I had an appointment today with the psychologist I see at the Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation. I’ve been seeing her on and off for the better part of 15 years, depending on what I happen to be going through. Sometimes I see her monthly if I’m going through something tough. Other times I check in every couple of months or so just to make sure I don’t fall into any bad psychological habits. I have a tendency to stifle my feelings and convince myself that everything’s fine.
I invest a lot more energy in taking care of my mental health than I used to. I guess the ironic benefit of having had so many stressful life events recently is that I now have a wide range of coping skills. My newest one is that I reach out to family and friends. This is a huge challenge for me. Normally I keep things bottled up and to myself. I’m still at the stage where I need to make a conscious effort to do this or it doesn’t happen at all. Like I said, I’m working on it.
I have more ways to entertain myself than ever before. Of course watching TV is a big part of that. My computer is also. I email friends, go on YouTube, “read” books. I’m not big on social media. I’m on Facebook pretty much because I have to, to keep track of people. I post things myself occasionally, only when I have something to say. I don’t have a cell phone. I don’t text, tweet or TikTok. I’m not a Luddite, I just don’t want to be a slave to a screen. And my hands aren’t up to holding on to something like a phone, but even if they were I wouldn’t have one.
I’m getting off track. I haven’t covered everything I do for my mental health yet, so watch for Part II.
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