[SP] SP Mental Health Thread

[lunalum]

This is a general place to share your tips and what has worked for you when you are in a bad funk. Also resources appreciated.

I am not an SP I've been having some fierce symptoms recently and meditation has been one of the only things that begin to touch on it at the worst times. I know that is a super general tip but I am hopeful that forcing attention on my body and the present and gaining control of my thoughts will help with the specific types of distress I tend to experience.

*None of this is medical or professional advice.*

 

[VILLANELLE]

I just wonder if I really am an ESFP, and if it's possible for my experiences with emotional abuse to fuck me up and sort of dull some of the specific functions within me. I'm not the most outgoing person, I can be a little shy, but I know that that doesn't automatically equal introversion and that all of this is the way we think, it's not whom we are. I don't know, but I've just been thinking about that. I feel like it is possible, I don't know. I mean, I've always had fucked up self esteem anyways.

I forgot to take my medication last night so I've kind of had an off day today.

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

Sensory immersion helps me. Going on a walk or sitting in my little "spot" in nature helps me a great deal. I need to have all of my senses in harmony like when I sit next to a little lake and hear all the birds and frogs, and then one birds chimes in with a contrary noise. Then I look around and see all the harmonious greens of the trees and plants, and one white bush standing in contrast, just like the sound of the bird. It feels like everything is connected and cohesive and that makes me feel better. I need to feel the air and sun on my skin and smell the plants. It needs to be all the senses at once in a harmonious whole and then I get out of the mess in my head which feels like fighting with a phantom that I can never conquer, see, feel, and vanquish. The contrast of the inner and outer is extreme for me.

Although sometimes beautiful things happen in dreams, but those beauty promise of a future immersion into the real.

 

[The Cat]

getting out in nature, being active, working out, working, movement.

 

[Morpeko]

Nothing helps me permanently but being active helps me temporarily.

If I'm enjoying an activity, I can immerse, even almost lose myself in my surroundings, and that can help to distract me from the turmoil in my own mind.
Sadly, I don't enjoy most activities. Martial arts and boating works the best for me, but I can't always do them, so I'm stuck with poor mental health for most of my life.

 

[Jeffster]

I just wonder if I really am an ESFP, and if it's possible for my experiences with emotional abuse to fuck me up and sort of dull some of the specific functions within me. I'm not the most outgoing person, I can be a little shy, but I know that that doesn't automatically equal introversion and that all of this is the way we think, it's not whom we are. I don't know, but I've just been thinking about that. I feel like it is possible, I don't know. I mean, I've always had fucked up self esteem anyways.

I forgot to take my medication last night so I've kind of had an off day today.

I'm a shy ESFP who has always had low self-esteem so I relate.

I would love to be outgoing, but sometimes it's easier said than done.

 

[Stigmata]

I'm a shy ESFP who has always had low self-esteem so I relate.

I would love to be outgoing, but sometimes it's easier said than done.

Jump in, jump out. Introduce yourself!

 

[Jeffster]

Jump in, jump out. Introduce yourself!

Is this supposed to be advice?

 

[Black Sun]

I do this whenever because I love to treat myself.
Blazing hot baths with eucalyptus epson salt so powerful your lungs get singed. I like to have a table of fruit and bread at my side and play a show, movie, or music on my phone. The lights have to be off and there must be candles everywhere. Going for a walk and getting some fresh air or doing some kind of some solo exercise makes my body feel refreshed and clears my head of noise.

 

[Luminous]

Blazing hot baths with eucalyptus epson salt so powerful your lungs get singed.

That sounds divine.

 

[Black Sun]

That sounds divine.

I love it, but nothing beats the experience of a spa house with multiple areas. Can't wait to sit in the hot and cold rooms and steam outside in the different types of hot baths again

 

[Luminous]

I love it, but nothing beats the experience of a spa house with multiple areas. Can't wait to sit in the hot and cold rooms and steam outside in the different types of hot baths again

That sounds amazing. I've never experienced anything like that, but I'd like to.

 

[Black Sun]

I thought the thread title meant SP as in self preservation types on the enneagram, not xSxPs. Excuse me guys lmao

 

[red_evening_apple]

As many people before me said, being active physically helps me a lot. Working out, running, going for a walk are all activities that always help me regulate my mood. Also, reading, watching tv shows etc. helps me distract my mind from negative thoughts.
Another thing that helps me is seeing people. Of course I never want to in the beginning when I'm not feeling well, but if I manage to "force" myself, in the end I'll be glad I went out because talking with others and doing stuff together leaves me with no time to dwell on my negative thoughts, and this way I end up breaking the cycle
Another big help for me comes from creativity. Writing and drawing really help me a lot to focus on my positive characteristics and not dwell excessively on the negative ones

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

Yesterday I was really anxious so I kept walking to the lake to look at the tiny frogs. It helped. I spend my day practicing singing and dancing, taking a long bath and walk, doing my work (sometimes after drinking a beer if I'm too anxious), and having a fun treat like an ice cream snack, and play silly games with my cats. This is kinda the only stuff I do voluntarily all day. I never do intense, concentration, strategy games, movies about guns and plans to get the money, etc. for fun. The stuff I do is simpler sensory fun all day as much as I can. Otherwise my sanity would hang from a thread.