Posted by noa on April 15, 2003, at 11:24:01
In reply to Re: futures (my response = too long), posted by leeran on April 15, 2003, at 11:03:58
mmcasey,
I am much more ok than I was before. I have to see it like that. I think I will become even more ok with time.
But I also think I can have an episode whenever. But probably it will not last as long or be as severe or cause as much damage. Ie, I have a chronic disease. Mostly in remission, and hopefully more stably in remission as time goes on (that has been true so far, once we got it under control). In future, I hope to see long term remission with only possibility of recurrent episodes of short duration and mild-moderate intensity. Of course, my wish is never to have recurrence, but I feel like I have to be prepared for it. Such is a chronic condition, even when in remission.
Stress is important to monitor and figure out how to protect myself from getting depressed when under a lot of stress.
This can affect certain life decisions. For me, I know that there are certain precautions I have to take. I have to honor my needs for not too much stress (when I have any control over it, that is) and for certain kinds of support, and need for certain routines. Sometimes it's a drag but until a cure or much better treatments are invented, that is reality for me.
But I think that it's important to measure things in moments--trying to have some good moments here and there and perhaps to increase the frequency of those good moments. But there is no such thing as continuous happiness all the time. For anyone, really. And I think I, as someone fighting depression have had difficulty at times seaparating out bad moments from feeling like my depression is back. Every down mood gets evaluated as a downturn, a regression into a bad depression again, when in fact maybe it isn't.
So, like the "one day at a time" motto, I think it is one moment at a time.
poster:noa
thread:219511
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030414/msgs/219543.html