cycling, park, crafts which we can do side by side. I have also requested quiet time for Mummy - 15 min of peace or a quick shower can give me a bit more calm.

Snowy - hugs! I am glad to see you regularly posting. Take care.

ED! Lovely post. I will try to give it some thought. For me, it is just letting me be myself. I typically have high standards and don't need external stress to achieve reasonably well. Accepting me for what I have to offer helped lower some of the stress. I guess a bit more self belief (?).

Vicar, I am very happy that whatever is going on at least your supervisor is fair and looked after you. That is so important. Give yourself mental space from the QueenBee et al. and find ways to mentally counter their behaviour; it is insidious and can sometimes creep up on you. They are insecure but it doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt you.

Need to go and do a few more chores - hugs to all and take care xxx

[mamakoukla]

Sorry LEM.