Skip to main content
Forums Home
Illustration of people sitting and standing

New here?

Chat with other people who 'Get it'

with health professionals in the background to make sure everything is safe and supportive.

Register

Have an account?
Login

cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Our stories

MoonGal
Senior Contributor

The incredible shrinking life

I awake every morning, sore and weary

having tossed and turned
and dreamed of being a character

in a playstation game, 
wandering about collecting
tokens and using my wand 
to blast things out of the way.
I spend too much time playing'obviously.

I awake every morning, 

with no thought in my head, yet

and immediately the absence

has to be filled

usually with

something sad or bad
that happened to me.
Then I push up out

of my warm bed

in my lovely home
and make coffee and roll

a smoke.
Blinking on the couch

as I top up
caffiene and nicotine
pretending I am

'meditating' but really
scrambling inside

my overly large brain
looking for a foothold

so I don't slip off a cliff and

f

 a

  l

   l 

any further down than I already am...

I catch my thoughts and

turn them around.,
turnaround. turnaround (bright eyes)
and wonder what I will do today

besides the washing, the dishes and

vacuuming.

The weather has been cold and rainy
but I like that, I like it too

when the sun cracks out of the clouds and

illuminates my lounge room

with golden light.
Or flashes through the crystal
hanging outside the window

refracting rainbows around

the lounge room

a whirl of colour and movement.

Better than drear and grey.

I am sad and lonely

broken hearted over a freindship that

went horribly pear-shaped

a month ago when

I spat cross words at a friend
who was with all reasonable assessment

saying soemthing hurtful

but that had I had my boundaries on tight

I would have let slide

through to the keeper.
It escalated unbelievably on both sides

and I am now without that friend.
I didn't have many to start with
so her loss is a big loss.

I went to see my psychologist today
I was very intellectual and controlling

the conversation

so much she remarked on it

and then I broke.

D

  o

   w

     n.
And cried, a snotty, teary, sobbing mess.
I feel so alone. 
I have such a beautiful partner

My wife, my life.

She works

and I am now at home

Totally and permanently disabled,

but my mind flies free

somedays.

I lack friends, motivation
and the life I had before
where work was a chore

but at least I had others to

laugh with the incidental relationships

talking, sharing...
All gone now.

Social media is all I have really
and it is so fraught,

it is where the split up happened.
I had never met her, that friend
we had talked for seven years
seven! and then over an argument

it is gone. 

I dunno - my life is outwardly so good
I have a home, enough to eat
a warm special home
with dogs and a woman who loves me and

who I love.

But here I am with fabrics to sew, bu I can't be bothered
and blank canvas to paint and I can't be bothered

a a book to write and I ... can't be bothered.

I have seeds to sew, and a garden to play in
but  can't be bothered.
I am feeling the lack of any point to my life.
But not suicidal, don't worry.
Not Me. I have been here forever
feeling pain and strain
and haven't done it yet.

(that 'yet' is not a cry for help)

I have reduced my meds in the
hope of picking up some motivation
and I am astounded already
how different I feel
but I am

S
 l

  i

   d

     i

      n

        g

Down a rabbit hole. A burrow. 
My psch made a special appointment for me

in two weeks time instead of four

so we can talk about

how to get me socially engaged.
I can't be bothered.
I don't want to meet new people.
And have to pretend I'm okay.
Or worse

meet new people
and through anxiety be kurt

or sharp and runaway,

runaway.

I know it is odd to 


have written this in this form,

but

this helps me process

in a different way.

So, here I am I am,

not lonely per se
rather feeling

like an alien...

outerspaced.

Moongal. Moodgal.

 

 

31 REPLIES 31

Re: The incredible shrinking life

Re: The incredible shrinking life

Nice one...Smiley Happy

Former-Member
Not applicable

Re: The incredible shrinking life

Hi @MoonGal - you express yourself and write so well 💞

Re: The incredible shrinking life

@Former-Member, @CamilaWillaims@Appleblossom

Thanks for connecting with me around this. Here I am a just four days later (2 weeks since reducing my meds) and after awaking at 2.45 am, in pain and mind racing, but depressed and not being able to get back to sleep I am done in. I have gone back on my usual dose of medication today. I really wanted to hang out for 6 weeks with a reduction in my anti-psychotic medication to see what I might gain in terms of motivation and improved brain (on these meds I am all foggy in the mind, find it hard to think, just overall feel oppressed). I have slid so far down since I last wrote, I was worried about myself. 

It's a bind. Damned if I do. Damned if I don't. 😟
I cancelled my appointment to see my Dr on Wednesday because there is no point in going in this state and saying "I want to keep trying to not take the dose" for 6 weeks and see what happens, I can;t make it that long, my nuerotransmitters are haywire, chucked about on stormy seas. I just want to get back to stability NOW. <sigh/cry>

Re: The incredible shrinking life

Loss of a seven year friendship is a big deal.

