I put together a website a while back:

https://wtdiycat.vercel.app/

I'd make more of an effort to distribute it if I was happier with it. in particular I think it needs simpler language.

"Here, take this quick test".

Ok.

"Huh. I've never seen results like this. "

...

"Welp, our time's up."

What issues are you dealing with (if you feel like sharing)? I can speak from my experience being in therapy for AuADHD, anxiety, depression, childhood traumas, and a few other things.

ETA: Some generic things from my therapist that will help most people:

• Drink enough water. This alone can have a significant impact.
• Try to do regular physical activity that you enjoy, if possible. Even if you don't feel like it.
• Check your posture. If you find yourself hunching, try fixing that.
• Do things that you know that you enjoy when you are not depressed, when you are depressed. Our brains are weird and "fake it 'til you make it" kinda works - by doing non-depressive things, you can trick your brain into being happier.
• Try to engage socially, if you find yourself to be a hermit. Our brains are evolved to be social animals and isolation can be damaging.
• If you are having trouble with the state of the world and things that you do not have control over, try engaging in things that you do have control over. This can be as simple as deep cleaning your sink or fixing a squeeky hinge. The amount of frustration caused by inability to impact important global happening is problematic for maintaining good mental health - our brains evolved in environments where life-threatening problems had immediate solutions but humans have built societies that don't work that way.

Important items

• Be patient and kind to yourself. Especially your past self. We all did cringy things when young with brains not fully-developed and/or without the information that one has currently. If you have trouble doing so, try mentally taking a step back and pretending that you are dealing with a close friend who you care about deeply. Would you judge them and make them feel bad about their past mistakes? I hope not.
• Concern and depression about the world at large is a very valid way to feel. It's important, especially for those of us with mental health challenges, to take the airplane safety spiel "put your own mask on first before helping others" approach to rendering aid to others. If you are in or near crisis, you are not in a place to help others and need to focus on getting to stable ground yourself first. Needing to do this isn't slacking off or "not doing your part". Not everyone is equipped to be out marching all the time (some are not equipped for this at all). If someone offers unhelpful criticism of inability to engage physically due to mental or physical health, they are best ignored rather than responded to.

I will share and highly recommend this resource: Western Australia's Centre for Clinical Interventions's Self Help Resources. Of course, these are applicable to anyone, not just Australians. There are various pages for different types of conditions (anxiety, assertiveness, procrastinating, eating disorders, etc.), and most of them take you to self-directed workbooks you can fill out yourself. They're not only informative, but they also guide you through your thinking about these issues and how to deal with them and grow from them.

Mine just said, "You're right, but thinking about it isn't helping."

I countered with, "People not thinking about it is why we're here."

They replied with, "Yeah, probably."

"So what do I do?"

"What can one man do?"

"That's what I'm paying you for. What can I do?"

"🤷‍♂️ Maybe stop listening to Democrats."

Fucking hate Kentucky.

Also, I filed a complaint and didn't go back; their practice is now closed, but I don't know if it's just because they moved to a different location or if they genuinely had to stop practicing. Haven't really thought about it much.

If feeling overwhelmed, do the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding method.

Find and make note of:

• 5 things you see
• 4 things you touch
• 3 things you hear
• 2 things you can smell
• 1 thing you can taste/recall tasting

And the idea with this is to stop dwelling on your negative spiral, and to focus on immediate surroundings.

Therapist also said to feel free to mix and match the sense with the number. For example, I don't have a good sense of smell, so I do 2 things I can taste/remember tasting, and 1 thing I can smell.

You are a hairless ape whos been plucked out of the grassy plains of Africa and put in an artificially lit world where each day contains more hostile stimulation than you would normally process in a month. Your brain isn't built to handle the information overload that social media, commuting, taxes, work, news, rent inspections and basic modern life contains. You are right to feel a constant sense of fight or flight at this bizzare and hostile alien world.

I have a few but my absolute favorite was when he said " Imagine there's a woman, maybe she is homeless or on drugs, and she shouts at you as you walk by across the street. She says you look like a cockroach. What would you do? " "Probably laugh" "Exactly, think of your parent as that woman. They have no effect on your life but noise" I'm paraphrasing but I liked the idea of my negative thoughts ingrained by generations of trauma being like a random shouting on the street.

