YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

Ooooh, I like this! My turn!

I didn't include 'anxiety' because that sort of overlays or includes everything.

thecatewhite, I really enjoyed seeing your pie chart. I loved the fact that you had created with your hands, too. you've motivated me to make one. Love to you!

here's mine

^^Thanks for reviving this thread, love all the charts.

This is more like it used to feel, lately it's become more complex and optimistic.

Fargin, I get that pie chart!! Well done!! How do you control your panic?

Fargin, I get that pie chart!! Well done!! How do you control your panic?

Very effectively and at a very high cost.

Hiding my emotions became essential for surviving my childhood and I became pretty good at it. Took a lot of therapy to even realize I was doing it. I spent all my energy and focus on appearing pleasant and attentive and I feel like I did a lot of damage to myself. So I really don't recommend it. Where I'm at right now, I'm trying to accept that worry, anxiety and negative thinking is part of my thought process, instead of hating myself for feeling them and trying to make them disappear. It doesn't make my anxiety go away, but it seems like it makes dealing with it a bit easier.

Fargin,
Right on. I'll never forget the moment when my therapist said, "So! You felt angry...whats wrong with feeling angry?" I was dumbfounded. At 28 I still believed I was not allowed negative emotions (thanks, narcissistic dad). I do a lot of meditation and I've become aware that so much of my problem is not the problem itself but my resistance to it. That's been huge.

I'd be willing to bet at one time your chart was the inverse: the majority red and a small percentage green. Progress, albeit slow and arduous, is so so sweet.

It's hard to even believe you can change, but once you realize you can or have... just a little bit... sweet!

Oooh fun! Graphs make me anxious though...of course. So I'm not sure if this is really accurate, I am second guessing myself now.

Thanks for sharing a great idea here.