Having been forced to work from home alone through Covid for nearly two years (absent about two-three weeks around the middle of it all), I can relate to what you say about living inside your head too much being detrimental. Same when I suffered a weird virus November-January and had to stay home a lot. I'm susceptible to depression as it is, but trying to learn some mechanisms to employ when things get hard like that is a way forward IMHO.
I don't want to be unkind or unwelcome in writing something that's 'here's what you should do', but these are merely mechanisms that have generally served their purpose as a barrier to what you descrive.
Does it help doing work on your laptop in a public setting like a café once in a while?
Get your friends and family to be more proactive in 'booking you' (as horrible as that word sounds) at regular intervals through weeks, so you get 'forced' to go outside. That's one way to break the spiral of staying in/rejoicing in appointments outside the house being cancelled (speaking of feeling guilty!).
Thank you for being here Peter, and for the thoughtful words. A mantra for my life comes from Anthony Bourdain, who said (something to the effect of): 'inside me is a guy who wants to smoke weed and watch old movies all day. My life is a series of strategies to outwit that guy.'
My life is a collection of failsafes and strategies to do exactly that - I've built them from over a decade of struggling with this stuff, since my schooldays. It's just that when it's going well (as January did) I tend to forget how much I need them. It creeps up on me, I guess. Writing this blog helps, as do comments like this. Appreciate you - T
Having been forced to work from home alone through Covid for nearly two years (absent about two-three weeks around the middle of it all), I can relate to what you say about living inside your head too much being detrimental. Same when I suffered a weird virus November-January and had to stay home a lot. I'm susceptible to depression as it is, but trying to learn some mechanisms to employ when things get hard like that is a way forward IMHO.
I don't want to be unkind or unwelcome in writing something that's 'here's what you should do', but these are merely mechanisms that have generally served their purpose as a barrier to what you descrive.
Does it help doing work on your laptop in a public setting like a café once in a while?
Get your friends and family to be more proactive in 'booking you' (as horrible as that word sounds) at regular intervals through weeks, so you get 'forced' to go outside. That's one way to break the spiral of staying in/rejoicing in appointments outside the house being cancelled (speaking of feeling guilty!).
Thank you for being here Peter, and for the thoughtful words. A mantra for my life comes from Anthony Bourdain, who said (something to the effect of): 'inside me is a guy who wants to smoke weed and watch old movies all day. My life is a series of strategies to outwit that guy.'
My life is a collection of failsafes and strategies to do exactly that - I've built them from over a decade of struggling with this stuff, since my schooldays. It's just that when it's going well (as January did) I tend to forget how much I need them. It creeps up on me, I guess. Writing this blog helps, as do comments like this. Appreciate you - T