Getting Serious About Yourself, and Your Goals

In my last post I shared a few strategies that had helped me to survive dark days and move forward when I was going through antidepressant withdrawal and benzodiazepine withdrawal, and in this post I’d like to share a few more. Again, these are thoughts and tips that you might find useful for any challenging time in life, but I know they will certainly be helpful to those struggling through withdrawal, because I used them myself in that situation.

1. Take Care of Yourself.

Take self-care to another level. No matter what your goal is, the steps to that goal will have to be fueled by proper self-care. Eating better, exercising more, stretching, and getting enough rest/downtime will make you a more energetic and productive person.

Give yourself permission to enjoy watching movies, spending time with loved ones, reading books, and taking baths, if that’s your thing. These things refresh and stimulate creativity and allow your systems to calm and renew. These things will cleanse your mind and make you feel better than you have in perhaps a long time. Get back to basics. And another huge part of self-care is starting to . . .

2. Get More Deeply Spiritual.

I’ll tell you this: If you weren’t spiritual before withdrawal (or some of life's other deep challenges), you will be by the end of it! There is just no way to survive the darkest of those days on our own strength. There is no way to keep moving forward on our own strength when legs, thoughts, and everything else aren’t working.

And again, I think it is nearly impossible to truly navigate any challenging life circumstance when we are putting all of the weight on our own human shoulders.

But this piece of advice is about much more than simply finding the strength to survive bad times, withdrawal included. It’s about finding a connection to the Eternal, and a purpose for life in the first place. It’s about finding a connection to the rest of the world and a reason for being in this world in the first place.

If you are someone who asks questions about life, I don’t know how you can find peace until you find answers to those really big questions, the ones about where we came from and where we are going.

Myself, I’m a Christian, and I find these answers in the teachings and life of Jesus. I find daily comfort and inspiration in the Psalms and in the Gospel books. I read scripture and devotional books and use those to set a daily tone of comfort and strength in the morning. And there are plenty of sermons online that help as well.

Get spiritual and do it daily. It will serve you well in whatever struggle you are facing.

3. Find Support and Information.

Reliable information on withdrawal, and other health topics, isn’t always easy to come by. Many times the guys and gals in the white coats, and the talking “expert” heads on TV, are simply way off base and biased.

In my own case, I really struggled to find information about withdrawal at first. A couple of the doctors I spoke to either didn’t know or didn’t care to know about withdrawal (they just knew how to prescribe meds).

This lack of reliable and helpful information is an issue affecting many, many people nowadays, and it isn’t just about withdrawal.

If you are looking for thoughtful information about how to get healthy and stay healthy without Big Pharma products, you’ll just have to do a little digging online. The stories and the information are out there. On support forums, on YouTube channels, and in memoirs.

Just keep searching, and I hope my posts help you along the way to find both information and support.

4. Congratulate and Reward Yourself.

Every little step of your journey, take stock of your progress and congratulate yourself.

Did you make it a week off pills, or did you make it through the first week of a new diet or fitness plan? Then go out to eat or for a drink somewhere. Did you make it through the first month of a goal that will take three years to accomplish? Then don’t forget to stop for a moment to celebrate that milestone.

Keep perspective. Progress happens one tiny step at a time, but we are often the only ones who know how giant those steps really are, so feel sufficiently good about them and celebrate them!

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Whether you are wanting to get off pills, get healthier in general, or move toward some other major life goal, remember these steps: care for yourself, seek God daily, find fresh information & support, and congratulate yourself every step of the way.

Stay patient, stay encouraged, and you’ll get there!

Until next time,

Michael