Often I will think of things that I could do that would help me get better. For example, this week I had to start a diet consisting purely of soluble fibres - to find out what food intolerances I have that are causing my IBS. Unfortunately I'd just been shopping a couple of days before, so I was left with a fridge full of perishables that I couldn't eat. Luckily this is not a hugely painful point financially (as I just got basically all of January's money that I should've had then in one go...), so I didn't have to eat it anyway because there was nothing else to do.
I thought to myself, well I don't really want to throw this all out - I did pay money for it, after all. In the end I came up with the idea of cooking dinner for all of my friends with it. Usually at that point I'd consider the idea, maybe put one or two steps towards doing it; but fundamentally I'd probably bottle out of it, especially if it involved other people.
This time I didn't. Last night I went over to my friends' house and cooked dinner for them and left them the spare food. Whilst today went kind of badly in several ways, it makes it much easier to bear knowing that not only are my friends pretty awesome, but I'm doing well enough to have actually done something. Hooray.
Sunday 20 February 2011
Friday 11 February 2011
Complaining
As I've written before I've had some issues with the flat above me being obnoxiously loud and putting offensive notes through my door. I promised myself when it happened that I'd make a formal complaint if it happened again - with a single incident I didn't deem it worth the fear that I'd feel as a response of 'telling on them'. Doubtless it harks back to telling the teachers when I was bullied at school, but any time I complain about someone to an official body - even anonymously - I get absolutely terrified that the person I'm complaining about is going to find out that it was me that made the complaint and come and shout at me.
The night before last my boyfriend was here, and whilst we were in bed there were three loud knocks on the ceiling - or the floor, to the person that did it. We weren't being loud at all; my bed creaks a bit because there's no carpet in there (which is not my fault) and because, you know, beds creak - and as my support worker put it earlier, 'unless your boyfriend is some sort of stallion or you like literally screaming then it's not a nuisance'. Which amused me. Despite not being at all embarrassed about my sexual activity, there's something a bit difficult about saying that someone's getting upset because my boyfriend comes over once a week. I end up sort of sheepishly shuffling and going "umm I'm not noisy, honest...we do our best to be quiet and considerate".
But frankly, I have to live in this building too, and I will not extend my consideration to stopping doing something that I enjoy quite a lot and am already trying to be considerate about. It's not like it's waking people up or at obscene times of night either. If I systematically hoovered my entire flat at 3am on a weekday morning then I'd understand the complaint. I wouldn't mind so much but whoever it is that lives there is hugely hypocritical; because most days they've got their music on so loud that my living room literally vibrates. They've had parties there, not frequently but sometimes. I don't mind hearing noise; we live in a block of flats, we are going to hear noise - but there's a level of consideration that needs to happen.
So when those three loud knocks came onto my ceiling, I had a panic attack. I burst into tears and I am so, so glad my boyfriend was there because I felt absolutely terrified. I still do now, though in a more controlled way. It's like discovering that your armour has a potentially fatal crack in it. All I can keep thinking is that I am not safe, I am not alone, I can't escape the people who want to bully and harass me. Obviously I'm fully aware that a lot of this is exaggerated by my condition and lack of logic, but anyone would be distressed by it.
Originally I wasn't going to complain. But my support worker came over and I just...I needed to do it. I needed to hold in the acute terror of being caught telling, of confrontation. I need to accept that it's okay to be annoyed with people who aren't being considerate towards you or are harassing you - like hey, putting threatening and offensive letters through someone's door! Delivered by hand, just to add that extra degree of threat. Every time I hear a door go in the building I freeze. Every time I hear voices I feel like running and hiding, like turning all the lights off so that no one knows I'm here.
I hate it here. I cannot leave soon enough - but I shouldn't let people walk all over me whilst I'm waiting to escape.
The night before last my boyfriend was here, and whilst we were in bed there were three loud knocks on the ceiling - or the floor, to the person that did it. We weren't being loud at all; my bed creaks a bit because there's no carpet in there (which is not my fault) and because, you know, beds creak - and as my support worker put it earlier, 'unless your boyfriend is some sort of stallion or you like literally screaming then it's not a nuisance'. Which amused me. Despite not being at all embarrassed about my sexual activity, there's something a bit difficult about saying that someone's getting upset because my boyfriend comes over once a week. I end up sort of sheepishly shuffling and going "umm I'm not noisy, honest...we do our best to be quiet and considerate".
