What to do when your head spins out?

This writing is a continuation on the topic of mental health. While I can write from my own experiences, I strongly urge, if you're feeling sad or anxious, down or any type of self-harmful feeling that you see your GP/doctor immediately.

A state of mind exists in which you often don't feel like your in control... It happens to many if not all of us at some point in our lives and for the most part, it's a struggle to focus on factors outside of the self. You can easily become "A rabbit in the headlights" is a good expression of this. Yet, the truth is you are very much in control of how to process what you are feeling. This is where it's relevant to mention 'mindful meditation.' if just for a moment, as the principle behind it is what's most important.

Wouldn't it be so nice to just breathe and find some calm...Many may be asking today! Even just a moment of stillness might suffice. We live in a hyper-fast reality and I understand you.

Lately, what began as something of a breakthrough for me and certain friends taught me, especially last year, was a reminder that nobody can/will steal the power from you within your own thought-space - or indeed through the environment's you reside. Due to a range of self-destructive, habit-forming ideas that can start with basic frustration and anger and then snowball into a force much bigger, you're literally giving away the power to reserve your own thoughts and moods. Compromising your 'calm' in the process, and this my friends, is done in the spirit of fear. To which the remedy must naturally be first, to quietly accept you are not feeling right and then work to resolve the situation.

I can't count how many times my head spun out because I felt inadequate and compromised in some way or situation. The first, natural defensive emotion from it is 'anger' you may feel your under attack when nobody is actually attacking you, most people you meet are just being themselves, like it or not. And that, unfortunately, fuels more of the same. Plainly speaking, more negativity - as it just grows and escalates. So it's important for your mind to nip it in the bud when it first arises.

No doubt, if you're like me, you've been down this road so long, you want to change - I'm here to tell you-you can because I did - in fact, I shifted my entire mental state right around and with and on the same token of thought, trust me, I know, it's hard to come back from all that once destroyed you. YES, it is! Yet, you must also bear in mind, self-destruction takes an unbearable toll on everyone else around you too and until you find the remedy to steady your life - the cycle is repeated.

To help combat this, I've learned to remind myself daily how much I need people, I need them and they need me too. This alone assisted me in beginning to change my entire self-image and it is vital to a person who's felt isolated and stigmatized by depression and further mental health associations. Everyone wants to feel like they belong, nobody wants to be dismissed or pushed out - no matter what the current trend of your business day looks like. We are human!

If you ever felt like your head was broken - it's horrible, it makes you feel sad beyond measure, even though the reality is, it's not. It's still intact. I used to think it was better to pretend everything was ok and go about with a front on to the world, but all it really did was shut me further into myself. I ran with the concept for many years, naturally unsuccessfully because there's nothing natural about hiding your feelings. I was still very much depressed, that I now see the importance of owning my own head and the thoughts I produce. The reality felt much like my head was slipping, if that makes any sense and I couldn't stop it - it was later identified as a breakdown in 2001 after which point I went on and off medication for the ensuing years. So I know what I'm talking about.

Okay, good, so now we've established self-loathing and self-destruction are not an option, what then? There has to be one solitary building block to start with, an interest, a passion, a desire, something to begin help you put your mind back on an even footing within general society and the life outside of your mind! An endeavor that's positive. It may not be work at all, sometimes your equally as isolated around your colleagues. So try thinking outside the box today, if your head is spinning out, do something more positive than what you're doing and see the effect of that shift.

When I first came off the anti-depressants, meditation helped me a lot like something of a ritual as soon as I felt my head going down/awry. I refused to let it, and the effect was very powerful. Sometimes, some simple calming music and breathing can lift you right out and place you back - going in a different and more productive direction.

In summary, I believe nobody escapes the hard times, we don't, it comes to all. These moments when it feels like the mind is ready to explode and those who say 'the storm doesn't last.' are right, it doesn't, but it can be prolonged, for example, my storm pretty much took over the whole year of 2018 and at times I genuinely couldn't see a way out. Yet, I stuck with it and some creative writing and poetry later - became my only outlet. It was my release.

I often felt the greatest Christmas present I can receive is a new notebook and pen, as I write 'the old fashioned way.' What is it for you? What can you discover about your own passions? You may have been denying your mind an outlet and I hope today you will recover that.

The most productive methods I've found instantly calm the mind and stop your head totally spinning out, include - first, stepping back from a stressful situation, centering yourself with deep breathing and grounding your spirit in nature if at all possible and begin to refocus on a better and more positive way forward for you.

Remember - thoughts are just thoughts and thoughts pass, so don't let them get the better of you!

- Here's to a happier steadier mind this 2019 -