Tag: medication

Day 4

'A Poetic Potter & A Potting Poet'1 Comment

Writing into Life, more

Photo by Thapelo Boateng on Pexels.com

A friend told me recently that she had started to suffer from anxiety.

It had taken her by surprise as she loves her life, and considers the anxiety to be a chemical imbalance, that she is addressing through prescription medication.

I remember once feeling so frustrated when a GP described my mental health difficulties as a chemical imbalance. For me, medication has only ever been part of the equation, because of the complex nature of my experiences.

While I continue to rely on a daily dose of anti-depressant medication – a maintenance dose – I continue to additionally find my own ways of addressing internal imbalance, through the practises of Qigong, yoga, meditation and so on.

With no pottery session planned this afternoon, I’m booked in for an additional yoga class.

Lydia and I have had a walk together and she is now enjoying some time out in the back yard – her yard.

I’ve done a bit of housework so far, made and drunk some coffee, had some breakfast – a crusty roll with blackcurrant jam.

It may not be the most exciting start to the most exciting day, but it is just a start.

Later …

I do some front yard work  – tidying, sweeping, cleaning – in preparation for the winter ahead. It’s good to do focused physical work, outside in the fresh air. And good to keep up my momentum of ‘a bit at a time’. Things are gradually getting done.

Day 22

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The path beside the wood: a carpet of green with purple, yellow and cream

Continuing the story of Lydia and Me

I slept!

After resting from late afternoon into the evening, I slept.

I decided to take two paracetamol tablets, eventually, to help set me off. I do this only very occasionally.  I’m wary of relying on medication to help with relaxing and sleeping.  They are addictive and eventually don’t work.

30 or so years ago, after I’d had a complete breakdown in all aspects of my life, I became addicted to prescription tranquilisers and sleeping tablets. Never again.

I detoxed by walking miles and miles in the hot Mediterranean sun, sweating it out. To do cold Turkey I went to hot Turkey.  It worked, and after that I started finding more constructive ways to manage my mental, physical and emotional health.

It hasn’t been and still isn’t easy but I push through on positives, most of the time.

Today I’ll have another woodland walk with Lydia; then go to a yoga class for an hour and a half this afternoon.  There is no Qigong today – we have a week’s break between blocks of three. I’ve already done some physio exercises for my knees, while waiting for the kettle to boil.

Yesterday’s wall of emotional exhaustion is no more.

As I enjoy spending a bit more time in bed, I listen to whatever sounds the world is bringing to me: the beep of a lorry reversing, the gentle rustle of leaves, a motorbike revving and cars passing by.  They’re nothing spectacular but they are the sounds that are here for me this morning, and I like them, just as they are.

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