you probably wouldnt think this is a problem but i think that one of our biggest problems is actually finding things to do all day,
i like to think if we had something to do every day it would take our mind off of our problems and really help us maintain our stability,
i am only saying this because i am stable tho and i realize a lot of people find it hard even to get out of bed and things, too much going on in your head etc. but if you can find things that you like, even small things that you like i think that can really help.
I realized this right when I got stable on meds. I was in school and took harder classes and forced myself to make all A’s and then got into powerlifting, got my strength up and joined my gyms competitive team once I was done with that night class that was right when the team trains.
I find that if I don’t keep myself busy, my symptoms get worse. I get fuzzy headed and paranoid and avoid eye contact. I’ve noticed this even long before my sz fully manifested.
When I hit that bad patch a few years ago, I still kept going to my job. I was a bit zombie at the job, I was slow, not very talkative, and I felt like I was on autopilot. But I had a reason for trying to get up and a reason for trying to remember something.
If I didn’t have that 4 hours a day of that job, I would have had no reason what so ever to resurface form my head circus. There would have been no external stimuli and I would have stayed in a bad state longer.
The job was hard to get to, and some days, even the simple stuff was hard to do, but I sure did need a reason… any reason to try and stay in reality.
What’s the difference between a hobby and work?
The paycheck.
I can’t focus long enough to have a hobby, but I seem to be able to keep busy all day, problem is, no one no one will pay me for what I can do.
do you get disability? i know its not pay for work done but it is an allowance because you are unwell, you dont need to get a job if you are unwell because you are not fit for work,
i am different, i have been stable for almost 4 years now and i have been in college for 2 years slowly getting better and better after a med change and now i have been thinking about ‘what if’, i like to prove to myself and other people that i can do something with myself so now i say ‘what if’ i can do this or what if i can do that and look at other things that could maybe some day be possible.
i’d like to earn more than i get for my disability and pay my own bills for a change and i know this sounds harsh but i am a bit fed up having to rely on handouts all of the time (benefits).
i have been helped all throughout my illness almost by my friends sweep whom i met in hospital and she has been there for me ever since and me her, she is the reason why i have been doing things and then the med change made me come out of my chemical labotomized shell which was a god send.
that is why we need keep trying and looking for things we like and give ourselves rewards for doing things and maybe having someone try to help us as well, the biggest problem is actually finding something we enjoy no matter how big or small,
If your asking me if I get disability, yes. SSDI (social security disability income).
I worked for13 years cutting hair busting my ass to pay off all our bills, build my husbands business into a multi million dollar business, buy our own home, and the building the shop is in.
Believe me, I have paid my dues and am tired.
The way I see it is they pay me to stay out of the workforce. I melted down in the workforce, wasn’t pretty.
But that’s just me, I’m getting to the end of my life, and to be honest, all that hard work gave me good self-esteem, but wasn’t fairly divided in the divorce, and all I did was build his empire that he took all for himself.
I have no doubt if I had to work for my meals, I’d be starving to death.
I think you make a good point idle minutes and hours make for increased rumination. That’s why i think a choice of activities at a resource centre or drop in are important.
I’m heavily reliant on the internet and when not much is going on there’s no fall back option. That’s when the rumination and the anxiety/paranoia cranks up or the ‘let’s go to bed’ mentality
I hope no one gets upset that I post this-if so,I apologize.This is the biggest problem in our house these days.I am DESPERATE to find something for my son to do(he’s 12)!He refuses to go outside,can no longer attend school,gets stressed going for groceries.I welcome any/all suggestions.I know he is miserable.I think the movies he likes,games,etc.feed into his delusions at times.Should I try to force him to do more?!It feels like time is literally passing him by.
Does he like too sort stuff or organize things? I liked having things to do that are useful and not just to fill time-and I knew the difference.
Put him to work with light things such as folding a basket of clothes, rearranging a shelf on a bookcase to neaten it up. Sorting out a junk drawer into piles according to use? Or just straighten it up?
I loved to sort this large box of loose buttons my mom kept in her sewing area, and she just gave it to me last year…I spent more than 4 hours just looking through it=Happy!
I like to sort all my colored pencils (a lot collected over the years) according to color, then shove them back into the box, maybe draw a few things too.
Easy homemade science projects like growing colored crystal rocks with liquid starch and food coloring…(and a couple of other ingredients) .
By far my favorite still is taking apart broken clocks, typewriters, computers, printers, watches, (or anything that has screws) completely dismantling it screw by screw. There are some pretty neat looking things inside some of them and with those parts I made other neat things.
I couldn’t agree more. Having little projects to do on my computer or helping somebody with their computer helps to prevent boredom. I don’t worry about my problems as much when I change the focus from me to somebody else.
Yeah having nothing to do is a big issue for me. I can’t really seem to find interest in anything. I need to find a hobby but the mind is just blank. I used to do drugs and play video games but both of those things are boring now. Right now my hobby is talking on these forums and trying everything to stop the voices. That and drinking coffee…
I just need to get myself back in working order then get a job. That’ll keep me busy maybe then I can move out and live indepedently. My mom is starting to turn from sympathetic to worse… If I had never went schizo I’d probably be working the same job with thousands saved up maybe even enough to go back to school. Although I probably be spending most of it on drugs. I just need to get a job. I’m not a fan of doing anything else. You dont read books or play ball you dont draw you literally do nothing at all. Hopsin.
There are several good books about how to handle retirement by filling your day with activities and avoid the doldrums. You might look into those to see if any of the suggestions can be applied to you.
finding things to do is i think alot of people problem,i guess depends on person,somebody can do things without stop,some people do one thing and they feel good already
My parents did force me to go out side and stuff. But I have many siblings so my parents were sort of like… “sorry, but it’s not a choice, we’re not leaving your baby brother on a street corner, let’s go get him from the school bus now.”
It was a fact of life, the house didn’t evolve around me. My parents did what they could to help and be understanding, but not at the neglect of my siblings.
For some reason, I don’t actually find this difficult at all. I live on my own, with not many visitors but I manage to keep busy all day. Some times I find I don’t have enough time to do everything. Maybe I think I’m doing things but I’m just standing in my house looking at the wall imagining and believing that I’m doing all these productive things.