Spotlight on Stigma... Welcomed but Not Accepted

One of the mental health conditions I deal with is social anxiety. So you would probably think that I rejoiced when the CDC guidelines came down about social isolation.  However, social anxiety doesn't mean I want to be a hermit. I still crave certain types of human interaction, just not all of them (like crowds, small talk, or making phone calls), and the amount of anxiety I feel about social situations varies depending on where I am with my other mental health issues. In fact, with everything going on, I need social contact more than ever. In my case, I have bipolar disorder, type 2, which means my mania isn't as high as type 1 but my depression can go lower. I also have generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, social anxiety, agoraphobia, addiction issues, and I'm pretty sure I have ADD. When I am manic...  I get hyper-focused on multi-tasking several things. So in this case, when a friend reaches out to me, I often ignore the phone call or t

I am getting bored. Not the "I don't have anything to do" kind of bored, because as a freelancer, I ALWAYS have something to do. However, I'm getting to the "there's nothing I want to do" stage of this COVID-19 social isolation quarantine. I pushed through this past week and even was able to do some of the things I didn't want to do. This was mixed in with things at least didn't mind doing or at least items I wanted to check off my list so badly that I got them done. But you know how there are things on your to-do list that are overwhelming for one reason or another... those things you tend to procrastinate with much more than everything else? I'm at that stage of my "what to do during the quarantine" list. The next points on my list are either difficult, for little reward, or just plain ol' not fun. My anxiety is at a level where I'm kind of shaky from nerves no matter what I do. My depression is at a level where my

It has been a while. I have been sick, then super busy making up for being sick, then just super busy. This blog has been pushed aside more than once when I really wanted to write... because, in this time of such uncertainty, I felt that blogging wasn't being "productive" (with my definition of the moment meaning somehow do something to make money). Well, I hit the breaking point just a few minutes ago and it doesn't matter if it's "productive" or not, I need to write. The timing has been weird on this one. I'm about to have cataract surgery and due to a test I need to have before the surgery, I had to go without contacts for a week. Given the nature of my businesses, wearing my old glasses has made it very difficult to do some of my jobs and impossible to do others. I have known this for a few weeks and have been preparing for the loss of income and work. I was very proactive by making a list of things that I've been putting off for a long t