And so I'm back, from outerspace
It's been a while since I last posted, despite my commitment to post every day. I'm letting myself off the hook a bit as last Thursday's turn of events have left me in a bit of emotional turmoil And I've not been well.
I've had this lingering state of nausea and fuzzy headedness for several days now and its really starting to pee me off. I'm caught in limbo - not actually ill enough to warrant any sympathy but not well enough to feel like doing anything. The two most likely culprits are hormones (is is that time) or my new medication. I'll give it a few days then reconsider.
My other reason for not posting is that I don't know that I understand enough about how I feel it the moment in order to articulate it. Having been a writer I've never found it difficult to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Though now it feels like 'pulling taffy', to quote Lisa Loeb.
I've recently started using a great resource to try and help pin down how I'm feeling highlighted to me by a lovely friend who is also 'off kilter' (a term we coined together when trying to decide how best to describe chronic illness). Moonscape (https://www.moodscope.com/welcome) is an online resource that allows users to assess and record their mood each day by choosing the most appropriate option from a series of cards. These cards measure things like enthusiasm, alertness, distress and guilt. Your answers are then combined to score your mood for that day and plotted on a graph. You are given the option to annotate each plot to include the issues that might precipitate your score. Over time you can look for patterns and really gain an understanding of your mood and the factors that influence it.
You can also give the email addresses of several friends so that they can be alerted if your mood reaches a certain point. For instance, one user with bipolar disorder has her friends notified if her mood hits 85% as that can indicate she is entering a manic phase and will need extra support.
I've only been using it for a couple of weeks but have already found it really useful. Like today - I'm feeling pretty crappy, and frustrated by the block this whole disability thing is causing. Yet after completing moodscape I've realised that I'm not distressed, anxious or feeling guilty for which I am feeling incredibly grateful :D
I've had this lingering state of nausea and fuzzy headedness for several days now and its really starting to pee me off. I'm caught in limbo - not actually ill enough to warrant any sympathy but not well enough to feel like doing anything. The two most likely culprits are hormones (is is that time) or my new medication. I'll give it a few days then reconsider.
My other reason for not posting is that I don't know that I understand enough about how I feel it the moment in order to articulate it. Having been a writer I've never found it difficult to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Though now it feels like 'pulling taffy', to quote Lisa Loeb.
I've recently started using a great resource to try and help pin down how I'm feeling highlighted to me by a lovely friend who is also 'off kilter' (a term we coined together when trying to decide how best to describe chronic illness). Moonscape (https://www.moodscope.com/welcome) is an online resource that allows users to assess and record their mood each day by choosing the most appropriate option from a series of cards. These cards measure things like enthusiasm, alertness, distress and guilt. Your answers are then combined to score your mood for that day and plotted on a graph. You are given the option to annotate each plot to include the issues that might precipitate your score. Over time you can look for patterns and really gain an understanding of your mood and the factors that influence it.
You can also give the email addresses of several friends so that they can be alerted if your mood reaches a certain point. For instance, one user with bipolar disorder has her friends notified if her mood hits 85% as that can indicate she is entering a manic phase and will need extra support.
I've only been using it for a couple of weeks but have already found it really useful. Like today - I'm feeling pretty crappy, and frustrated by the block this whole disability thing is causing. Yet after completing moodscape I've realised that I'm not distressed, anxious or feeling guilty for which I am feeling incredibly grateful :D