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Mental health

What changed for me when I got my sleep back

Started 19 November 2024 · 17 replies · 186 hearts · read 3.5k times

TaaviTallinn, EE · 19 November 2024
1.7 years ago

What changed for me when I got my sleep back — putting it in its own thread so it does not get lost in the check-in.

I have been sitting on this for a month.

This is difficult to write and I have deleted it twice. I am posting it now mostly because leaving it in drafts has not made it any easier to carry.

The thing I keep coming back to is that I expected to feel one way and I feel another, and the gap between those is what I want to talk about.

Thanks. Saying it here first has made the idea of saying it to somebody else considerably less impossible.

62

OssianTromsø, NO
#1

The thing I would flag is anhedonia specifically. Low mood gets asked about; not enjoying anything is a different report and worth naming.

5

JonahFacilitatorCork, Ireland
#2

Facilitator note: the agreements for this circle are stricter than the sitewide ones and they are stricter on purpose. They are linked from the circle landing page.

23

BelCroydon, UK
#3

Taavi, answering your question directly rather than going round the houses.

What I found was that being honest here was a rehearsal for being honest at my appointment, and the rehearsal genuinely helped.

9

JunoBrighton, UK
#4

My GP asked me to come back in two weeks rather than leaving it, and that follow-up was the thing that actually made a difference.

11me too 6

CormacWaterford, IE
#5

Picking up Jonah’s point rather than starting a new one.

My experience is that this is discussed far too little and I am grateful this circle exists rather than it being folded into a general one.

11me too 5

IlyaAlmaty, KZ
#6

I found it useful to separate what I could raise with a prescriber from what belonged in therapy, because I had been taking everything to the wrong door.

14

HeddaCopenhagen, DK
#7

Somebody here said that a hard week does not need a cause to be legitimate, and I have carried that around for two years.

8

SaoirseKilkenny, IE
#8

What worked for me was keeping the small structures going even when they felt pointless. Getting dressed, going outside, writing two lines.

10

TallisEly, UK
#9

Gently disagreeing with Hedda, or rather adding the other half of it.

Coming back to say I am better. It took two clinicians, one medication review and a very patient friend, and it took about eight months.

12

BramwellNottingham, UK
#10

Flat rather than sad was the closest I could get to describing mine, and it took me two months to find a clinician who understood that distinction.

12me too 9

MairéadMayo, IE
#11

I had to accept that some of this was seasonal and would have happened regardless, and that acceptance stopped me looking for a cause that was not there.

8

PippaTruro, UK
#12

Bramwell — yes, and the bit that took me longest to accept was the next part.

The support around me improved dramatically once I told people what would actually help, rather than expecting them to guess.

12

MintaColchester, UK
#13

Nothing here is medical advice and on this subject that matters. If you are struggling, please talk to somebody qualified, and our support resources page lists the kinds of service worth finding.

6me too 1

BronteHaworth, UK
#14

Nothing useful, just that I have been exactly here.

11

FitzLimerick, IE
#15

I told my GP later than I should have. Please do not do what I did. The conversation was much easier than the four months of not having it.

12

JonahFacilitatorCork, Ireland
#16

Speaking as a facilitator: what has been described here belongs with somebody qualified rather than in a thread, and I would rather say that plainly than let us be reassuring.

12me too 5

BessLouth, UK
#17

Building on what Jonah wrote rather than answering the original question.

What I would say is that a change in mood is worth reporting even if you cannot attribute it, and especially if you cannot attribute it.

10