Volunteer. Do something to help the community. I logged 370 volunteer hours last year plus probably another 50 on political activities. I have to feel like I’m doing something positive.
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I would love to. Right now, I’m caring for my 90 year old Dad and can’t get out too often unless I can find somebody to watch him. I find that even spending too much time on the phone can agitate him. I have several part time jobs and all of them are virtual. The beauty of being online is I can be in the same room on my laptop and he doesn’t feel isolated. Part of the reason I write such lengthy posts is because some days I go without interacting with any other people and I usually have so much to say. Since there’s nobody to say it to, I write. He is a bit cognitively compromised but his bigger issue is he can’t hear much of anything. Most days, he’s content to watch CNN for hours - with the closed captions turned on and the volume turned off. I have to fight with him to get it turned up where I can hear it, since I can’t read the captions and read online at the same time. I’m going to try to find somebody to watch him on the 24th so I can participate in the March, but that’s not looking real good right now. At this rate, he may be coming along. I don’t think we’re actually having a March here so much as a rally which is good. His mobility is limited. Sorry if this is TMI. But today is one of those days where even my dogs don’t want to listen to me, Given the weird weather, they’re both sleeping.
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I volunteer at the SPCA socializing cats to help them be better companions when adopted. What kind of political volunteering do you do? I really want to be of use to the cause…the resistance (Matt doesn’t like that word, but I can’t think of anything more apt to call it, sorry!) but I want to know what I can do other than writing and phoning congress critters, which I already do. I am not extroverted so wouldn’t really be good at petitioning. I do have some art and computer graphics experience that I would love to use to help liberal/progressive political groups or individuals. Do you have any suggestions? Basically, I am better with cats than people, but I am also aware of the level of crisis we face if we bury our heads in the sand or waste time because of our own little mental issues.
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Melisa. Thanks for your comments and congratulations on dropping the meds. I’m a Canadian broadcaster and often speak on depression and anxiety. Been there so high five. I follow this presidency very closely. I reported on the Watergate hearings.
I too was excited about the Obama presidency, and made sure my daughters in their twenties watched as historically the first African American was elected. It gave me goosebumps. Good times. Great times.
Now, I just watch with much interest and yell at the TV. I don’t favor GOP or the Dems. I’d just like to see anybody other than Trump. Anybody would be better at this point. Be patient and watch the mid terms. I stay sane by dreaming of the day when our neighbors in the USA will have a President they can be proud of.
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Bill, if things don’t change soon, your neighbors may be living a lot closer to you than they are now. I am very interested in how people from other countries perceive what’s going on in the U.S. right now. Canada is pretty close to all of the action and it’s pretty easy to access news outlets and meet people to talk with. But we don’t see or hear from the everyday people in other countries, only their government officials. I’d love to just to be able to sit down with a group of international folks and just listen for a while.
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That is very good advice Amy. Mesila you can do your own taper. No need to suffer. If you have enough Valium do a taper. I’m a little surprised they didn’t start you on a good antidepressant. It’s a bomb on anxiety.
Antidepressants have either no effect on me, or very bad ones. One of them, Bupropion, gave me violent thoughts, which were totally uncharacteristic for me as a hippie pacifist, and I dropped that one instantly. Valium is the only anti-anxiety drug that works for me, but it’s becoming eliminated from use despite the fact that certain antidepressants (paxil for example) are just as addictive for people who have been on them a long time. I avoid SSRIs because they are antipsychedelic completely and dull me straight to the center of my soul. Valium however has some antipsychedelic effects also, which is one reason I am getting off of it. But I know I will miss it a lot.
Amy0204 - Your situation makes it much harder. I’m very lucky that my work pushes us to volunteer and finds us opportunities. If it’s possible to spend time on a computer without your father becoming agitated, I have ideas:
- Zooniverse.org or the zooniverse app (haven’t tried the app yet) let you do things like identify animals or trash on beaches to help orginations.
- Do a search on virtual volunteering to find other organizations you can do remotely.
- I love transcribing prisoner letters at betweenthebars.org. It gives me a glimpse into a demographic I would never hear from, in my everyday. If anyone decides to do that, I’ve come up with some ways I could share that make that easier and faster.
- It may be too much for many people to do, but I’ll list it because it is a remote opportunity. I volunteer with crisistextline.org , helping people who are in a hot moment get to a cool calm. It’s very rewarding, and you can do it from any computer.
