depression Archives - A - Z on Lyme Disease

6 Ways To Beat Holidays Blues

We need to keep in mind that not everyone shares the Holiday spirit and there are some people who find this period of the year extremely difficult. While most of us look forward to reunite with our loved ones, others try to isolate themselves and stay away from the holiday madness which acts as a trigger for their depression.

As a chronic illness sufferer, I know how challenging and daunting it can be to see others parading their good cheer and merriment while you’re all under the blue. It doesn’t make you a Grinch nor a Merkel, but it certainly gets on your nerves to see everyone around you enjoying a life of happiness that you have been deprived off.

This is when the Why me? question reappears and wreaks havoc through your mind, making it more tough to pull yourself together and move forward. You’ve done with it before and thought of having it sorted. Though, somehow it pops out again and puts you on the wrong path again.

Fortunately there are ways to chase away the holidays blue. All you need to do is to be willing to change something and step out from under the black clouds of doom. Here are some ideas that may help you improve your spirit and pack away the Grinch:

Avoid self-isolation as much as possible, join a gathering or a party! Try not to roll alone into your own misery. It will only make things worse. Attend that party at work or cocktail and engage in conversation with someone you never talked to before. You may find it easier to talk to someone new who is not aware of your condition. You can even enjoy having a proper conversation non-relevant to your illness. If you were trying to avoid feeling pity for or having shallow greetings, now it’s your chance to socialize!

Engage in conversation, be honest about how you feel. When asked about your health, be blunt and offer honest answers. This enables you to bring more awareness about your condition and allows you to see who are those really interested in what’s going on with you.
Shop online for your Xmas presents. If you know that crowds tend to get you overwhelmed, why not avoid them? There are plenty of websites where you can buy your gifts! Save your energy for some other activity that you would enjoy more!
Travel to a new destination, if you can afford it and if your health allows it. Go explore your surroundings as much as you can. Nothing beats the excitement of revelling in anonymity while being away from home. Don’t think of it as a way to escape reality, but as a reward, a ticket to pamper yourself.

Create new traditions. Sometimes it is much easier to try something new or step out of your comfort zone instead of doing the same old thing that doesn’t bring you much joy. Who says you need to have a fir tree or thousands of lights shimmering on your house? If you don’t feel like doing it, ditch it and don’t feel guilty about it! Step out of the patterns and celebrate the holidays on your own pace, following your own rules. Even Santa changes the rules once in a way!

Cultivate gratitude for all the positive aspects of your life. Although it might not seem there is not much left for you to be thankful for, you will be surprised to see how many other things you are taking for granted. Try to make a list of the things that are still going okay in your life and focus on those. Happiness doesn’t come in bulk, it’s all made out of little moments of joy that sprinkle our life here and there.

Wishing you all Happy Holidays and a wonderful time filled with love and peace!

GOT LYME? MAKE A LYMONADE! -part 1

Lymonade anyone?In my first years as a Lymie, during the short occasions I was going out socializing with friends, I found myself talking about my Lyme disease. Usually people were talking about how great everything was going for them, what had happened at work, what shopping spree the girls had, what restaurant they have gone, and babies. None of those topics was contingent with what I had on my depressed agenda.

My days were passing at a totally different pace, in a different environment where I had to deal constantly with my sickness which had taken over my life. My sickness was ruling how my day would go. I never liked to identify myself as a sick person or make my sickness the mainstream of my life.

Let’s be honest! Who wants to hear sad stories? Who has time for this? Who likes to be around sick people? Most of the people treat this topic with politeness but never go into many details for many many reasons. Maybe they don’t want to know, or it is scary.

Maybe they don’t have the time. Maybe they try to avoid such uncomfortable topics which they might feel trapped thinking the sick person would ask for their help. Or maybe they want to spare the the sick person of feeling down or embarrassed of not being able to share the same glorious lifestyle as them. Maybe they feel pity and they acknowledge that if they show it, it might offend the sick person.

During those social gatherings me and my friends we were not reasoning on the same frequency. After a while I preferred to socially withdraw, invoking same sickness related excuses for each social event I got invented to. Back then I was depressed and I had no idea about it.

I felt I had nothing in common with my friends. They were going on with their fancy lives while I was fighting against the whole word, without them showing any bit of real interest in my cause. I was fighting the insurance company, their doctors, my employer, my friends and relatives who were telling me that it was all in my head.

Among the few allies there were my Lyme specialist, my family doctor and two of my close friends. They kept me going. They still do! My new Lyme diet was tough and because of it I stopped smoking as well. I had my last cigarette on June 30th 2011, on a terrace in Saint-Augustin, Florida.

For over one year I did not feel like going anywhere. More, I found repulsive the idea of doing so, just for the sake of some conventional gossip, superficial small talk and coming back home hungry after having attended a dinner party. Getting ready for a dinner party it was taking much longer than before. Most of the times I couldn’t eat any of the dishes served at the table due to my strict diet.

Couple of times I even got angry and thought that my friends should have considered asking me what I could eat or no, instead of just apologizing in the end for it. After it happened couple of times, I was not sure if they were doing it on purpose or not, but then I realized I was exaggerating.

Eventually I had reached the point where it did not matter anymore. They were doing it and that was it. I was tired of blaming people. I couldn’t take it anymore. Therefore I stopped calling and returning calls, I reduced the gatherings and visits to none. Slowly the invitations dropped to zero and I found myself alone.