My head won't stay still

[Autistic_Gamer]

Over the weekend I ended up in my "dark place" and still in my "dark place". This is happening way to many times now. My cPTSD and anxiety takes over and my head is a whirl wind. Overthinking kicks in and I just don't know how to stop it. I tried grounding techniques which didn't help at all. Didn't even have the energy to do any house jobs that needed to be done.

With me also being autistic I find it really hard to take control of my anxiety (yes I am on meds, but they only do so much). I am on the waiting list for therapy (over year and a half) but I know that this will not happen anytime soon. Mental health support in my area is not the best. I do have friends to talk to but don't want to be a burden on them as I know they have their own lives and own problems to deal with. I have tried apps to open up to strangers, but it is just not helping.

I have journals, apps, anything you can think of. Nothing means to be helping.

[cashew78]

Something that helps getting me moving to a different place/thought process is doing things with my hands. I have a small pile of clothes with rips and holes in them. When things get complicated, I usually stream some videos and try to keep my hands busy stitching things up. Now, I suck at sewing so nothing I do looks good, but it distracts and keeps my brain focused on something else for a while. Bonus is I get extra use out of whatever I've fixed.

[Chatwin88]

I am so sorry. This all sounds so difficult. You sound like you've tried a lot of different things and to be very proactive about managing these different challenges and I'm sorry you haven't found a something that works really well for you. I don't know if any of these things would work and I apologize if you've already tried these out before. I push myself to do some kind of exercise everyday especially yoga and there are times where I really really don't want to do it and I push myself just to do it for 10 minutes and I always feel a little better. It also helps to go on walks or watch some sort of like positive video or Ted talk for about 15 minutes. I've tried meditating but I can't really do it for 30 minutes or an hour but I've committed to doing small bursts of it like 5 or 10 minutes. It seems so much more manageable when I commit to a small amount of time of doing something positive or physical. I'm not sure if this is helpful but I hope you keep looking for things that help you cope and I'm sorry it's been so hard.

[BrainIsFull]

I relate to the ENDLESS loop of thoughts in my head! It's exhausting and I find it very difficult to break this cycle.

You've already gotten some great ideas here in the comments.

For me, having regular exercise that I actually enjoy is a basic part of my "treatment plan" as is psychotherapy. Like you, I am currently waiting to get back into therapy so I am trying to fill the gap with this forum.

I listen to a podcast episode every day from the Affirmation Pod podcast. I repeat the affirmations. There are lots of episodes each dealing with a specific issue. Best of all, they are short enough! I won't listen to things if they are too long🤷🏼‍♀️

All these tools are great but they don't work right away and sometimes I get stuck in an anxiety state for days. So it's trial and error. But I can say that it's gotten gradually better for me over time.

I know it's hard and frustrating and exhausting but please keep trying. You will find what works! 💚💚💚