coping

[kindkit]

I haven't really been enjoying my day off due to anxiety.

Things I've done so far today to try to feel better, in order of effectiveness from most to least:

1) Work out with resistance bands
2) Listen to some Rusty Quill podcasts (specifically Stellar Firma and old Magnus episodes)
3) Play lots of Best Fiends
4) Look at Twitter
5) Make an inventory of my Emergency Food
6) Drink more coffee


Things I have not been able to do:

1) Nap
2) Read fiction; I haven't been able to concentrate on reading since this all got started
3) Watch films/TV; same problem


I thought, until recently, that I was doing fine. But I think all the anxiety was just building up.

Suggestions . . . sort of welcomed? I do not do well with meditation/mindfulness/sitting quietly with my thoughts. And normally I do take a walk every day, but today the thought of showering and getting dressed and going out was just too much.

Comments

[batdina]

I suspect given what you've written in the past that audible is out of the question, but audiobooks in general are how I've been reading since all of this BS started. There are lots of free ones on archive.org.

Best I got. Just so's you know, as a former PhD student myself, the not being able to read thing is only adding to my anxiety level. I suspect we're similar in that regard.

Take care as best you can.

[lilacsigil]

I haven't been able to read fiction since this started either, even though I was part way through a book I was really enjoying. Very frustrating!

[kindkit]

I think for me it's more of a concentration problem. I'm having trouble with long-form anything, and even quite short podcasts (20-25 minutes) are sometimes giving me difficulty.

Hmm, now that I think about it, it might be time for my occasional re-read of Jane Austen. Something where I already know the story and find it comforting sounds better than trying anything new. And since I know the stories well I can read them in short chunks if necessary.

It is frustrating/weird/scary not to be able to read.

Thanks, and you take care too.

[kindkit]

I started Chuck Wendig's Wanderers before the situation started making me so anxious, because perversely I wanted to read about a scary pandemic. But I can't resume it now (and also, I wasn't enjoying it that much anyway).

I might try re-reading some favorites like Jane Austen.

[snickfic]

These are all just things that help me when I'm feeling stir-crazy and unable to focus:
- Yoga. Not the sit-and-think kind, but the sweaty kind. Yoga with Adriene on YouTube is my go-to.
- Housework. I get so much housework done when I have unfocused energy to burn! I start with the stuff that always needs doing, like dishes and vacuuming, and if I need more then I get into washing the windows and organizing the piles of junk that have been sitting around for months.
- Cooking. Cutting up lots of vegetables into very tiny pieces can be cathartic. Often I'll have a podcast on.
- Video games. I have a stash of them on Steam that I bought for cheap but have never played, and I dig into them when I'm sick, especially when I feel too bad to focus on anything static, like a book, but not bad enough to just sleep.

[rydra_wong]

Yeah, I was talking to a colleague today about having trouble absorbing/processing information and that this is an effect on the ongoing trauma of the pandemic -- we are all functionally impaired right now. Our brains cannot cope with this shit and think properly too.

It is frustrating/weird/scary not to be able to read.

Yeah. But fwiw, I bet there are a shit-tonne of people experiencing the same thing (I haven't tried reading anything requiring concentration, but suspect it would not go well), and it will pass as and when we get back to some kind of "normal", whatever that ends up being.