But frankly, I have to live in this building too, and I will not extend my consideration to stopping doing something that I enjoy quite a lot and am already trying to be considerate about. It's not like it's waking people up or at obscene times of night either. If I systematically hoovered my entire flat at 3am on a weekday morning then I'd understand the complaint. I wouldn't mind so much but whoever it is that lives there is hugely hypocritical; because most days they've got their music on so loud that my living room literally vibrates. They've had parties there, not frequently but sometimes. I don't mind hearing noise; we live in a block of flats, we are going to hear noise - but there's a level of consideration that needs to happen.
So when those three loud knocks came onto my ceiling, I had a panic attack. I burst into tears and I am so, so glad my boyfriend was there because I felt absolutely terrified. I still do now, though in a more controlled way. It's like discovering that your armour has a potentially fatal crack in it. All I can keep thinking is that I am not safe, I am not alone, I can't escape the people who want to bully and harass me. Obviously I'm fully aware that a lot of this is exaggerated by my condition and lack of logic, but anyone would be distressed by it.
Originally I wasn't going to complain. But my support worker came over and I just...I needed to do it. I needed to hold in the acute terror of being caught telling, of confrontation. I need to accept that it's okay to be annoyed with people who aren't being considerate towards you or are harassing you - like hey, putting threatening and offensive letters through someone's door! Delivered by hand, just to add that extra degree of threat. Every time I hear a door go in the building I freeze. Every time I hear voices I feel like running and hiding, like turning all the lights off so that no one knows I'm here.
I hate it here. I cannot leave soon enough - but I shouldn't let people walk all over me whilst I'm waiting to escape.
Tuesday 1 February 2011
Polymathy
I can't remember a time when I wasn't interested in absolutely everything. I mean everything - I might not like, for example, football: but I know a reasonable amount about it. Not knowing things upsets me, and not being good at things does too. It just so happens that I'm pretty much good at anything I try.
I think what depression has taken from me is the trying. I still find things interesting, it's just more...peripherally. If I put on a documentary about something scientific I'll sit there engrossed and find it exceptionally interesting. But rarely will I find myself actually wanting to put that programme on, if that makes sense. I know that I absolutely adore fantasy fiction, but sometimes I'll have a book I really want to read and know I'd enjoy sitting there and I don't start it.
To go from wanting to do everything, and actually doing so much...I mean whilst I was at school, whilst I suffered the worst of the bullying and abuse, I also did - three types of dance lessons, ran online communities, played sports, played in just about every music club there was, acted in plays, did extracurricular work, was an active part of my family and generally in the school community even though it treated me so badly.
These days I'm ecstatic if I manage to pick up a book I've always wanted to read, and that hurts. It makes me feel useless, stupid, and pointless. Take this blog for instance; I know it's cathartic and helpful, but how often do I actually write here?
It spirals off into other things as well, where I don't just fail to do things but I then lose touch with what's going on. The past few weeks, I've felt almost detached from things sometimes. Lying in bed with my boyfriend last night, I just kept on thinking thank you so much for being real. I didn't say it, because how do you explain something like that? But I get up and all that I do is wait for the day to end. I wait for things to happen because I don't make them happen. Even on the days that I get things done - like today I went to an appointment and hang the washing out to dry and got some online things done. I still feel like the day's been utterly empty.
It's like I'm functioning, but my mind's hovering above watching it all happen.
I think what depression has taken from me is the trying. I still find things interesting, it's just more...peripherally. If I put on a documentary about something scientific I'll sit there engrossed and find it exceptionally interesting. But rarely will I find myself actually wanting to put that programme on, if that makes sense. I know that I absolutely adore fantasy fiction, but sometimes I'll have a book I really want to read and know I'd enjoy sitting there and I don't start it.
To go from wanting to do everything, and actually doing so much...I mean whilst I was at school, whilst I suffered the worst of the bullying and abuse, I also did - three types of dance lessons, ran online communities, played sports, played in just about every music club there was, acted in plays, did extracurricular work, was an active part of my family and generally in the school community even though it treated me so badly.
These days I'm ecstatic if I manage to pick up a book I've always wanted to read, and that hurts. It makes me feel useless, stupid, and pointless. Take this blog for instance; I know it's cathartic and helpful, but how often do I actually write here?
It spirals off into other things as well, where I don't just fail to do things but I then lose touch with what's going on. The past few weeks, I've felt almost detached from things sometimes. Lying in bed with my boyfriend last night, I just kept on thinking thank you so much for being real. I didn't say it, because how do you explain something like that? But I get up and all that I do is wait for the day to end. I wait for things to happen because I don't make them happen. Even on the days that I get things done - like today I went to an appointment and hang the washing out to dry and got some online things done. I still feel like the day's been utterly empty.
It's like I'm functioning, but my mind's hovering above watching it all happen.
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