Hi all! I’d just like to share some tactics I find help me in day to day life for both preventing episodes and getting through them. I’d like to share them in hopes of someone on here finding them helpful, and also encourage others to share how they deal with their experiences.
- Preventing Episodes-My episodes are triggered by stress, so my best bet is to stop episodes before they even happen by keeping my stress under control. I do this by…
-never allowing my workloads to pile up
-carefully organizing all of my time, for example making a rough outline of where I will be and what I will be doing each hour of the day (I say rough because I don’t expect the schedule to be followed perfectly, but it still gives me a feeling of structure and control.)
-taking life a day at a time (my mom taught me this, basically plan out your day, but don’t plan out the whole week. Trying to look too far into the future only stresses me out more!)
-Taking breaks when I need to (I plan resting time into my schedule)
-Taking control of and eliminating stressors that I can, and for stressors I can’t immediately eliminate (like a project presentation 2 weeks from the present) I assure myself that it will pass and that even if it goes poorly it isn’t the end of the world
However if all else fails and I find myself spiraling into an episode, this is how I deal with some of the things I experience
-Delusions: I think of the belief I have and picture a random stranger telling it to me. If it sounds really crazy coming from another person, then it’s probably a delusion.
-Paranoia: Like when I feel like there are demons all around me. If I see anything frightening or something freaks me out, I tell myself to be startled, but not scared. Being startled is a brief, passing feeling. Scared is a long-term feeling. You’re only startled for an instant and then you go back to normal, you know? (A lot of my darker hallucinations come in a jump-scare kind of way) This helps keep me calm.
I also try to constantly rationalize, like if I’m in a crowded area, my chances of the guy next to me stabbing me to death or kidnapping me right in front of everyone is pretty unlikely, so I should stop worrying about it. Rationalizing helps a bit. I also try to avoid things I know can set me in a panicked state (loud noises, dark places, cold temperatures, etc.) and when I am scared I try to distract myself from my fear by doing something really engaging.
-Hallucinations: Most of my negative hallucinations are tactile. So if, for example, I’m feeling the demons attack me either physically or sexually, distraction is key. I have to change my mental process so I’m not thinking about them. This is really difficult a lot of the time, but if I can successfully distract myself and get into a different mindset with a calmer, more positive mood I find I normally fall asleep before the hallucinations can fully manifest.
With all this in mind I have some tools to help me wait out the episode. Towards the end of my episodes I tend to get a bit manic, and incredibly impulsive and irritated, so I deal with that by…
-Catching the impulse. If you can be aware of when you’re doing something on impulse, and then clearly think out the action, then you make it a conscious process. Like if I’m about to buy 4 books, I stop myself (actually my helper voices stop me but that’s beside the point) and I go through if I really need these books. I tell myself I don’t have time to read them, and I don’t really have the money to spend on them either. I feel the impulse then I let it go, and put the books back. The same goes when I get the impulse to harm myself or others. I feel it, and then repeat my mantra “I must not hurt myself or others.” Again rationalizing these actions helps. Hurting others would both get me in trouble, and harm an innocent person who’s just trying to go about their day. Hurting myself would not solve my problem, just create a new problem in which I have a painful injury to deal with. Making impulses conscious thought processes really helps me. (Of course I wouldn’t be able to do this without my helper voices pointing out they were impulses, but whatever)
-Remaining calm. This can be really hard to do when everything makes me absolutely furious while manic. It’s letting things go. If I can’t catch the first bus? Don’t scream and cry about it. It’s not worth hurting myself or others over. I let it go. And repeat my “Peace” mantra to remind myself to simmer down.
Also venting exercises like writing in my journal, or posting online about my experiences, listening to music, etc. Helps a lot as well, with everything.
Anyways that’s just about everything I can think of that I do. I hope at least one person will find it useful. Good luck guys, and remember to share your own ways of coping 