Dear Psychosis, This is how I cope

Dear Psychosis,

    This is how I cope... First, I want to begin by saying that there can be negative and positive ways to cope with what's going on. Some examples of negative coping skills maybe smoking or vaping, self-harm, taking it out on others, or trying to run away from the problem. Some positive examples can be going for a walk, listening to music, meditation, deep breathing, or grounding yourself. Coping is basically the collection of thoughts and behaviors we use to manage the stressful situations in our lives. If we can't help ourselves, it makes it really hard to function from day to day. Healthy coping skills not only help alleviate the symptoms of psychosis, but they can also keep your overall mental health in check. I suffer from severe anxiety and sometimes I just need to take a minute to breathe. Coping comes in all shapes and sizes. I'm here to tell you about how I cope with psychosis.

    Psychosis can cause MANY different symptoms. I'm just going to talk about how I cope with my symptoms.

    Hallucinations: I hear and see thing that are not really there. Because I have Insight, for the most part I know that those things are not real, but sometimes it's hard to tell my symptoms from reality. This is where my positive coping skills come into play. For example, I see bugs. Normally when I see said bugs, they are funny colors or maybe translucent looking so I can tell right away they aren't real. But sometimes they look very, very real. That's when I "question" the people around me by saying "hey did you see that spider?" "Is there a bug crawling right there?" I also do this when I hear things. Most of the time I hear babies crying, radio static, or a cat meowing (and yes, that last one is very annoying). I cope by checking with others around me. I also cope by listening to music or an audio book through my ear buds. Sometimes I just need to drown out the noise.

    Sometimes I cope with these things in a negative way. When I feel overwhelmed by these things I just need to smoke or vape and it instantly calms me down. Of course, I know that this isn't healthy, and I shouldn't do it. I have also used self-harm to cope before. This one is hard to talk about. I used self-harm as a release from my struggle and pain. I didn't do it to kill myself. It was not an attention seeking thing. Actually, it was very private and no one really knew about it. I did it to hidden places on my body that no one would see. Coping with things can be hard, and we don't always cope using the healthiest methods. Most people are just trying to make the chaos stop.

    Paranoia: Yes, I have paranoia. It's a harder symptom for me to cope with. Examples of my paranoia include feeling like people can read my mind and feeling like things are constantly watching me. I feel like this is a more difficult topic for me to cope with. I don't feel like I can check in with others. I think it would be odd if I asked "hey are you reading my mind?" or "is that a camera in that vent?" This is when I wiggle my ears... Yes I know that sounds odd, but when I wiggle them, it feels like I'm cutting off any interaction with what is watching me and reading my mind. Coping can be weird sometimes. I am well aware these things are not possible, but to me it still feels very real. It's also very hard to be in a crowd for very long because it makes me feel overwhelmed. Thinking that hundreds of people can read your mind at all times can be exhausting. I have to think good thoughts constantly, nothing negative or insulting. I cope with this by simply stepping away. "Peopling" is hard when you think all eyes are on you, but by stepping away I can breathe for a moment. Ground myself back to reality. Sometimes I have to be my own coping skill. I have to talk myself down and remember what is real.

    The Smells: Have you ever had a smell stuck in your nose that just won't go away? I definitely have! Sometimes it's marijuana (no I don't smoke it), old lady perfume, garbage, or fingernail polish. I don't have to be around these things to smell them, they just show up! I cope with it by trying to smell other smells such as my diffuser filled with essential oils, aromatherapy sticks, burning incense, baking something that smells yummy, going outside for some the fresh air, etc. 

    Coping can come in many different shapes and forms. I just do my best to keep myself grounded. Reality can be hard sometimes living with psychosis. Figuring out healthy ways to deal with your symptoms makes your life much easier. I have been doing therapy for a while now and we talk about coping a lot. We work through hard topics. Coping the positive way sometimes doesn't always come easy. My psychosis doesn't define me, it's not who I am. I choose to deal with my psychosis in positive ways, because I know it makes my world better.

Here's a good Grounding technique:

Works with all of your senses:

(Take deep breathes)

Sight: Pick 5 things you can see

Touch : Pick 4 things you can touch

Hear: Pick 3 things you can hear

Smell: Pick 2 things you can smell

Taste: Pick 1 thing you can taste