I go through severe highs and lows. I am going through a high right now and am afraid of the upcoming low.

[Spike Spiegel]

Normally My depression and anxiety comes in highs and lows. Ill be really sad and depressed for a few weeks or month. Then Ill bounce back for a little bit covering up most of the symptoms. Then eventually I will slowly slip then crash back into a low. I just recently came out of one of my lowest lows and am experiencing one of my better high points. I am afraid the low will inevitably come again.
When I tell people this they usually go "just do what you do when you are feeling good" Or "what makes you feel good when you are ridding a high, just keep doing that". But sometimes I could be doing the exact same thing during a low and I will feel horrible. But that exact same act when I am feeling well and have a different perspective makes me feel great.
I am a believer in the "just one more day" mentality . Just try and make tomorrow a good day, them just try and make the day after that a good day and so on. But I still fear the inevitable crash is coming.
I don't know how to handle this.

 

[brighteyes]

Plan for the low times. It merges well with the one more day mentality in the way that if you take care of today then tomorrow will take care of itself. You just have to figure a plan to bank time.

If there is an outcome that you want in the future, set it up now, put things into place so that its right in your face when your down.

Akin to putting your running shoes by the bed and sleeping in your running outfit if you want get into running. Kinda hard not to when ots your first option for things to do.

Its not that easy obvi, but the smaller you can break down each want and determine a coinciding action, the more automatic you can make the outcome.

Really think about what you want and where your life's satisfaction will come from and decide on the outcome. Good luck.

 

[timf]

There are so many factors that can bear upon cyclic depression. At the core may be a neurology sensitive to some chemical depletion.

Consider the over the counter supplement SAMe. In Europe this is by prescription for depression. It is involved in over a hundred chemical processes in the body. If someone has a physiology that doesn't make enough many different functions can be restricted.

When one considers the impact of sleep cycles, nutrition, exercise, diet, stress, and work environment, there are many things to experiment with to see what influences can be controlled for improvement.

 

[Cupcake]

Normally My depression and anxiety comes in highs and lows. Ill be really sad and depressed for a few weeks or month. Then Ill bounce back for a little bit covering up most of the symptoms. Then eventually I will slowly slip then crash back into a low. I just recently came out of one of my lowest lows and am experiencing one of my better high points. I am afraid the low will inevitably come again.
When I tell people this they usually go "just do what you do when you are feeling good" Or "what makes you feel good when you are ridding a high, just keep doing that". But sometimes I could be doing the exact same thing during a low and I will feel horrible. But that exact same act when I am feeling well and have a different perspective makes me feel great.
I am a believer in the "just one more day" mentality . Just try and make tomorrow a good day, them just try and make the day after that a good day and so on. But I still fear the inevitable crash is coming.
I don't know how to handle this.

I can totally relate to this. One thing that helps me is to fully appreciate the highs when they come. I savor them and just try to live in the moment and, if I'm behind on stuff I neglected when I'm down, I use that time to catch up on that, but also definitely make time for fun, even if it's something small. Because I never know how long the high feelings will last. I agree with what the second poster said about planning for the down times. I do that, too, and it is helpful. I make sure I have a lot of food in the house when I start to feel one coming on, food that isn't hard to make, and, just in general, I do things that will make my life a little less stressful while I'm depressed. It also helps to have a method at hand in case a down just becomes too much and lasts for too long and I just can't anymore. Having a method always makes me feel a little safer. Hope all that helps.

 

[Shadow Life]

Yes, prepare ahead of time and enjoy the high-times. Do things that are fun, when you can, because creating a 'bank' of good times is one of things you can remind yourself of when you are feeling low. It can help you to remember that you are still capable of having fun & feeling happy. If you have happy (relatively recent) memories to think about it might help you bounce back faster. It might help you recognize that even though this is a low-time, the high-time will return. Nothing, not even emotional-states last forever. The plan is to remember that and find soothing ways to ride the low-times out without doing further damage to your life through poor choices and reactions.

Personally, I hate taking showers for the reason that it's too cold to undress. So, I blast the heat until it's warm. I will take that shower now because if I don't I'd have just wasted the money it cost me to do so. Here's another one: If I decide that I am going to eat a salad, I pull out the big mixing bowl, spatula, croutons, and parmesan and put it all out on the counter. That's half the work done.. that way when I get hungry, I just pull out the lettuce and dressing. I do this because the truth is if I feel like there's just too much work, or time, involved to eat something healthy - I won't do it - especially when I'm feeling low.. and pulling out all the stuff I need from cupboards can sometimes feel like a mountain of work when I feel that way. If guilt gets you moving, try creating a situation where you might feel guilty if you don't do what you should. I like the reward system: If I do something that is good for myself (or do what needs to be done) then I reward myself with something I enjoy. Afterward :-)

 

[SarRy]

You might want to see if you have bipolar disorder. Just a thought.
Do what you can when you have the energy. Make hay while the sun shines. Don't set unrealistic expectations for when you're feeling low. If this keeps happening, then you might expect it to continue. Try to work on yourself to set new mental pathways and thought processes when you're feeling better, so you're more prepared when the low times come around. If your negative thoughts sound like lies when you're feeling good, then try to remind yourself of that when things turn.

I hope you find peace.

 

[ZRA]

Haha, christ, I saw this post when I was in the same situation as you and now I'm in the anticipated low. It seems like each successive low is deeper than the last, and each high a shadow of its predecessor.

 

[duskrainfall]

I'm sorry to hear about your suffering. Have you ever talked to a psychiatrist about bipolar disorder? It might be worth a try.

 

[goodnighttime]

I feel you here. When i'm feeling better I'll go find lots of commitments to put myself through, like a job or harder classes. Then I experience a low and have to drop all these commitments and it makes me feel so much worse. This cycle is pure misery sometimes.