Why is life worth living?
- Thread starter Jeremy
- Start date
How did they detect the events? I had an afib event that was not pleasant and scary, had no idea what was going on.
I'm the same way. I joke about everything. I think there has to be something inherent in people like you and I but it's certainly not a choice I made, I've been like this forever.
The number of things I would change about myself are legion but honestly I'm somebody that really enjoys a whole lot of things. I think life is basically meaningless but awesome at the same time. There are so many things to learn and do I could never get to all of them.
If I have anything close to a philosophy about life it's that I want the people in my orbit to have a great time. I want them to feel valued. I want to try to care about the things they care about. This is another thing I didn't consciously do, but I think having an outward focus is extremely helpful.
the TIA stroke I’ve had twice before so was easy. Then I had chest pains, dizzy, blood pressure around 200/140, pulse in the 120s, etc and went to ER around 7 last night. Gave me nitroglycerin and things calmed down until about 11:30 when occurred again.
Stop checking your phone and close your eyes! Even if you don’t sleep, you need rest.
Such a range of experiences and stories here and I feel safe saying that the state of the world the past - 3 years likely delivered few favors in the realm of mental health.
Personally, I've been fortunate to avoid ongoing challenges but can appreciate how difficult and life-disrupting it can be. I almost certainly had PTSD and PPA after my first child's complicated birth but didn't realize it at the time. The screening is very weak and easy to circumvent. And I didn't trust my doctor anymore so I wasn't going to be straightforward with them. Only later in recounting with new providers did they make it known that what I felt and experienced wasn't normal and wasn't just baby blues.
Seeing what has been helpful for so many just shows the breadth of human experience. I don't have experience on the medication side other than to say the idea to just stop meds is dangerous or that you are weak for needing them is so, so damaging. The same with therapy. I grew up in that mentality and see it far too much still. A suicide attempt covered up with "he just needs to get back to work" instead of any robust response. The brain is still such a new frontier and we are still discovering how best to work with and help it when things go awry. Talking about your experience and challenges with a professional is one of the best tools we have (in addition to medication!) - though even I'm a hypocrite here and still avoid because it still feels stigmatized.
Anyway, I have to echo what a couple others have said that for me - getting outside and into nature has always been a balm for me. Walking primarily but as I get older we do more landscape work, gardening - and it feels so good to be outside. When I was in the thick of it with my first child, I was taking 2-3 walks with him a day, not even recognizing how strongly I needed to be out of the house and in trees and blue sky.
So for those looking for new easy avenues to explore amongst the many suggested in these pages - Walking in nature, doing something with your hands outside, especially with plants! and something I'm also trying to implement - a gratitude practice. Lots of research that shows people who do this are the most joyful despite their life circumstances. Many incorporate into a journaling practice - a simple note of one thing they are grateful for that day. And to be clear, a gratitude practice isn't looking at the suffering of others and castigating yourself for complaining when life could be worse. Playing the pain Olympics will not help anyone and will in fact make you feel worse.
And if this thread has shown us anything, it's that you should never miss a chance to send that text or email or call to let someone know how grateful you are for them or how much their presence brings joy. You never know when someone may really, really need to hear that.
Personally, I've been fortunate to avoid ongoing challenges but can appreciate how difficult and life-disrupting it can be. I almost certainly had PTSD and PPA after my first child's complicated birth but didn't realize it at the time. The screening is very weak and easy to circumvent. And I didn't trust my doctor anymore so I wasn't going to be straightforward with them. Only later in recounting with new providers did they make it known that what I felt and experienced wasn't normal and wasn't just baby blues.
Seeing what has been helpful for so many just shows the breadth of human experience. I don't have experience on the medication side other than to say the idea to just stop meds is dangerous or that you are weak for needing them is so, so damaging. The same with therapy. I grew up in that mentality and see it far too much still. A suicide attempt covered up with "he just needs to get back to work" instead of any robust response. The brain is still such a new frontier and we are still discovering how best to work with and help it when things go awry. Talking about your experience and challenges with a professional is one of the best tools we have (in addition to medication!) - though even I'm a hypocrite here and still avoid because it still feels stigmatized.
Anyway, I have to echo what a couple others have said that for me - getting outside and into nature has always been a balm for me. Walking primarily but as I get older we do more landscape work, gardening - and it feels so good to be outside. When I was in the thick of it with my first child, I was taking 2-3 walks with him a day, not even recognizing how strongly I needed to be out of the house and in trees and blue sky.
So for those looking for new easy avenues to explore amongst the many suggested in these pages - Walking in nature, doing something with your hands outside, especially with plants! and something I'm also trying to implement - a gratitude practice. Lots of research that shows people who do this are the most joyful despite their life circumstances. Many incorporate into a journaling practice - a simple note of one thing they are grateful for that day. And to be clear, a gratitude practice isn't looking at the suffering of others and castigating yourself for complaining when life could be worse. Playing the pain Olympics will not help anyone and will in fact make you feel worse.
And if this thread has shown us anything, it's that you should never miss a chance to send that text or email or call to let someone know how grateful you are for them or how much their presence brings joy. You never know when someone may really, really need to hear that.
Did you feel safe expressing a range of emotions as a kid? I know humor is often a go to of mine and I'm sure it goes back to childhood.
Hi Jeremy - hope you feel better soon. I’m not a doctor…or God…so I won’t say your timing was good or bad, but I certainly hope this doesn’t keep you from sharing your thoughts in the future. It seems the road to healing is rarely easy, and it may be that this was simply long overdue (your sharing that is). Again, hope you continue to share.Yes, since right now my very prelim and hypothetical diagnosis is a possible TIA Stroke yesterday and 2 heart events here at the hospital last night. And this place is boring as heck, at least when I finally get transported from Meth West to Meth downtown later I get to hear sirens.
Timing on this thread might not have been the greatest.
Honestly I don't know. All I really remember is doing everything to try to play my Nintendo as much as humanly possible. I think my humor stuff is more related again to just trying to make everybody around me have a laugh for a minute more than any sort of repressed emotion.
- Mar 27, 2006
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I strongly identify with this. That's a major driver for me. I wouldn't say I'm necessarily a "pleaser", but I definitely am the guy who tries to get a smile out of people, even in bad situations. That mostly works well for me, but there have been occurrences where people have gotten upset that I'm not taking a situation seriously enough, which I assure them is not true. It's just the way I'm wired to try to lighten things.
I can definitely relate to this. My timing is usually impeccable, but when it’s not….
Love this. I read a book recently that suggested a gratitude practice of writing a letter once a month to a person in your life. Take the time to express just how much they mean to you. Or, maybe meant to you in the past.
At the end of each day, before we go to sleep, my husband and I share three good things that happened that day. It's something we just recently started, but it certainly helps end the day in a positive and peaceful manner.
We have started doing that with the kids at the dinner table. Everyone shares a good thing and a not good thing that happened today. They are 5 and 7, so the responses aren't super heavy, but it's kinda fun.
I think that's the perfect way to hear about their day rather than just asking, "what did you do today?"
I was the same way, they put me on ritalin too. Hated it, took away my personality. but back then there was just one dosage, children and adults took the same thing.
I think @Mr Janny shared that they did something similar that I've always kept back of mind to start with our kids when old enough - high, low, buffalo IIRC.
My company began a new assistance program with 12 free sessions, with a condition manager to help find a therapist. Pretty proud about it as a benefit.
- Mar 27, 2006
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Yep, that's exactly what we do. High, low, buffalo. We've been doing it long enough that my kids are the ones that initiate it, now. We don't have to prod them.