Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Mental Health and AS

i think everyone has their own ways of dealing with things, so hope you get lots of responses. maybe later i can dig up some old threads with more ideas.

for me, i think its a lot of "distracting myself". i try to keep as busy as i can. i try to focus on other things as much as i can. even on kickAS, i go to the jokes and kicking back part of the forum first, anything funny and entertaining. i watch a lot of comedy shows on tv. i read. i focus on my work as much as i can, sometimes the pain is too distracting, but i try. i surround myself with fun upbeat happy people as much as i can. i try to help others, when helping others, i often forget about myself.

and i try to be very proactive about my body. my mother thinks this is "focusing on it too much" but to me its rather "feeling like i am in control" (even if i'm not). if i can ice something or heat something and make the pain lessen, i feel like i'm "winning". or if i can figure out how to prevent a tendon from flaring. it just kind of keeps me busy and makes me feel like i have the upper hand.

this all only works when things are not terrible. this past fall, things were terrible, and i still tried these tactics, but they didn't work all that well. then i found myself saying, "just hang in there, this too shall pass". leaned on the support of my husband and close friends.

but, if it had been that bad for more than those few months, i think i would have needed to see a professional, gotten professional help, maybe even taken antidepressants or something like that. clinical depression is not something that someone can "fight". its as real as any other chronic illness and needs serious medical attention.

hope others come on with additional advice. others who have had more serious depression, they will have better ideas. i've only written what i think helps me.