valuablevalve

Thank you very much for the link, all I know is purely empirical, so this is very interesting read.

Sorry, English is not my first language.

I'm fully aware of this, I just had to get back to life before it all gone and this is what I did, it may not be the right thing for everybody, but I sincerely think that particular the training, being out during the day, strengthening my body, is what that final got me back on track.

Its like reaching a threshold when everything is "snowballing" in the right direction.

I know that in the real world, people have work to do, kids to fetch and all those things, but if you can, please try, its not just about the sunlight = Vitamin D, its also about the sensory input you get while walking, that is very soothing and distracting, everything calms down considerably during and after.

Yes, I know, I live far north where the sun sets early and comes up late, we also have harsh winters, so its a challenge.

But building muscles and stamina is critical for recovery and walking/workout is something almost everyone can do. Running is much much harder, it takes a heavier toll on the body and when starting out your more likely to get sick etc.

When you set the routine (takes a month), you will long for walk every day, everything seems to calm down allot during and after the walks.

After a 10 year fight induced from stress, I can positively say that I'm free from it, just reading a page like this would have floored me 5 years ago.

Some stuff I learned:

- Stop* with coffee, for some reason tea does not the same thing to my body, coffee is like gasoline on the anxiety fire, I cant stress this point enough.

- Stop* with nicotine, (almost) same as coffee

- Stop* drinking, you need to stay strong 7 days a week to get out of it

- Start walking, at least 8km during weekdays day, in brisk pace, you should have to take a shower after. After each walk, do a workout, pushups, chins etc. Make this a priority, and dont walk when its dark outside, you need the sunlight.

- In the beginning, avoid everything stressful, its not hiding, its waiting until strong enough

- Stoicism contains allot of valuable lessons for us, its where CBT came from after all.

- If you come out on this like me on the right side (I hope), and your loved one is still by your side, remember that !

All the best !

*) To stop with something like "drinking" and coffee, it seems hard and rash, but it really helps, and dont make the mistake to once in a while break the rule, its much easier to stick to the rule if there are zero exceptions, less inner conversation, less guilt, more pride.