What do you do all day?

vjoc

Probably sounds like a stupid question.

I've been chronically ill for the past 3 years, suffering a wide range of symptoms: depression, anxiety, agropobia, phyiscal pain, fatigue, sleeplessness, etc. The medical profession have given up on me at this stage and I've had to discontinue most of my medications due to their lack of response and dreadful side effects.

I'm trying to find something to occupy my days as I stuggle to exist with my current condition but can't find anything that doesn't stress me out and make my symptoms worse. I tried going back to work part-time and relapsed after a week. I can't drive far due to my cognitive state. I struggle to go out in public because of the anxiety of meeting people. Yet I'm going nuts being stuck at home.

Can anybody out there please help and tell me how they occupy their time or give me some ideas, as all my doctors can come up with is to go for a walk.

Thanks

Black Swan

Not sure if it will work for you, but have you tried creative writing? Write a short story or a longer fiction about a person trapped by their conditions? It would seem that you would have much to write about after three years, but you could put a science fiction spin to it, to make it interesting? Read someplace that one cognitive approach to a cure was pursued through creative writing, and it did not matter if the writing was ever published, rather the process of writing, or framing thoughts and feelings and expressing them creatively helped. And who knows, you might be the next Edgar Allen Poe, a person trapped by his conditions, that became a famous author (not sci fi, but rather horror genre)?

If you do not wish to go it alone in creatively writing, there are beginning writer's groups that often meet at bookstores or coffeehouses. You could join such a group and share each other's attempts to write? Just a thought...

Or if joining a group is not feasible or available, then consider the Creative Writing forum under the Arts section of these boards? Contribute there from the safety of your home? Could be a place to start?

nesf

Have you tried therapy? Having an outlet once a week/fortnight/month can make day to day stuff easier to deal with. Don't give up after one or two different therapists don't work out, there are many styles and the personal relationship with the therapist is crucially important, if you dislike the person, it's not going to work. Also, maybe changing psychiatrist/specialist could help? Talk to them about it.


Personally, when I'm in a depression, anxiety and malaise means I don't get to leave the house much. Crucially, I know that these end and I'm being treated by a very good psychiatrist who manages my condition carefully etc. What I do to pass the time in those days is play computer games, read boards, read Wiki, whatever holds my interest will do. Filling the hours between sleep in a depression is really not fun but sometimes it's the only option available to you. I normally lose the ability to concentrate enough to read books (which is a bitch) but if you don't suffer from this then maybe it's worth a look.

kelle

Hi, vjoc. I'm sorry to read about your illness.
Have you ever taken up knitting? I find it very therapeutic, even if it is a slow process. If you pick an interesting but easy-to-follow pattern, you'll find the hours fly by.

AckwelFoley

Find some thing that interests you and persue it. Being idle only makes you worse, and this comes from my own expierences with Manic Depression. If you can persue some thing that interests you, it takes your mind off your current state and gives you some form of self worth, which slowley helps you. It is certainly not the only solution because ones illness can get so bad at times that it doest matter what you do, but in conjunction with ongoing therapy, medication and Psyc evaluation you should be abl to deal better.

I wish you the best of luck

Agonist

This is a really good question: what to do when you can't do anything? The suggestions here are all good. I knit too when I have the concentration. Even though I knit very slowly I can complete small patterns because I spend so much time doing nothing. Other people only get to knit for maybe two hours a day whereas I can spend eight hours knitting on the trot.
A problem with a lot of the suggestions that people give me (I get depressed, agoraphobic and apathetic - I should do an introductory post at some stage) is that they restrict their suggestions to things that are good for me, like walking, reading, volunteering, evening courses etc. All good options but sometimes I just want to get from 2 pm to midnight without it feeling like a week and I have no energy to do anything.
The Internet is great: boards; youtube (for when you can't concentrate on reading); television is usually crap but I've got multiple episodes of sitcoms and they pass the time well. If you watch enough of them and in order you do start to care about the characters. Films are great too but I generally can't concetrate for the full length of most of them.
When I feel a little more energetic I find DIY great. Putting up shelves etc. and assembling flatpacks is absorbing and productive.
I visit an elderly relative who needs the company and watching tv/drinking tea is much more fun when I'm not on my own.
Cooking, or more specifically, baking is a good pastime. It takes about three hours to make nice yeast bread and as long as you have an electric mixer it's non-physical and non-demanding. Biscuits and cakes are always welcomed as gifts. The ingredients last for ages before the go off (butter, eggs, sugar, flour) so you don't feel under pressure to do it NOW.

These are a few of the pastimes I can think of. They come with a health warning - not suitable for self-improvement. There are planty of ways to improve yourself but most are inaccessible when you are feeling really low.