collaborative post // Everyone experiences tough times. Unfortunately, that’s a fact of life, woven into our experience from day one. If we’re to enjoy great times, which we should have plenty of, then it’s only natural that the opposite would apply, especially because you can’t understand what you mean by one without the other.
Photo by Katy Anne on Unsplash
That said, sometimes tough times are unfair, difficult, disorientating, harmful, and affecting. As such, everyone responds to them in different ways. For some, tough times are something they develop a residual, grudging toughness towards. Others lose themselves in their work. It’s easy to develop bad habits in response, such as finding comforts in junk food or too much alcohol.
In order to process tough times and unfortunate events appropriately, it’s important to learn healthy coping mechanisms that can refresh your perspective and help you move forward with the support you need. One essential component of that is trying to resist the tendency to isolate yourself. Many people do it, and that’s because negative emotions are often seen as socially inconsiderate to express.
However, it’s important we fight against these impressions. In this post, we’ll discuss how to do that, in a healthy and proactive manner:
Support Groups Help You Express Your Perspective
There are many excellent support groups out there, for all manner of life change, difficult scenarios, or adjustment periods.
For instance, the Peri Menopause treatment / menopause help UK can make a massive difference for women going through this transitory period, those who may not feel able to speak up, or ask for help due to the inevitability of going through it.
But if you’re struggling, you deserve to express that, to ask for help, and to find resources that can sustain you.
Getting Outside The House Is Restorative & Limits Rumination
When we isolate ourselves, we don’t really find escape from our issues, but think through them in a solitary manner. This can lead to rumination, and coming to faulty conclusions.
Even a rational person can suffer that, so don’t think this is as character flaw. As such, even going for a coffee with a friend, taking your dog for a walk, gardening, or being part of a reading club can help you get out of your house, to express your mental energies, and to open the door to talking frankly with someone you trust, as opposed to pretending the issue isn’t present.
You’re Never Alone
It’s a simple adage, but one to remember if you do feel alone. Whatever you’re going through, we’re willing to bet it’s not unprecedented, and that help out there exists. Moreover, you deserve to express the issue you’re feeling, and to find advice and guidance to help you.
Even if that just means finding solace in your local religious community, applying for help with charities (for instance, domestic abuse or debt charities may help alleviate your tough situation with dignity), and even expressing your problems to your doctor can make a big difference. You’re never alone, but you need to practice that fact to see it have an effect.
With this advice, we hope you can feel motivated to step outside and access the resources and advice you deserve, even during the toughest times. Anything but isolating yourself from others is better.
Isolation is both a feeling and a physical state. Some choose to isolate themselves from the world, and other people feel isolated even in a crowd. In either case, isolation, when overdone, can be harmful for the body and the mind. Being able to express your perspective in an emotionally safe place is really a simple way to practise self-care. Great post, Jenny. 👍