r/schizoaffective • u/Kooky_Friendship8737 • 8h ago
waiting for my psychiatrist appointment. Coping skills recommendations?
i suffer from a lot of anhedonia and i barely do my hobbies anymore. even when i do i find little to no enjoyment in it. i still try to draw (more specifically i try to draw my feelings) and started to pick up poetry again. Any recommendations? i used to be and still kind of am a creative person but im not that big of a writer or reader since those are pretty hard for me nowadays. what are some things i can do to help cope with everything im struggling with? distractions, breathing techniques, grounding things to help with delusions/derealization, anything?? thank you in advance!!!! anything is appreciated
1
u/pte_rad_actyl 8h ago
Honestly for me personally when I've been in that space mentally I've just focused on getting through it, so watching lots of comfort shows, scrolling tumblr, going to bed early, eating yummy food, messaging people for support when i need it. This time of your life will probably not be the highlight of your life and doesn't need to be, that time will come, sometimes you just have to get through shitty periods of time until you can get to the points when youre properly medicated and can enjoy life more fully. I'm finally doing my main hobby again after 3ish months of avoiding it due to anhedonia (after years of daily practice), now that I'm on a new med, I'm just grateful i got through the shitty times so i could get to better times, even if i got through those times mostly by dissociating.
Also sometimes it can help to get out of the house. On a really bad day, I went to the zoo. I barely remember the trip because i was in such a dense fog mentally. But for the few hours i was there, i was pretty focused on the zoo animals and less focused on how i felt, and it did help me get through those hours, even if the bad feelings all came flooding back as soon as i headed home.
1
u/Significant_Pen_3642 8h ago
The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise helped me a lot with derealization. Also, try not to focus on enjoying hobbies right now. Even 5 minutes of drawing or a short walk is a win. Keeping some routine going helped me more than waiting to feel motivated. Hope your appointment goes well.