A place of one's own

[amethyst]

Re: A place of one's own

Been out for lunch with my cousin and his wife visiting Wales,had a pretty amazing afternoon with plenty of laughs.They have a 6 month old puppy which brought a smile to my face.The best tonic for being down in the dumps humour.They are living in Cornwall,I am lonely but when I am around the right company it makes you forget the bad things in your life,lifts your spirits with that bit of hope.

[Zincubus]

Re: A place of one's own

My father was from a very large family so even though i don't have a family of my own i do have a very large extended family, so I've always got a cousin nearby, other than that i do enjoy my own company.
You seem to have met your soul mate which is nice [emoji5]
Do you receive any help for your Aspergers?

Na ... I have my routines , rituals and learnt strategies to help combat the anxiety and depression


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[Danniella]

Re: A place of one's own

Na ... I have my routines , rituals and learnt strategies to help combat the anxiety and depression


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That's good that you can control it yourself. I've never dealt with anyone with Aspergers, i have dealt with people with anxiety and depression though, mental health issues are as bad as any illness and are sometimes overlooked.

[Danniella]

Re: A place of one's own

I have the condition myself as I have mentioned before, and just like Zincubus has said, things can be very difficult - I have always assumed, in pure soap opera fashion that one meets their partner in a pub or something which of course has never happened to me even when I step inside one. I had an opportunity to be with someone as a result of speed dating in 2007, they matched me up with her, I telephoned her, but in a nutshell she didn't want to know me for reasons that I don't want to go into. I think that this is what vulnerable people in society have to put up with - unnecessary rejection.

How do you control your Aspergers George?
I believe in fate, if something is meant to happen it will happen. I'm a single woman, i was widowed a few years ago and I'm still quite young. My attitude to life though is look forward and not back, so i try not to dwell on things, i just move forward in the best way i can. ☺

[Danniella]

Re: A place of one's own

Been out for lunch with my cousin and his wife visiting Wales,had a pretty amazing afternoon with plenty of laughs.They have a 6 month old puppy which brought a smile to my face.The best tonic for being down in the dumps humour.They are living in Cornwall,I am lonely but when I am around the right company it makes you forget the bad things in your life,lifts your spirits with that bit of hope.

I love Wales, i was recently in Llandudno and actually saw a herd of goats on The Great Orme, it was a fantastic sight!
6 month old puppies are adorable, so clumsy too! People who feel lonely get lots of joy from owning a dog, especially taking him for walkies as it's a great way to meet and chat to people.

[Zincubus]

A place of one's own

How do you control your Aspergers George?
I believe in fate, if something is meant to happen it will happen. I'm a single woman, i was widowed a few years ago and I'm still quite young. My attitude to life though is look forward and not back, so i try not to dwell on things, i just move forward in the best way i can. [emoji5]

That's a great way to be .. You can come with me and my dawg to Rhodes .... or St Ives

Italian Greyhound ..... think small , skinny Whippet ..



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[tex]

Re: A place of one's own

As the thread has deviated i thought i would post this, i love to paint and i have to say it is great for keeping me engaged, entertained and has a wonderful calming effect. It is a hobby which can be done in your own living room and requires little financial outlay. I was on "two inch brush" a favourite site of mine when i found this column.
Why Painting Is Great For Your Mental Health
We all know that the act of painting is not only fun and often times incredibly satisfying but also a great way to relax and relieve stress.
But did you know that it also has wonderful effects on your mental health? And we are not even talking about art therapy guided by a professional but your ordinary slap-some-paint-on-a-canvas fun.

So join us and find out why painting is great for your mental health!

Stress Relieve
What we and everyone that has ever held a paintbrush already know has now been confirmed by scientists: painting reduces stress.
Girija Kaimal, assistant professor of creative arts therapies at Drexel University, led a study examining the effects of making art on stress-related hormones in your body and has found that even only 45 minutes of creative activities like painting reduce symptoms of stress in the body. And the best thing is that this happens regardless of experience or talent. But as Bob Ross always said: Everyone can paint!

For the study the researchers invited 39 adults between 18 and 59 years old and provided them with resources to create whatever they wanted in 45 minutes. The participants also had the opportunity to ask an art therapist in case they had any questions. Before and after the 45 minutes the researchers measured stress hormones in the participants’ bodies and discovered that around 75 percent of them had a significantly amount in their bodies after the experiment.

“It was surprising, and it also wasn’t. It wasn’t surprising because that’s the core idea in art therapy: Everyone is creative and can be expressive in the visual arts when working in a supportive setting. That said, I did expect that perhaps the effects would be stronger for those with prior experience.” Kaimal explained.
The scientists also noticed that there was a correlation between the age of the participants and the lowered hormone levels, meaning that younger people benefit even more from creating art.
According to Kaimal “one reason might be that younger people are developmentally still figuring out ways to deal with stress and challenges, while older individuals ‘just from having lived life and being older’ might have more strategies to problem-solve and manage stress more effectively.”

Effects On Depression
Painting does not only reduce the symptoms of stress but also helps with depression. A lot of people suffering from it have reported that painting gives them newfound energy and invokes feelings of pride and accomplishment in them. Feelings which some of these people have not felt in years or never at all.

