My Coping Mechanisms to Keep My Heart and Mind Healthy

I always thought I had a very strong will and mind. I was unfazed when I had open heart surgery. Things started crumbling when I had pulmonary embolism. A year before I was diagnosed I was in and out of the ER and my respiratory doctor back then just kept upping my asthma meds. I only discovered what was ailing me when I went for a second opinion.

The struggle affected my mental health. It came to a point when I had a second pulmonary embolism, I couldn't push myself anymore. I almost gave up, but I reached out for help and my doctor counselled me to work on my coping mechanisms.

I recently saw a friend post how to deal with things. It said rest when you're tired. Read or do something creative when you're uninspired. Exercise when you feel depressed.. etc. For the life of me I couldn't find the post anymore. It was a re-shared post, so it's harder to find. Anyway, in my mind I do everything it suggested, so thought I'd make my own list.

Here's what I do when I feel blah -

• Tired/weak - I sleep or I go to our cats
• Antsy - I do some gardening
• Angry - I do the dishes or clean or take a long shower
• Uninspired - I read
• Bored - I watch videos (YouTube/movies/TV)
• Unbalanced - I sew
• Depressed - I pray + do something that makes me happy (any of the activities mentioned above)
• Sad - be grateful (make a list of things to be grateful about/be grateful for someone's success)
• Procrastinating? Prioritize the task and follow-up with a happy activity
• Need a boost of happiness?  Play with cats.

One thing I also learned is to avoid triggers. Know what they are so you can avoid it and understand how best to deal with it. I lessened my time doom-scrolling and have kept my circle small. There are things I just can't deal with anymore. I used to jump and join everything, but I realized I have to protect my peace. 

What about you? What are your coping mechanisms?

#BeKind #StaySafe

Finding Balance

I was able to write a couple of posts last weekend which allowed me to take a break from writing. I didn't force myself yesterday to write a blog post for today since I still needed time to find my balance. Such is the life of someone with PTSD. When it's triggered it takes me awhile to go back to my regular, happy, chill state.

My PTSD was triggered by several factors. I've been able to rebuild my coping mechanisms, but one thing piled after another so I had to work hard to get back to normal. The following activities helped:

• 
  Prayer
• Communicating my frustration
• Re-potted my cacti and succulent collection (it has grown since Ate Rose gave them to me). 
• Wrote a business analysis. This helped allow me to look at things from another perspective. 
• Ate food I like and had a frosty. (I'm so ready to go back to my set meals haha). 
• Worked on organizing my craft room. Also did some sewing.
• Spent time with the cats.
• Did pulmo rehab (mega deep breathing exercises ftw).
• Short roadtrip with the boys. Getting a good dose of sunshine probably helped.
• A little retail therapy. (Got a new Uratex stool for my gardening activities).
• Stopped and smelled the flowers. 
• Talked to a friend who reminded me I'm an ideal client. 
• Stayed offline for awhile. 

Spending time outside probably gave me a good dose of vitamin sun. I feel a little sunburnt after our short roadtrip today. It was good to be out and about. I even spent more time watering the plants. This allowed me to be calmer and distract me from the issues at hand. The problem with PTSD is when it's triggered everything goes out of proportion and I start feeling unwell. 

I feel a bit better now and will hopefully get better sleep tonight after being out most of the day. I know I'm still fragile, so hopefully the universe will cooperate and be safer for me. I wasn't like this before. I used to face tough times by looking at it straight in the eye. I didn't even blink when I had heart surgery. It was the clots that wore me down. 

The activities I listed above are some of my coping mechanisms. Being busy with offline activities really helps a lot and whenever negative thoughts intrude I combat it with a prayer. Of course, hugs from my boys added to my happiness well. 

#BeKind #StaySafe