Dealing with Monday morning and feeling overwhelmed . . .

[Elizabeth21 176]

Monday mornings can be excruciating. I feel the pressure of all my responsibilities and problems all at the same time. I've struggled with major depression most of my life, so I know this is a part of it. I'm just wondering how others deal with the downward spiral when it hits. I appreciate your suggestions. Thanks.

[CanyonBaby 1,852]

Put in place a "forward" approach. ALWAYS look forward, because looking back will seldom help in depression. So, what to do? Find a focus, a goal to reach for. It doesn't have to require work, it can be a fun goal. Find the perfect purple blouse, hike to the top of that hill, learn to drive a motorcycle, create a new recipe for WLS...Whatever it is, have it take your mind off the negatives of the moment. Depression can easily get the better of a person, if you let it. DON'T let it. Aim to steer your thoughts elsewhere. I also have my faith that helps me in such times (and all times, really), it helps tremendously! You have to "train" your mind to seek positive thoughts and directions. Start with a little at a time, then progress over time. Force your mind to focus on the positive goal, seek it out when times get difficult. When you find it hard to find a positive goal, what I do is just think of all the good things I would really like to do, then make a plan as to how to achieve that goal. Maybe it will take baby steps, as it might be an expensive goal and it requires more money than I have right now. So how can I set aside little bits of money until I can reach my desire? It takes mental concentration, sometimes work, but the ACT of reaching my goal, more times than not, is actually more enjoyable than the goal ITSELF!!! ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS look forward......

[CowgirlJane 14,260]

I used to get Sunday afternoon dread. I learned that it was the emotional weight of knowing I had to face work/people on Monday morning. It also came from my childhood history of Sunday being the very worst day of the week.

So, I went to counseling for awhile and one of the things i learned was how to mitigate this. For one, I had to learn to "accept" feeling bad sometimes. I would wind up into anxiety over nothing but the bad feelings. Learning to accept bad feelings without wallowing in them was a huge step forward.

It was also me being kinder to myself. A key anxiety trigger for me is that feeling that I "should" be doing more than I am able to. It took alot of work (and ongoing) to not let my mind get spun up into that.

I also learned to plan fun or at least social things for Sunday. If I need a chore day, it can't be Sunday because I was prone to lonliness and sadness that day that i wouldn't feel on another day. I remember a couple of years ago being wound up like a top on a Sunday. I did a hard workout and still felt intolerably anxious. I decided, for the first time in my life, to take up my friends who always offered to "support me" and started calling. I finally got ahold of a friend who dropped her plans to spend the day with me horseback riding and we had a great time. Throughout the day, i got back texts and calls from friends who couldn't free up, or got my message too late, expressing care and concern. I called or texted everyone back over the next day or two and that whole experience made me feel very well supported. I will always remember that day - going from feeling so bad to feeling well cared for and pretty okay and all it took was to ask for help.

Much counseling has been useless to me - but counseling that focuses on specific behavior practice has been very helpful.

[CanyonBaby 1,852]

Another thing I was thinking about as I drove into town today, was that here in Washington state we get a lot of "depressing" days; no sun, lots of rain, and the dreaded fog. I hate fog. If I'm already in a not-so-good mood, the fog just makes it worse. Sunny days are diamonds in a world of coal, so every time a sunny day presents itself (if I can get away with it!!!), I say to heck with the chores...everything that CAN WAIT, and go play! The joy often carries over to the following days, even if they are dreary, and makes life far more pleasant. I've had a lot of sadness in my life, as most have, and this is one of the best ways I deal with it, because those memories ARE NOT ALLOWED on sunny days. No disrespect for the lost loved ones, but I can't dwell on those situations during my "play" days, or it will overwhelm me. There will be time on the dreary days, if I ABSOLUTELY have to dwell on it, but having the breaks helps me put space between me and the thoughts, and put perspective on them, as well. Have your "play" days, too, people, we NEED them!