Mood and Stress Levels Lately

Today’s The Balanced Mind -A Mental Health Journal- Exploratory Prompts and Effective Practices (by Carolyn Mehlomakulu, LMFT-S, ATR-BC) entry is from page 35, and it is a check-in prompt. This is going to be a short entry, and that will sometimes happen depending on the prompt and where my brain goes. The goal is to assess my mood and stress levels. To really look into what is having an impact on my mood and levels of stress.

One stressor that negatively impacts my mood is money, I am in the process of applying for disability, so I have little income. I do what I can to help, but it’s not enough. It makes me feel as though I am more of a burden to my husband and my parents. When stress levels go up I become incredibly depressed and anxious. Part of it is my bipolar disorder, the other part is my OCD. The joys of multiple diagnoses. Meditation and yoga have been the positives that increase my mood and decrease my stress levels. I am trying to bring in regular spiritual practices from Buddhism and Eckankar now, but I need to find audio versions of some books since my ability to read is not quite what it used to be. Truthfully, if I gave myself space and time to read, I could read more. It’s a goal because I know it will decrease stress and anxiety while increasing my mood. My delivery and shopping that I do to earn money are huge stressors for me, but it appears to be the only thing I can do to make some sort of money to help out. It’s frustrating, and I am continuing to look at ways to overcome the anxiety, or find less anxiety-ridden ways to earn money. Honestly, I am having to admit that I am disabled due to my mental health, and I need financial help, medical help, and mental health help. I have 2/3, hopefully my disability claim goes well.