Woman Sad

Hearing you about med reductions. 

I hope you find your motivation parked behind a tree somewhere.

Heart

Re: The incredible shrinking life

Thank you @Appleblossom

Yes, I think I have underestimated the impact losing my friend has had on me. I just read this in the book I am reading and it resonated...
"When considering a man's motives, remmeber you must not measure his wheat by your bushel. He might not be using the same standard at all." (Robin Hobb in Assassin's Apprentice)

I think I have been romantically blind to who my friend is in the world - I was making her into something she was not, and perhaps never will be. I projected mySelf onto her in desperation to find connection, a sense ofbeleonging and made of "us" something perhaps that wasnever there. I think my love for her was deeper than her's for me, altough we did use the words "love" in our correspondence, but in the sense it is an 'act of the will" not like a romance per se. I use romance above because I was wearing rose tinted glasses in my view of her. Now I have clear glasses on and weeks beyond the disintergration of our friendship I can see that she wasnot who I projected her to be, it is sad because we do have SO much in common. Still, better that we have fallen out and it be over, than continuing along an unhealthy relationship an unequal relationship. But I am still sad and stung by it all.

I am cleaning the bathroom today. top to bottom. Cleaning is always a great shifter of mood for me. 

I feel like I don;t don;t belong anywhere. Not feeling self-pitoeus not like that, but that I am so different from everyone else that I don;t fitin anywhere. Which is partly true, if not the whole truth. Being TPD and staying at home all day is a releif on so many levels but it is socially isolating. Feeling a failure at life, andeven trying to modify medication, failed at that too. But there you are, just accept it all, acceptence is the key. Not point in ruminating on what cannot be. Eh?

Re: The incredible shrinking life

@MoonGal

It sounds as if your thinking so far is productive about seeing the relationship more fully with insight.  Some of that is necessary and not really ruminating.

Heart

I have tended to overinvest in relationships through need.  Both in female and male-marriage relationships (only had one).  Re Male "romantic" I just dont think that way. 

Heart

I had a 7 year female relationship recently end that caused me great deal of grief and I was in a similar position to your description.  She went back to her country and so her influence over my son has reduced.  At her going away dinner.  She mentioned to others at the table that I was a very talented woman, but it did not undo her treatment of me through the 7 years. For 4 years I tried to make the friendship work, but was stuck in it for another 3 years because of her relationship with my son.

I am less naive, now, and less prepared to compromise myself in both same sex or opposite sex relationships.

An interesting thing happened in my choir.  The most "connections" I have is with a gay woman. She is in a committed relationship, and I am no contender in that way, but it is telling that it takes someone of that mindset to express quiet understanding ... just through a smile etc.

Heart

What do you mean by TPD?

I hope you get through med reduction and then find more energy for your creative projects.  I have definite issues with high dosages cutting off my energy.

Take Care

 

Re: The incredible shrinking life

Hi @MoonGal and @Appleblossom. Thanks for the update. Very sorry to read that you have slid down more - I have found when there is a lack of sleep in the mix, this times the weaning side effects of certain medications by 100. I also can relate to that lack of energy when reducing or coming off a medication - made it very hard for me to function. Sounds like you are having a similar struggle. Very hard to do this on our own - some do go into hospital when coming off certain medications, but like me not all feel comfortable with that or it is not possible.

 

So for me it took a lot longer, and I weaned off very slowly, judging the reduction and pace by the severity of the side effects. Anti-psychotics and/or benzodiazepines are a couple of the hardest to reduce or wean off completely and anxiety can be extremely high in the process I experienced with the latter, made me feel like I was going mad at the time, (I took bentos/anti-ds for PTSD and major depression at the time), but the medications although helping the anxiety were making me a zombie and that's what propelled me to come off them - this is where I found I needed extra support. Not for the faint of heart. Feeling for you and wishing for you the very best outcome for stability and good health.

 

 

Re: The incredible shrinking life

@MoonGal - just re-read your post. I isolated myself at home for a year because of PTSD and can relate so well to what you are saying. It feeds those feelings of disconnection and not fitting in anywhere - the isolation feeds depression and anxiety I found. Since I forced myself out and about more, within my own limitations - building up to step outside my comfort zone, these feelings and thoughts improved a lot, but it did take time and what seemed liked constantly pushing myself to do it (still do this somewhat). But I always felt better for doing so. There are always a few that we will connect with in the world - and I found this is all I needed. It improved my mental health. I hope this helps a little. Thinking of you xxxx

Illustration of people sitting and standing

New here?

Chat with other people who 'Get it'

with health professionals in the background to make sure everything is safe and supportive.

Register

Have an account?
Login

For urgent assistance