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This is one of many helpful tricks I have learned studying neurophysics and neuroplasticity over the last two years. Your brain cannot tell the difference between a real and fake smile, and a fake smile will produce endorphins and help you have a better day. Also when you wake up, if like me you feel immediately terrified, say out loud “You are safe Brad” but use your name. This also helps a lot. Say how you feel out loud, affect labeling, it helps you not get sucked into your emotions. Emotions are not (exactly) real. You can stop having a bad day anytime during the day. Do jumping jacks. Have a cold shower. Hack your sympathetic and autonomic nervous systemsPeople and researchers to read related to these and many other ideas about trauma and mental illness, PTSD as brain injury not pathology etc are:Peter LevineStephen PorgesDeb DanaDavid BercelliThat being said while I practice all these things with increasing vigor I still suffer with mental illness
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From the site Therapist Aid, is a summary of the 5-4-3-2-1 Technique for re-grounding in the moment. Focus on identifying:
5 things you can see. “Look for small details such as a pattern on the ceiling, the way light reflects off a surface, or an object you never noticed.”
4 things you can feel. “Notice the sensation of clothing on your body, the sun on your skin, or the feeling of the chair you are sitting in. Pick up an object and examine its weight, texture, and other physical qualities.”
3 things you can hear. “Pay special attention to the sounds your mind has tuned out, such as a ticking clock, distant traffic, or trees blowing in the wind.”
2 things you can smell. “Try to notice smells in the air around you, like an air freshener or freshly mowed grass. You may also look around for something that has a scent, such as a flower or an unlit candle.”
1 thing you can taste. The summary suggests you could chew gum or eat a snack and “focus your attention closely on the flavors,” but for this one I might substitute thinking back to a recently enjoyed taste, or looking for something in your environment that reminds you of a taste, etc.
Mar 13, 2024
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This can help with anxiety or unpleasant situations or whatever but it helps me most on bad chronic illness days when i feel completely sick or in pain or wiped out and start lowkey panicking about how the rest of my day is going to be fucked because i’m flaring up.
Rather than spiral about what’s wrong, I do one thing—force myself to eat a little, hydrate, take one of my rescue meds, just lie down perfectly still, whatever—then wait 30 minutes before letting myself reevaluate how I feel and if further action is needed. I know it sounds obvious and kinda robotic but it really helps with the overwhelm/letting go… and most bodily pain/discomfort changes at least somewhat in 30 minutes!
Jun 12, 2025
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Ok essay incoming but I’m the same way and this advice is assuming that you have tried various ways to remind yourself of things (physical notes, reminders, alarms, schedules, to-do lists, whiteboards, etc) and struggled to respond consistently to this kind of stimuli. If you’re not already reminder-maxxing I recommend seeking out the most effective method for you to be unable to ignore the reminders. Might have to change over time as you become desensitized to one kind.
Once you’re seeing the reminders daily, the struggle is then acting on them. Seems obvious but sometimes when I’m struggling to complete a task or to do it regularly/form a routine, it helps to zoom in on my reasons for wanting to do it at all. Sure, running every day will make me burn fat and improve my cardiovascular health etc etc etc but sometimes for me with my neurodivergence those long term goals are too lofty and too postponable. Instead it really helps me to think about what kind of immediate reward I will get for completing a task or repeating a task—sometimes the immediate reward is just an immediate reward (“if I go for a 15 min run I’ll feel endorphin release ”) and sometimes it’s the removal of a punishing factor (“if I go for a 15 min run I’ll avoid the shame and anxiety of not doing the thing I said I was going to do today”. there’s a term for this in operant conditioning but I forget what it is). This is why for the really important stuff, I opt for a loud annoying alarm because one can only handle so much snoozing or postponing before it becomes easier to just do the thing.
Another piece of advice would be to harness the initial anxiety that a reminder prompts and act on it as quickly as possible, before the anxiety turns from motivating to crippling and before you can think of excuses/justifications for avoiding rather than acting.
I hope this helps! I’m far from perfect with this stuff and always having to adapt to my own ability to fall back but this has been the most consistently useful approach for me.
Nov 8, 2024
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Refutation is exhausting. What if everyone was right and everything was true? Big load off my back honestly
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I play this 12 hours of applause when painting or writing it helps me feel encouraged. Nobody applauds at an art show which has always been a bummer to me
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