The last couple of weeks have had more tough days than easy ones, mostly tied to erratic sleep. Some days, I need to sleep 12 or more hours; others, I wake early in the morning and get through the day with the limited rest.
Because of that, I've pulled back and set limited goals for each day. Usually, the three-things-a-day guideline works pretty well, even if I lump a bunch of small tasks into one goal. For example, I had a half dozen errands to complete in town (hardware store, gas station, library, town hall, M&L's, bank, grocery store) which I count as one task. The other two for today are to get some exercise (Marley and I went for a walk.) and to go to an appointment with my psychiatrist this afternoon. Anything beyond that is a bonus.
It's difficult, however, to get a sense of progress when I have setbacks. Are they temporary interruptions or indicators that a new depressive episode is starting? For the past six or so months, the difficult times have been just temporary disruptions; I come out of them and, sometimes, even improve. Today's been better than the past four days. It's hard to plot a trend with just one day.
I'm looking forward to my appointment this afternoon. I have the test results that my neurologist had ordered. Some of the tests may have implications for treatment of depression as well as treatment of the muscle pain that I've experienced. My psychiatrist doesn't limit himself to topics related to the brain and mood alone; the whole body is in play. That's good.
Because of that, I've pulled back and set limited goals for each day. Usually, the three-things-a-day guideline works pretty well, even if I lump a bunch of small tasks into one goal. For example, I had a half dozen errands to complete in town (hardware store, gas station, library, town hall, M&L's, bank, grocery store) which I count as one task. The other two for today are to get some exercise (Marley and I went for a walk.) and to go to an appointment with my psychiatrist this afternoon. Anything beyond that is a bonus.
It's difficult, however, to get a sense of progress when I have setbacks. Are they temporary interruptions or indicators that a new depressive episode is starting? For the past six or so months, the difficult times have been just temporary disruptions; I come out of them and, sometimes, even improve. Today's been better than the past four days. It's hard to plot a trend with just one day.
I'm looking forward to my appointment this afternoon. I have the test results that my neurologist had ordered. Some of the tests may have implications for treatment of depression as well as treatment of the muscle pain that I've experienced. My psychiatrist doesn't limit himself to topics related to the brain and mood alone; the whole body is in play. That's good.
No comments:
Post a Comment