Is it a good brain day or a bad brain day?
May. 7th, 2022 03:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rogueslayer452Taken from ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thefridayfive:
What's taking up space in your head this week?
The usual fandom stuff, I've been slowly mainlining through Guardian at the moment while also still being deep in the other dramas I've watched and got attached to previously. Just mainly all of that, my headspace is just all the blorbos from my shows, essentially.
What mental health topics do we need to be more aware of?
Oh, I'd say quite a bit. I've talked about this before, but essentially I think there needs to be more awareness of the other kinds of mental illnesses that exist that aren't just anxiety and depression, more discussions about the availability of treatments particularly for those who are financially unable to do so and how we can solve it, and how while we've come a long way with recognizing mental health concerns over the last decade or so we still have a long way to go to de-stigmatize it, not just here (in the U.S.) but everywhere else in the world.
Furthermore, I'm also of the mind that therapy is good and beneficial for everyone, regardless.
What does "mentally healthy" look like?
Not having intrusive thoughts and my brain chemistry functionally normally, or, alternatively, being able to recognize when I'm having a bad brain day and managing it without having any kind of breakdown beforehand.
When do you know you need to focus on yourself?
Now that's a question, isn't it. For the most part, whenever I get too overwhelmed or emotionally distressed from something that's when I know that I need to take a break/breather.
What's something that's helped your mental health?
Honestly? Fandom, or rather being fannish about something in some capacity. It's a good distraction, and has helped keep those intrusive thoughts at bay. Yes, there are some obvious downsides like fandom drama that can be impossible to avoid, but for the most part I tend to ignore it the best I can, even if the urge to doomscroll out of mild morbid curiosity gets the better of me sometimes. Otherwise yeah, it's just distracting myself with whatever I'm currently fixating on.
(Also, I would say that my dog was the best thing for my mental health, but she has been gone for some years now and that definitely took a hit on my mental and emotional health, for sure. So getting fixated on fictional worlds has become the next biggest distraction for me in helping me cope.)
thefridayfive:What's taking up space in your head this week?
The usual fandom stuff, I've been slowly mainlining through Guardian at the moment while also still being deep in the other dramas I've watched and got attached to previously. Just mainly all of that, my headspace is just all the blorbos from my shows, essentially.
What mental health topics do we need to be more aware of?
Oh, I'd say quite a bit. I've talked about this before, but essentially I think there needs to be more awareness of the other kinds of mental illnesses that exist that aren't just anxiety and depression, more discussions about the availability of treatments particularly for those who are financially unable to do so and how we can solve it, and how while we've come a long way with recognizing mental health concerns over the last decade or so we still have a long way to go to de-stigmatize it, not just here (in the U.S.) but everywhere else in the world.
Furthermore, I'm also of the mind that therapy is good and beneficial for everyone, regardless.
What does "mentally healthy" look like?
Not having intrusive thoughts and my brain chemistry functionally normally, or, alternatively, being able to recognize when I'm having a bad brain day and managing it without having any kind of breakdown beforehand.
When do you know you need to focus on yourself?
Now that's a question, isn't it. For the most part, whenever I get too overwhelmed or emotionally distressed from something that's when I know that I need to take a break/breather.
What's something that's helped your mental health?
Honestly? Fandom, or rather being fannish about something in some capacity. It's a good distraction, and has helped keep those intrusive thoughts at bay. Yes, there are some obvious downsides like fandom drama that can be impossible to avoid, but for the most part I tend to ignore it the best I can, even if the urge to doomscroll out of mild morbid curiosity gets the better of me sometimes. Otherwise yeah, it's just distracting myself with whatever I'm currently fixating on.
(Also, I would say that my dog was the best thing for my mental health, but she has been gone for some years now and that definitely took a hit on my mental and emotional health, for sure. So getting fixated on fictional worlds has become the next biggest distraction for me in helping me cope.)
no subject
Date: 2022-05-09 06:54 pm (UTC)Also recognizing cost barriers for sure. Not everyone can afford the treatment they need and it must be demoralizing to have people propose an "easy" fix that is just out of reach.
no subject
Date: 2022-05-10 09:20 pm (UTC)In addition to that, I also think there's an issue when it comes to taking these illnesses seriously. Just because someone takes multiple different medications doesn't mean they're a drug addict, just because someone says that they have been diagnosed with more than one thing doesn't mean they're faking it for attention. Hell, even in the medical field a lot of doctors won't take patients seriously when they are clearly suffering from "invisible" ailments, mental illness being one of them. It's sad and frustrating when you're suffering in silence when people just won't believe you or take you seriously.
no subject
Date: 2022-05-11 04:49 pm (UTC)I get very frustrated when doctors won't believe something is wrong. I've run up against that in very mild circumstances for myself and even without huge stakes it's annoying to know something is wrong and to have a doctor not do their job to find out what it is or to assume that I'm just wrong about my own symptoms.
no subject
Date: 2022-05-12 10:02 am (UTC)Yeah, I've come across this with doctors as well. Not as often as some others probably have, but still it's disheartening and frustrating all the same. Not being believed, being gaslit, or simply just not being listened to at all is horrible in general, but especially when it comes from doctors whose entire profession is supposed to be helping people with their ailments, whatever that may be. There have been plenty of people who haven't been diagnosed, even misdiagnosed, because of this, as well, and it's horrible.