Starting From the Bottom- Part 1

2020 was a difficult year for most of us, due to the coronavirus and worldwide lockdowns, and racial unrest (which highlighted how far we have to go to achieve equality. Many people have understandably been feeling low and/or anxious, and mental health conditions have been on the rise.

I wanted to write a post about the subject of moving up from a low place to feeling better, and also improving your life. I've been really struggling with both these things lately, and I expect quite a few others have too.

It's taken me a while to write this post, I haven't felt much like writing "in-depth" posts lately. I've decided to split this up into two parts, so Part 1 will cover feeling better and Part 2 will focus more on changing your mindset and actively working on changing your life. :)

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, so if you're having mental/physical issues please seek medical help in addition to reading this. :)

 

There have been more people diagnosed with depression, anxiety, OCD and other disorders. For those of us with pre-existing mental health issues, it has been tough too. I went through a bad depressed period in autumn 2019 (before the virus/lockdowns). It did improve but I found myself feeling more depressed during the first lockdown in the spring and summer of 2020. When we came out of (the first) lockdown the anxiety seemed to get worse. Throughout the rest of last year, I was feeling very anxious and the health anxiety in particular worsened. 

Also, many people have been feeling lonely after our normal ways of socialising have been stopped, in particular those who live alone. On the other hand, some people many find spending extra time with their family at home stressful, especially with the added pressures of homeschooling their children. 

So, in this post I'm focusing on moving towards feeling better. I was unsure about what to call it, but decided on "Starting from the Bottom", because sometimes it can feel like you've "hit bottom", or are on your way there. 

 

Please note: If you do feel you've hit rock bottom or are having mental health issues, please seek the advice of a doctor/mental health professional. I am not qualified to help, just someone who experiences mental health issues myself. :)

Important: If you are feeling suicidal here are a couple of links to where you can find people qualified to help you right now:

http://lostallhope.com/help-me

And direct links to organisations and helplines (international): http://lostallhope.com/links

 

Update 16/7/21: The Lost All Hope site is gone, but here's another one: https://metanoia.org/suicide/

Update 2- 30/7/21: Lost All Hope is back, but I will also keep Metanoia linked above. :)


UK/UK and Ireland specific:

Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help-you/contact-us

 

Feeling your emotions and managing mental health

First of all, I'd like to mention emotions and mental health. I'll share some links relating to these subjects below.

Over time I've come to see how important it is to let yourself feel your emotions. I've written a whole series on this (with more planned) called Feeling Your Emotions. You can see the intro post here: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2017/11/feeling-your-emotions-introduction.html

 

Some emotions and mental health issues you may be dealing with right now are sadness and depression, and fear and anxiety. I wrote about them as part of the FYE series and explored the difference between sadness (an emotion that everyone feels at some point) and depression (considered a mental health condition). I also did the same for fear and anxiety.

You can see the posts below:

FYE- Sadness and Depression (Part 1): https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2018/07/feeling-your-emotions-sadness-and.html

FYE- Sadness and Depression (Part 2):  https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2018/08/feeling-your-emotions-sadness-and.html

FYE- Fear and Anxiety (Part 1): https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2018/10/feeling-your-emotions-fear-and-anxiety.html

FYE- Fear and Anxiety (Part 2): https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2018/12/feeling-your-emotions-fear-and-anxiety.html

 

And here are few "stand alone" posts also about emotions and feeling a certain way:

Feeling Like a "Loser": https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2019/05/feeling-like-loser.html

When You're Struggling: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2019/10/when-youre-struggling.html

Feeling Lonely: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2020/05/feeling-lonely.html

This next section is about managing your mental health. This is in addition to being under the care of a professional, and having medication, therapy etc.

 

Here are some helpful posts:

How to deal with distressing feelings: https://www.itslaurenvictoria.co.uk/how-to-deal-with-distressing-feelings/

Habits to practice for good mental health: https://anxiouslass.com/habits-good-mental-health/

Focusing on mental health: https://carlyriordan.com/focusing-on-mental-health.html (Formerly Carly the Prepster)

Post about how sometimes just surviving is enough: https://www.jayerockett.com/2021/02/sometimes-surviving-is-enough.html

5 Steps to Take Care of Your Mental Health: https://www.selfloverainbow.com/5-steps-to-take-care-of-your-mental-health/ (Formerly Blessing Manifesting)

Online help for mental health: https://anxiouslass.com/online-help-mental-health/

My Pinterest Mental Health board: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/moonsparkle84/mental-health/ 

Also, Mind is a good site with resources to help people with mental health conditions (UK based): https://www.mind.org.uk/

 

Feeling better

Once you are feeling a bit more stable, you can more actively work on feeling better. I do believe that if you've been going through a difficult period, you may need to get yourself on more of an "even keel" first. This could involve therapy, medication, and/or any other methods you use, such as spiritual healing. Then you might start to feel like doing more self-help things that raise your mood (i.e. creative activities) and work with practices such as the Law of Attraction (LOA), journalling and gratitude. 

Note: For an intro post on LOA go here: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2013/08/law-of-attraction.html

 

Here are some posts I wrote about feeling better that might help: 

Raising Your Vibration (Or Feeling Better) (this is a Law of Attraction post): https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2014/10/raising-my-vibration.html

FYE- Happiness (Part 1): https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2020/01/feeling-your-emotions-happiness-part-1.html

FYE- Happiness (Part 2): https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2020/03/feeling-your-emotions-happiness-part-2.html 

Feeling More Positive: https://fallingpetalsuk.blogspot.com/2020/11/feeling-more-positive.html

 

And some posts from other people:  

Post about focusing on the little things in life: https://www.jodiemelissa.com/2021/01/the-little-things-in-life.html

Michelle from Daisy Butter shares how documenting gratitude changed her outlook: https://daisybutter.com/2020/02/documenting-gratitude-how-it-has-transformed-my-life-outlook/

Good post about creating your own light: https://bellarosablog.com/motivation-monday-create-your-own-light/

Inspiration for writing a "joy list": https://withlovefromkat.com/10-things-that-bring-me-joy/

 

I hope that was helpful. :) Next, I plan to talk about being more proactive in improving your life, for example setting goals and working with the Law of Attraction.

We're now slowly coming out of lockdown in England and other parts of the UK, and some people are understandably feeling anxious. Some countries are facing new lockdowns. I hope everyone is taking care of themselves as best they can. Please share any methods you use to feel better. :)

Photo: Shoreham Beach. Moonsparkle 2021.