Damage is done, so what do we do now !!

For a prolonged period, I did not realize my mood was just not about “I feel down most of the time”. It was about telling your family or someone about it and the best reaction you get is “It’s okay, you will be fine. It’s not a big deal and it’s going to be alright.” Yes, it gets alright but it has a possibility that you might not get alright just like that. It’s going to need lots of awareness, resources, support, and many more things. We can not blame anyone for not getting diagnosed earlier. I mean we can but it won’t help to recover our mental health issues in my opinion.

We know deep inside when it’s more than sadness.. but we don’t know exactly what it is! Everyone has a different intensity. Many of us are not blessed to undergo counseling or therapy (I am one of them). But here is the good news, we can still take care of it.. how ?? here is how I started: 

📍 Tracking your mood. Doing it Just for a month will give you a pattern. we can continue to do it for years. (there are a bunch of free version apps or it could be simply on paper, there are many YouTube tutorials if you want to get some ideas)

📍 Writing a journal was my go-to reflection process. so after venting there, I could see what was going on in my mind. (I used to include prompts).

📍 Self care is a habit. Sometimes you will be able to do it, sometimes it might go the opposite and make you feel the worse because you won’t be able to keep up with it. Relapsing doesn’t mean "back to square one". It’s an upward spiral.

📍 Having an emergency contact: a support system, a family member, a friend you can rely on ( For a very long time, I had my journal only for my reflections. It was just the last couple of years, I got amazing friends, an understanding partner, and this app. It all didn't happen at once but gradually I was able to stick together with the right people and put effort into making right choices )

📍 Not isolating yourself. I was one of those who completely used to shut down and avoid people at all costs for many days. But there is an intuition within me who told me to seek help. I listened to that helping voice inside me and started to look for support. At times I relied on a chating bot. like the one we have here in the cup(Noni).

There are many other things of course, but these were my starting point. I wanted to share this because personal experiences like this helped me and gave me hope that I can manage it even though I feel alienated and misunderstood because of my mood. You are not your mood. It happens. Life gives you lemons but you have a choice to make something out of it.

I am glad 7 cups exist. I am glad we can talk about it and no one will judge you here for finding yourself in a complex situation. Even in our worst days, let’s just not forget- we are human, we can face the struggle, we can go right through it . we can make happy choices for ourselves. It's a matter of trying and we can try our best.