Hi @sunset_hues
Oh no! Hopefully you’re recovering well! 💙
Keeping a journal of your accomplishments is such a great idea! I wish I had thought of that. Do you ever look back to see how far you’ve come? I feel like that would be satisfying. It’s really helpful to view recovery as a skill that you are building. I feel like it becomes easier to frame things not going ideally as expected because it is something you are still learning how to do (so much more helpful/positive). You’re completely right, often our unhelpful behaviours turn into instinctual habits/reflexes. I found that challenging those reflexes can be really uncomfortable, especially at the start. As you mentioned brains like familiarity and going against what you have learnt is always going to be challenging.
The thing that helped me stay patient was something my dad would say. He would tell me that the likelihood of it remain like this forever is statistically exceedingly low so, if we just keep trying different things eventually things will improve (he was completely correct). It enabled me to start believing that there is this day in the future where things will be better (even if I do absolutely nothing) and it is moving towards me. I could move closer to it by going to therapy, taking my medication, practicing selfcare etc.
I think I also struggled with remaining hopeful that better existed. Did you ever feel similarly?
