Last Monday morning and before I settled down to put the final touches to this column, I read The Press, giving special attention to my fellow columnist, Dr Andy Field.
I agreed with him about antibiotics, but then winced as I read on. He’d written about what I had written about. Bother! Did I have to start again? I decided to build on his sensible advice.
Dr Field wrote about this time of year and low mood. I didn’t expect to have first-hand experience last month.
It is often thought that people who have an optimistic, outward-looking, positive attitude to life, as I generally do, don’t have low moods and depressive thinking.
They do. I thought JK Rowling must have experienced depression when she created the Dementors in Harry Potter. “Get near a Dementor and every good feeling, every happy memory, will be sucked out of you…”
In the past, I have felt as if I was under duvet made of lead, pressing down, making movements impossible.
That’s where, in the past, I have wanted to stay, in bed, not confronting problems, just introspecting and misusing my imagination. But nothing gets solved lying in bed. I had a brush with that duvet last month.
There wasn’t one trigger, but a variety of all sorts, topped off by a book, which I found demoralising. The Dementors were nagging away in one ear, while Pollyanna was attempting to be heard in the other.
Age, experience and knowledge has its benefits and I now know how to fight these Dementors.
The highly emotional state needed to be broken and only I had the power to challenge and change my thoughts, attitudes, beliefs and actions.
Step by step, I waded through the treacle that my mind and body had become stuck in and the demented thoughts slowly faded away.
These were some of my steps:
1. Get up, showered and dressed. Tough, but crucial.
2. Eat healthily. The mind and body need the correct fuel to work properly. I fought the urge to self medicate with my choice of chocolate and alcohol.
3. Fresh Air. I unearthed an old pedometer and set a target of 10,000 steps a day. Gardening. Helps sleep too.
4. Enjoyed the simple pleasures in life. Signs of spring and hope. In York I looked at The Minster and wondered at its magnificence. Another day I sat overlooking the sea, marvelling at the always changing scene.
5. Spent five pounds on a bunch of flowers.
6. Telephoned two friends and talked about their lives and problems. Counted blessings.
7. Booked a neck and shoulder massage.
9. Restricted TV watching. A demotivating, energy sapping activity.
10. Stopped worrying about what I can’t do in a troubled world and concentrated on what I can do, which is to help a few people, not thousands.
I also recognised the truth in ‘This too will pass.’ It has.
- Rita Leaman is a psychotherapist and writer who lives in North Yorkshire. As Alison R Russell, she is the author of ‘Are You Chasing Rainbows?’ www.chasingrainbows.org.uk
