New challenges Trigger warning (self harm)

Hi @Flotsam,

I'm sorry you are feeling crappy. Your nightmares / dreams sound like they be would confronting / disturbing. I often wonder if there is a way to stop dreams / nightmares from happening. I have had a couple of very confronting nightmares and they really do rattle you and sit with you so I understand how you are feeling somewhat.

It is good that you have told your professional team and I hope they can help you work through how you are feeling / thinking / your dreams.

I hope you are okay - keep reaching out on the Forums whenever you need to. That's what we are here for.

Warm wishes,

FloatingFeather

Hey @Flotsam

hearing you about how new things can come up, even if we have worked through an issue. IFS can be helpful ... Tbh I am coming to a place where I am beginning to accept that, is the way I am. My loopy brain was so good at coming up with new seeming solutions to SH. I accept some low grade SH as part of my life.

I also did work on uncovering my own sense of humour. Was so sick of being out of the loop about what every body else was laughing at. Possibly a butt some of the time, but not paranoid enough to think it was all about me most of the time. Then later due to a lot of grief I could not stop crying and socially isolated myself.

Sometimes the humour can be dark and irony and satire are part of it, but learning to laugh has been a huge change in my life and how I feel. Slowly getting better at having a joke at myself without too much put down, though that was a bit borderline, at first. I can remember the fist time I laughed out loud at seeing myself in the position of Eliza Dolittle from Pygmalion also done in movie form ... but the movie did not make me laugh it was quietly reading the play by Shaw much later, long after I had seen the movie with my kids.

It may not matter what, but it can help to find what tickles your own unique funny bone.

I have come down to the point that the human mind is very inventive, and can keep coming up with stuff and partly it is about what we feed it. I could not feed it lighter humorous stuff until I had worked through the deeper issues. Trying to encourage you, that there is purpose to doing "the work". Hope you feel some relief soon.

Hi @Flotsam

Sorry to hear of thoughts of self harm, I have reached breaking point a few times but I'm not normally prone to that sort of thing. About sleep, I was constantly told to get enough sleep as part of good mental health, but the reality is if thoughts are waking you up I think it is better not to fight them and let them run their course. I often wake up various times, early mornings, sometimes get up and sit on the couch, turn on the TV, drink some water, anything to process the thought. But of course you have to still get enough sleep. Life is challenging and the older you get the better you get at coping, it's a learned skill. Sometimes it's just enough to focus on the day ahead and leave the next day until tomorrow.