[GR] It's getting better! ...Wait, no. It's getting worse.
It goes without saying that throughout our lives, we all go through stages where we are feeling better or worse than we usually would. Sometimes we may feel that we are coping well, achieving our goals and able to see our lives going the way we hope for, and it feels a little like it looks like this:
Other times, everything may feel overwhelming, impossible or too painful. And you're kinda just like:
For this week's Getting Real, we'll be discussing the concepts of Relapse and Recovery - what that means to us, how it affects our lives and what we can do to promote our wellbeing.
Join us from 8pm (AEDT) on Monday, January 9th to discuss your thoughts Relapse and Recovery or post below with your ideas!
And we are almost finished up, so we will head to our last question:
What do you think you will take away from tonights discussion?
What do you think you will take away from tonight's discussion?
Oh my, oh my. Where will I start? Tonight I have learned that we are all such an amazingly resilient and self aware bunch!
The best way I can describe what I'm taking away from tonight's discussion is with this list of quotes that really resonated with me tonight. I'll probably end up paraphrasing some of these ideas and adding them to my "2017" board when I'm done with it.
- "For me, writing things down or having support around me as others have suggested - I sometimes find it hard to notice when I'm being self-destructive or at least not helping myself, so keeping track of my own behaviours and having other people to bounce thoughts off has been useful in developing self-awareness" - @safari93
- "I would say "Engaging with life". Which, in less wishy-washy terms, means doing things that are real and have an impact on the world around me. Not necessarily a big impact, just an impact, so I get to step outside of my headspace for a moment or two and feel like I'm contributing/doing something. That could be as simple as taking 30 minutes out of my day to catch up with friends over coffee, going for a run or doing an hour or two of volunteering at the local Vinnies, or like...actually sitting down and getting some work done. (Not that I'm particularly good at that last one...)" - @Asche
- "For me my biggest setbacks have resulted from a change in my perspective or attitude. So I foget all of the helpful things i've learnt and forget how far i've come and then this leads to worse feelings and may result in a relapse. They have been difficult to deal with in recovery because there are two ways to look at a relapse/setback. 1. You have overcome it before and you can do it again! 2. It keeps happening so don't bother trying." - @Alison5
- "It's like recovery is like physical fitness. You don't just train every day for 6 months and go "alright I'm fit which means I can finally quit all this training!" You have to keep working out on a regular basis to maintain your fitness. Just like you have to keep implementing those strategies to stay mentally recovering." - @StarLord
- "It's taken me a long time to learn that relapsing doesn't mean I'm not worth the air I breathe. In the past, when I've relapsed I've always, always, blamed myself. And because I've blamed myself, I've made myself feel like I could have and, more importantly, should have, stopped myself from getting in to this position - by which logic I always decided that I deserved it. Now I think it's okay - it's natural. Literally everyone has their ups and downs; some people's may not feel as drastic as mine but they do. still. happen." - Yeah, I'm appreciating something ~I~ said, what of it?! hehe
- "Self-belief. Willpower. Sometimes creating physical distance. It's not always easy with that last one though." - @RevzZ
Anyway, thank you all for tonight! Goodnight 
What do you think you will take away from tonights discussion?
To keep on pushing and fighting every day. Recovery is ongoing - there is no destination no matter how much we might like there to be one. You are all an incredibly resilient and wise bunch of people and I am feeling really inspired by all the things that have been said tonight. Thanks so much everyone for joining in!
And for now - goodnight I am super tired!! 🙂
What do you think you will take away from tonights discussion?
And support, I'd like to add 
Thank you to everyone for your great participation. It was a very insightful GR!
Goodnight to you all. Sleep well!
I think that momentary loss of cognitive thought is what causes most relapses. Some may be as a result of impulse and others are an underlying sense of failure that comes through.
Something triggers me - past stuff that hasn't been addressed properly/ stressful events/ major changes in routine and everyday life stuff/ uni/ social situations
Nightmares that really upset me
I think your insight on the importance of strategies and coping mechanisms is amazing @loves netball! And I totally agree with your positives on it! ❤️
@dustb0wldance @StarLord I'll agree with that too - for me it's like exercise is needed just about everyday to keep my mood up, along with other self care stuff. It's like a daily effort to keep pushing forward.
@loves netballyes I love that - "a daily effort to keep pushing forward" - I need to stick that on my wall or something to stop myself from making up excuses for why I can't exercise today 😛
1. What do recovery and relapse mean to you?
2. What is something that has or could have helped you on your recovery journey?
3. What are some setbacks that you have faced and how have you dealt with these in your recovery?
Okay, next question -
What is something that helped or could have helped on your recovery journey?
Hey guys! Sorry I'm a bit late- was feeling slightly dead after work, but I am mostly alive now. Mostly.
(I've been sitting on one of my legs for the past hour, and it's now well and truly comatose.)
Annnyyywaaay...
What is something that helped or could have helped on your recovery journey?
At the cost of sounding like a happy-go-lucky commercial, I would say "Engaging with life". Which, in less wishy-washy terms, means doing things that are real and have an impact on the world around me. Not necessarily a big impact, just an impact, so I get to step outside of my headspace for a moment or two and feel like I'm contributing/doing something. That could be as simple as taking 30 minutes out of my day to catch up with friends over coffee, going for a run or doing an hour or two of volunteering at the local Vinnies, or like...actually sitting down and getting some work done. (Not that I'm particularly good at that last one...)
EDIT: I'd also add that learning a new skill is pretty neat too.
Thank you @StarLord!
Hmm... something that helped is being honest with people when I did relapse, rather than trying to hide it or keep it secret. It helped in a physical sense in terms of caring for myself after SH, and in the sense that it reduced my sense of isolation and reminded me that there are people - my psychologist, at least - who cared about me and were there to support me
My first answer was quite specific... in a general sense, I think something that helped a lot was finding a role model (in my case, Renee Yohe) and kind of reassuring myself that if she could do it, so could I. Okay, that wasn't general either, haha!
What are some setbacks that you have faced and how have you dealt with these in your recovery?
For me my biggest setbacks have resulted from a change in my perspective or attitude. So I foget all of the helpful things i've learnt and forget how far i've come and then this leads to worse feelings and may result in a relapse.
They have been difficult to deal with in recovery because there are two ways to look at a relapse/setback.
1. You have overcome it before and you can do it again!
2. It keeps happening so don't bother trying.
Of course, I strive for the more positive outlook 🙂
