A Collection of Words That Resonated with Me | Panic Disorder | Healing the Mind
The other day, I talked about the diary I had stopped writing, but I had jotted down some words from videos and books that resonated with me at the time.
I thought there might be some words that could lighten someone else's heart, so I decided to share them with you all.
Back then, I was watching YouTube all the time, so some of these were things I stumbled upon there, while others came from books I read.
🍀YouTuber Bilingirl Chika
“Get out of your own way.” When you have feelings of anxiety or worry and can't do what you want to do, it means you are blocking yourself. Don't let yourself get in your own way. You might spend all your time thinking in your head about things that won't have an answer unless you actually try them, or you might be prone to negative thoughts, but try doing everything without getting in your own way. Take a step forward and try what you want to do.
She mentioned that she learned this from the book “You Are a Badass” (Japanese title: “You Are Made of the Words You Use”) by Gary John Bishop.
It wasn't a story about mental illness, but I felt it was something that applied to me, even though I was filled with anxiety at the time. It made me realize that even ordinary people are plagued by anxiety and worry, and that they are doing their best.
🍀Tsuyoshi Domoto
“Rather than living with the pain of not being able to return to my former self, I think it’s less of a waste of time to explore what I can do as I am right now. Ideally, if I can find something like ‘Oh, maybe I’m starting to heal’ or ‘I’ve gotten better’ as an extension of that exploration, that would be great. It’s better to manage things well by both having the strength to expect miracles and the strength to ignore them, and by doing things like that.”
It was a clip from a video, and it was just audio, perhaps originally from a radio show. He himself has suffered for many years from sudden sensorineural hearing loss, and he mentioned that he also had panic disorder in the past.
I felt that he must have gone through a very difficult time for a long time and thought about many things. While dreaming of recovery, he doesn't get trapped by it. It's okay to have both. I think it's good to manage things well in between. I think that's a good approach, too.
🍀Psychiatrist Dr. Kabasawa (YouTube Channel)
“A talented pitcher tears a tendon in their elbow. Sometimes they want to return to their pre-injury state, but that’s impossible. There are things just as unreasonable as that. Mental illness is invisible, but it’s the same as a broken bone; an invisible level of damage occurs in the brain. It’s difficult to return to 100% of your original state. It’s better to do what you can do now. If you wait until you’re cured to do something, there’s a possibility you won’t be cured even after 5 to 10 years, so do what you can do now. And only those who are doing what they can will find that it becomes rehabilitation in itself and they will heal.”
Many of the things psychiatrist Dr. Kabasawa says strike a chord, but this is something I especially wanted to remember. Tsuyoshi Domoto also says, “Do what you can do now.”
Even within limitations, it is important to do what you can without rushing and at your own pace.
I had one more note of Dr. Kabasawa's words.
“Do things you can enjoy without spending money.
Recommendations: taking a walk, 500-yen cooking (challenging yourself to make something delicious with 500 yen worth of ingredients), reading, pretend travel (you don't actually have to go, just make a plan; planning is the most fun part), growing food.
There is some effort or hassle involved, and because you overcome that, dopamine is released and it becomes fun. To enjoy something, there must be effort. Have the mindset of increasing fun things to forget the painful ones, and be conscious of having more fun things. Let’s enjoy every day. People who are bad at ‘main-tano’ (enjoying every day) activities are those who have no hobbies and are easily mentally affected. Direct your time and consciousness toward hobby activities.”
I never really had anything I could call a hobby. When you're busy every day, you tend to put yourself last, but I thought it was important to do things I find fun, also as a practice in taking care of myself.
When I heard this, I saw a palm-sized herb growing kit at LOFT, so I grew it last year. It was certainly fun. It seems the same product isn't sold anymore, but it was something like that.
A long time ago, I used to grow herbs and tomatoes on my balcony, but I ended up letting them wither or couldn't do it well, so I gave up, thinking I didn't have a knack for it.
Even though it was a small amount, they grew properly without much effort. I think I might try it again. 😊
🍀 Social commentator blogger, Chikirin-san
These words from my favorite author, Chikirin-san, are from her book.
The difficulty of living is rooted in school-based values. We are taught as if there is a correct answer to life's choices.
・Study hard and get into a good school
・Work as a full-time employee
・Start a family and raise children
When these values are ingrained, the following people feel they cannot achieve a "correct life":
・Not good at studying
・Struggle to conform to organizational rules
・Cannot conform to those around them
・No interest in raising children
→ If they cannot do these things well, they feel depressed or blame themselves.
The source of the difficulty in living lies in the peer pressure that forces a standardized "supposedly correct way of life" on everyone.
We need to understand that "there are various patterns to happiness, and there is no need to force one way of life on everyone."
Chikirin-san's books have so many things that resonate with me—so many that I don't even know which parts to excerpt—and they have saved my heart.
This book is also not specifically for those with mental illnesses, but it is written with insights into the causes and background of the difficulty of living, as well as hints on how to live true to yourself. If you are interested, please give it a read.
Until now, I have been taking notes whenever I felt, "This is a phrase I don't want to forget."
However, I realized this time that if I don't look back at them, I end up forgetting them anyway, so I thought I would write them down in my planner.
By encountering various ways of thinking, lightening my heart, and finding encouragement, I want to move forward little by little. 🍀
I am tackling my panic disorder from five different angles. As part of one of those, "calming the mind," I talked about taking notes on words that resonate with me.
I have written in detail about the other four pillars in this article.
If you found this helpful or relatable, I would be happy if you could press the 'Like' button. May we increase our moments of peace, even if just a little, together!
いいなと思ったら応援しよう！
応援嬉しいです。 いただいたチップはパニック障害対策の活動に活かして記事にしたり、普段手が出ない高級アイスを買い私の極上癒しタイムに使わせていただきます😋