I'm sorry OP, the hour has ended. Try not to -you know- yourself till next session. Have a nice weekend

Go for a walk, be mindful of your surroundings

That'll be $300

Thoughts are habits. You can't always change your circumstances, but you can change the way you think about them. The more you practice healthy thought patterns, the better you develop good habits.

Just cheer up.

He said 'I'll see you next week'

Right, kick ass. Well, don't want to sound like a dick or nothin', but, ah... it says on your chart that you're fucked up.

"Some people can't be fixed. Just try not to be yourself when your decisions affect other people so you minimize the harm you cause them. When you have an instinct to do or say something, the correct action is probably the exact opposite."

Apparently they hate trying to treat people with BPD (Edit: Borderline personality disorder, not bi-polar) because it's damned near impossible and the options available are questionably effective at best.

Look into CBT techniques, a big part of it is training yourself to catch bad thoughts as they happen and correct them.

Also breathing techniques

May be kinda specific (and poorly worded), but basically she said that negative feelings come from places where my mental image of the world conflicts with objective reality. This was mostly related to my relationship with my father, as i was looking up to him and seeking his approval, while ignoring the fact that neither he should be a role model or i can be a person whom he would accept. I found this advice applicable to many other situations, but unfortunately i mostly use it after the fact — i get disappointed or angry about something and then i ask myself "Ok, but what i imagined things would be? What else am i wrong about?"

"Be on time for your appointment next week"

Here, I hope it will help

The advice is usually pretty common sense and likely nothing you haven't heard before. The main benefit is having a safe space you can discuss your anxieties with a professional and having someone who will listen with minimal judgement. Also sometimes you need to be reminded of common sense when you lose sight of it.

Basically it's a paid friendship without all the other benefits of friendship.

Honestly I wouldn't be going if it weren't fully covered by my husband's insurance.

Just start doing things.

"being aware of, and able to accurately diagnose the type of mental illness you're dealing with is not the same thing as actually working to fix it"

And

"That's bullshit. Honestly. That's bullshit. Just because you can articulately attempt to justify it doesn't mean it's justified"

Also

"Sometimes things just suck and you have to deal with that for a long time"

It seems like you escape your inner conflicts by being industrious.

Not professional advice but instead of going, you could halt posting for a moment and focus on your breathing. It will assure you that you are safe, and you can let the conflicts become a bit more aware without feeling overwhelmed by the terror. Do this for some time and you create the space to transform your conflicts.

Try and take time to soothe your inner child. Eat a bowl of Mac and cheese, try to go surfing, do dumb shit kids do. You know. Try it. Also learn to love yourself. Fucking good luck though, man that one... like how the fuck could that ever happen.

Your misery cannot possibly be the result a structurally oppressive society, look at how well I'm doing. Now go kick your mom in the vagina and suck dick for therapy fares, and come back next week.

Check out some DBT / cbt techniques on YouTube or the like, whatever is easiest to access, find some that resonate with you and make them your own / tweak them so they fit your life / vibe.

I did a DBT course, and while I hated every minute of it, a lot of it is super great and hugely helpful for coping in hard moments and a great recipe for a way of living that's more calm and balanced. I feel like I hated the DBT course I did because the people presenting it had never even stumbled on a rock in their lives, let alone lived through a hard moment and needed any of this stuff for real, and their privilege read as saccharine condescension.

BUT! I'm never one to throw the baby out with the bath water, I believe you can turn anything to your advantage or upskill or just build knowledge, if you're industrious enough! You take those muthafking lemons and you make champagne, fk them. Plus they just mostly showed us clips on YouTube, so lol. The DBT course I did felt more like the break room from severance, having to admit how faulty you are and how this new enlightening thing they just told you seconds ago is going to benefit your life, as they announce each section. They didn't even give you time to process, let alone leave room for if that was something you already knew or already utilized, but, I powered through and just paid lip-service, got my upskill, moved on.

Easier path, just look up DBT on YouTube, find people explaining what you like, give it a go on a regular basis.

If you’ve chosen to take in the weight of the world, no amount of therapy can solve your problems.