- Political action (for both Amy and Mesila): You can text voters and remind them of upcoming elections or candidates! Again, from your computer. There are a bunch of orginations doing this. If you need a specific, let me know, and I’ll dig out the org I volunteered with last year. I remember it being very easy and quick.
- Texting too modern? Write postcards to do similar things. Check out the FB group Postcards to Voters. They’re really great! You do have to provide your own stamps and postcards, but there are lots of posts on that Facebook group of people who have found cheap resources, or who have crowdsourced the funds to do it and will share their tips.
- I joined my local Indivisible group, and they have a slack channel. They will put out the call when they need help with something. For example, since I’m a decent editor I volunteered to be on call to edit documents like emails that went out to members or press releases. There were a few of us on the channel at all times, so it’s not like they were dependent on me. It was just whoever was available to edit. Mesila, with your graphics experience, you may be able to help out with similar things for your local political groups.
Whew! I’m out of ideas for now, but I hope that helps. I just know I feel better when I believe I’m making a difference. Love to all!
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Thanks so much for that!! I had no idea such opportunities existed. I’ll be looking into several.
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Have you ever tried any of the mood stablizers? Lamictal is used to treat bipolar and it doesn’t have the same issues as the SSRIs. The thing about bipolar II (the less intense kind) is that you can go for years in a depressed state without experiencing the manic aspect. Then one day, you feel overly productive or exceptionally short tempered. Most people don’t realize it but out of control anger is tied to excessive energy which is the manic phase. Check out this article because it gives a pretty comprehensive description of it. The one thing that may resonate with you is that depression is much more dominant and it’s possible to only experience one manic experience in your lifetime. If you haven’t discussed this with your Dr. you might want to.
Does anyone else have PTSD from news alerts or is that just me? I about jumped out of my skin today when McMaster resigned. 
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I think my phone does. It takes me a few minutes every other day to bulk clear out the iOS push notifications. Poor iPhone 6s… 
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I had to turn them off on my watch it was buzzing all-day-long. 
I would think your graphics skills could be used by some political groups/movements.
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I need to create a new portfolio. I lost a lot of material on a couple of hard drives that died on me. I’m also about 15 years behind in web design knowledge! I need to take a class or two. I did all the work on this site: choronzon.info/grinnoire.html and choronzon.org which are sites about a certain occult phenomenon and a music project based on it that I used to be involved with. All the art and design I did, but it’s not mobile friendly, for example.
A lot of my work will have to wait until this detox is over. My body and mind can take SO little stress right now.
I shut off all push notifications coming from anyone but close contacts or medical stuff. WTFJHT in my email box is the only one I get! It’s all I need.
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One of the best things I did over the past 12 months was take FB off my phone and basically stopped using it, I’ll check it once a month or so to see what one of my children is up to but it’s made me much calmer, especially since the political campaign’s ended.
With all the news lately about FB I’m so glad I gave it up.
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Last year I lost my FB account – which is a story for another time. I spent about 8 weeks without one and I realized the thing I was missing most were my connections to the folks who’d been activists during the AIDS crisis. I wasn’t active then but these men and women had a lot to say and teach about holding on to your humanity during a crisis.
A couple of things: Have front burner issues and back burner issues. It’s okay to just donate monthly to back burner issues.
Sweat it out: The iconic gay disco anthems have that standing because dancing was an integral restorative act. You don’t have to do that – but have a place were you can turn off your brain and work up a sweat – preferably in the company of other people.
All of your emotions are good. Cry if you need to. Rage if you need to. Feel the helplessness and the vulnerability. Then feel the hope.
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My number one escape from Trumplandia was sudoku, about 15 to 20 extreme puzzles a day. This caused a flare up of tendinitis, so my “tranquilizer” had to be shelved while my thumb heals. I’m reading a great deal more now, other than just the news which has always been a priority. I’m even back at writing. When I read too much, I get up and do something physical and practice mindfulness while in the process. My son and I are close. We share all this outrage together and work to keep each other balanced. I also sleep a lot more, probably an escape mechanism. I recognize and appreciate the awakening that seems to be happening, probably because of this horrendous excess of poison that has been poured upon us and oozed up from the sewers. I can’t change the world, but I can change me by taking action through kindness and service. Oh, and did I mention, I swear a great deal more than ever.
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Me too! I forgot to mention before…
-but I suspect this forum sorta filters out those who don’t?
These are really rough times, but I’m taking hope, not just from this forum, but the “Me too” movement and our upcoming generation that’s taking on the NRA, they seriously rock!
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