Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you're slowly sinking into the ground and by the end of the day you've sunk so far you feel as if you can't breathe? Welcome to the lovely and painful world of depression/anxiety.
Over the years I've done EVERYTHING to help combat the crippling anxiety and panic attacks that I've been getting, which also seem to be getting worse and more frequent. I've been to therapists, used medications, drank and unsuccessfully tried meditating (I like to move around too much). I've found that only two things seem to make any sort of difference: exercise and playing dress-up. Now first off, I don't mean the kind of obsessive exercise to lose weight. I mean the kind of exercise that means doing some weightlifting (to help with my nerves) and an elliptical (to exhaust my mind out of worrying). Whether or not those are the right reasons to do it, I do it anyways.
Dressing-up is something that I've done ALL MY LIFE much like many other kids. Except now, I dress up in things that I challenge myself to wear and stage. I take photos in the outfits I concoct, not for vanity reasons (although there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with that) but, as I've stated before, to document times where I've let go of my overthinking and really enjoyed myself. It's fun to be a kid again and not worry about what others will think and just be free! I'm extremely guilty of not doing things just because I fear someone, somewhere won't like it.
Left: Chartreuse Dress from Vintage Whimsy on Etsy
Right: Pink Lurex dress also Vintage Whimsy
Pink Coat: Vintage "Angelo" brand from Ebay
White Bustier: Vintage "Lady Marlene"
I've attempted to be comfortable with the fact that one size does not fit all in terms of anxiety/depression management. To some, both of my ways of surviving these issues are worthless and silly. To me, if it gets me through the day, that's all I care about.
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