TGC 'Mental' Fitness Thread - 2024

[General Ceel]

New thread. Its fitness... but for our brains! 

Where is your head at today? What are you doing / how are you planning to make things better?

[General Ceel]

I've done several things to hopefully improve my state of mind, which I'll try to share in upcoming posts. But for now.... here's one.

A couple of months ago I went through youtube and started clicking "don't recommend channel' and "not interested" on anything the algorithm showed me that looked remotely political in nature. Politics has been making me especially anxious for several years now, and I'm working hard to limit my exposure to it. I've since gone one step further and figured out how to deactivate google chrome on my phone altogether, so as to resist the habit of endlessly scrolling news feeds. I'm attempting to go back to the way things used to be by trying to limit my daily news exposure to a few minutes on TV each day, and the local newspaper a few times each week.

Sometimes its difficult to believe.... but apparently the world will keep on turning regardless of how informed I am. Furthermore, my own knowledge of current events and 1 measly little vote during election season can't do anything to change it.

Hopefully all of this benefits me in the long run.

[Danster]

I got to a pretty dark place a few months ago, about October last year. I was drinking every day, started to drink during the daytime, sneaking whisky into my tea at work, that sort of mega unhealthy habit. I was retreating from my family, getting back from work and either sitting at the computer or shutting myself in my room. I'd go days without exchanging a word with my wife.

So I actually took the step to take advantage of my work's employee assistant service and had five telephone counselling sessions.

I'm in a much better place now, I've been doing almost daily guided meditations or mindfulness activities through an app subscription. I keep a gratitude journal and try and start each day by scribbling something I'm grateful for in it. I miss some days but manage it most days. I try and limit myself to just one day a week where I drink alcohol, but regularly fail at that. The problem with that target is if I drink twice, I'm like "failed this week anyway so might as well keep drinking"! But I have cut back massively and don't day drink now. I exercise more too, which I think is huge for mental fitness.

I think I managed to arrest my mental decline just in time. Had I carried on down the slippery slope I was on I think I'd have been in trouble, but I'm in a good place now.

[General Ceel]

"The problem with that target is if I drink twice, I'm like "failed this week anyway so might as well keep drinking""


^I use this strategy and excuse for a lot of things in my life - diet, alcohol, exercise. After a few failed attempts at any thing I'm trying to do I'll end up kicking the can down the road until it becomes "I'll start next month," or "next year," etc....