It is no surprise that painting and creative exercise in general have long been recognized as important and effective tools to help people who suffer from depression. A 2015 review of randomized controlled trials on art therapy’s effect on depression found that subjects in 6 out of 9 studies saw a significant reduction in depression. The review, published in the journal Health Technology Assessment, also included studies that found art therapy reduced subjects’ anxiety and distress and improved their self-esteem, mood and quality of life.

Leading art therapists recommend people who are self conscious or emotionally unstable to start with more controlled and predictable mediums like pens, pencils or markers on paper, and only move to looser mediums like oils, watercolors, or acrylic paint once they have started to gain more confidence, since the looser nature of these mediums tend to make them rather unpredictable and can lead to frustration in beginners. A great way to start with a very controllable medium are adult coloring books. These books were first popularized in France, a country that is number one in per capita consumption of antidepressants, tranquilizer, and sleeping pills.

[George 1978]

Re: A place of one's own

How do you control your Aspergers George?
I believe in fate, if something is meant to happen it will happen. I'm a single woman, i was widowed a few years ago and I'm still quite young. My attitude to life though is look forward and not back, so i try not to dwell on things, i just move forward in the best way i can. ☺

I just take it as a fact of life - I don't take medication or anything like that for it as I often feel that I am "gambling" with my health - in other words, I often think that it could make it worse. I have never liked taking tablets, pills of medicine unless I really needed to take them to get better.

As I have said before, I also get anxiety and depression, quite often due to things like doing unfamiliar things and relationship difficulties, but I just learn to live with it. On top of that, I do feel that the atmosphere where one lives can make a big impact as to one's health and wellbeing. I live in a suburb which is otherwise a perfect area which I have always wanted to move to, but they do say that you cannot choose your neighbours.

Where I live, a neighbour of mine has a drug problem - complaints have been made to the Housing Association, and only recently I have managed to put two and two together and realised that my anxiety and depression and slight ill health could be linked to the "passive smoking" alike nature of my neighbour using drugs - I don't mention this to him if I see him for obvious reasons. That is probably one of the reasons why I would want to move as well as for the reasons which I have mentioned at the start of this thread.

[George 1978]

Re: A place of one's own

As the thread has deviated i thought i would post this.

I don't think it has deviated - we are just exploring the different avenues of the original subject. In other words, I think that they are loosely linked to each other.

[Zincubus]

Re: A place of one's own

Surely the flaw with the idea of painting to relax is that you have to be able , to some degree , to paint or draw ??

I find the idea extremely stressful as not only can I not paint / draw .. I can’t think of anything to draw / paint either ..


I do find line drawings therapeutic though so maybe there is ‘something’ in the idea ??




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[George 1978]

Re: A place of one's own

Back on topic: does anyone get frustrated at the lack of affordable housing in the area that they always wanted to live?

[Danniella]

Re: A place of one's own

That's a great way to be .. You can come with me and my dawg to Rhodes .... or St Ives

Italian Greyhound ..... think small , skinny Whippet ..



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Ahh bless, your dog is gorgeous! Very long legs in the second pic! ☺

I've never been to St. Ives, guess I'll have to pack my bags. ☺

[Danniella]

Re: A place of one's own

Back on topic: does anyone get frustrated at the lack of affordable housing in the area that they always wanted to live?

I did when i was younger, i rented some very dodgy flats in rough areas of Liverpool and then London, one flat i rented had a very dodgy electrical system, electricity was supplied through a cable plugged into a socket in the communal hallway.

[Danniella]

Re: A place of one's own

I just take it as a fact of life - I don't take medication or anything like that for it as I often feel that I am "gambling" with my health - in other words, I often think that it could make it worse. I have never liked taking tablets, pills of medicine unless I really needed to take them to get better.

As I have said before, I also get anxiety and depression, quite often due to things like doing unfamiliar things and relationship difficulties, but I just learn to live with it. On top of that, I do feel that the atmosphere where one lives can make a big impact as to one's health and wellbeing. I live in a suburb which is otherwise a perfect area which I have always wanted to move to, but they do say that you cannot choose your neighbours.

Where I live, a neighbour of mine has a drug problem - complaints have been made to the Housing Association, and only recently I have managed to put two and two together and realised that my anxiety and depression and slight ill health could be linked to the "passive smoking" alike nature of my neighbour using drugs - I don't mention this to him if I see him for obvious reasons. That is probably one of the reasons why I would want to move as well as for the reasons which I have mentioned at the start of this thread.

You must be really stressed with your neighbour, it's bound to have an effect on your well being. The first thing I'd do is report him to the police, easier said than done but why should he be allowed to get away with it, and if your housing association know what's going on yet turn a blind eye i would report them too to your local MP.
I've come across many drug users in my job and i just don't get why people risk their lives by taking substances.
However prescription drugs are safe if taken correctly, just follow the instructions by your GP, i know a few people who take anti-depressants and it really does help give them some quality of life again.

[amethyst]

Re: A place of one's own

I love the picture of your dog,she is gorgeous and amazing.St Ives is breathtaking