Feeling Lost? How To Move Forward.

In this pandemic environment that’s slowing down and losing its teeth, if you just graduated from high school or college, you're entering the workforce at a time when the workforce is topsy turvy. And if you've been out of work, it can feel even more fickle.

But at least they’re hiring again. (Maybe not for your specialty but for some.) Recovery takes some time. Do you feel supercharged to get out and build your life and future? Or do you shake your head and want to hide under a rock? Maybe you’ve been through a traumatic event, and it’s left you stripped. Confused. Fearful. Maybe your loved one has died. When that happens it just leaves such a hole in your life. You can’t imagine your life without that person in it. What do you do when you’re feeling lost?

Let’s talk about what you can do to get through this time in your life. Because you will get through it. Even though you may feel scared, empty, and adrift, you will find the traction to move forward.

At the top of the list of things you can do is: Be kind to yourself.

Be honest and supportive of yourself.... be accepting of who you are and how you’re managing right now at this minute. No brow beating. No self-hatred or self-lecturing. This stuff is painful. Really painful. Be your own best friend.

What you’re feeling is valid, and you’ll find your way through it. There is NOTHING wrong with you. This time will usher growth... it’s not a sign of failure!

Identify and accept the way you feel. Don’t hide from it. You might need to take a little breather. Maybe rest a bit, knowing that when you’re ready, you’ll rise up and choose your path from there.

Show yourself compassion and patience.

Seek Social Support

Sound like a big order? Maybe too BIG? After all, we’ve been wearing masks for nearly a year and a half, we’ve been social distancing, and keeping our families home. Getting effective social support may sound like a serious obstacle. But honestly, you do need it, especially in crisis. 

If you're fully vaccinated, find others in your world who are also and meet them at a park and talk. And tell your closest friends to get their vaccinations...because you actually need them! Isolation has a way of tearing you down without your realizing it. Two weeks of isolation you can survive just fine. But a year and a half ?? It gets hard. When you’re feeling lost, you need some face-to-face interaction SAFELY. You may be amazed and the lift it gives you to spend an afternoon face to face with a friend.

Change your environment.

It can wear down your resilience, your ability to bounce back after loss, frustration, or trauma, to stay cooped up, looking at the same 4 walls. One lady drove to the beach, took her aunt with her, and they walked and talked and listened to the waves.

They avoided crowds, and wore masks when they drove through restaurants for food. They kept it simple and safe. But it gave both of them a shot in the arm. Smelling the salt air, hearing the pounding waves, watching them crash on the beach one after another. Waking up with the surf while drinking coffee. (We love our coffee.) If only you could bottle it! Changing your environment...even for a little while...can be so refreshing and help you think more clearly.

Feed your brain green leafy vegetables, eat reds, oranges, yellows, in fruits and vegetables, wild caught salmon, eggs, walnuts

When you’re feeling lost, stay away from fast food... fuel your brain for restoration. 

Give your brain a BREAK!!

Your brain overloads when you’re stuffing it with data, problems to solve, crises, diagrams, statistics. You have too much on your mind in this world, but depending on your job, you may need to reduce the mental clutter by... about 85%.

You heard that right.

The world (your job, your spouse, your children, your utilities and internet, your car, your co- workers....) Take a break and unplug in a quiet place often. Just turn off the noise. Allow yourself to restore. No one can serve constant demands 100% of the time. You are your own gatekeeper.

Remember Focus??

At some point in your life, you knew how to focus. Whether you turned music on or turned it off, you took the steps you needed to enhance your ability to focus your attention where you wanted it. Maybe you liked to work at the kitchen table where all the family noice and activity was non- stop. For some people that’s ideal.

Or maybe you needed to be far from outside conversations, the sounds of phones ringing, the television noise, laptop noise others were a part of. But you knew what you needed to maintain attention on important work. 

But with life hammering around you in your house, with the kids schooling at home, the pets flying through the house, the kids needing you to fix one thing or another, it’s been different. And if you find yourself in a swarm of humanity and activity from which there is no escape?

So you think and think (and think!) and get the idea you need to write... and a child bangs on your door and the retriever comes running through and jumps on so happy to see you... so you answer Timmy’s question, then shoo Timmy and dog out the door. What were you about to write? You search all over your desk for a clue and find nothing. Can’t remember. Then you hear a crash.

Your frustration is building... where’s the babysitter???

May be time to disconnect from electronics, people, road noise... Give yourself peace. Then find a place to focus.

And finally, when you’re feeling better, TAKE ACTION. 

Step up to the plate and do something...whether it's riding your bike, taking a walk, visiting a fully vaccinated friend.

The day after that take an even bigger action.

Then...something bigger...that invests in your future on some level.

TAP INTO HOPE

If all your effort gets you no closer to feeling yourself, you may want to run it by an expert. Seek evaluation. Seek treatment. All of these things are so good for you. But if you’re past feeling lost and actually suffering from symptoms that have spiraled out of control–depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, trauma that keep replaying, hopelessness–maybe you should consider IV ketamine treatment. 

If these suggestions have not helped you find some traction to move forward, you may want to consider IV Ketamine treatment.

At Innovative Psychiatry, we invite you to consider IV ketamine treatment if none of the advice, exercises, or medicines have helped. We love to work with your healthcare team for continuity of care. So we welcome communication from your own doctor or therapist. And we spend time with you to evaluate whether you’re a candidate for IV ketamine treatment.

We have a quiet comfortable private rooms for you to relax, recline, and receive your IV ketamine treatment for each infusion. (Can we say they’re gorgeous?) You may need 6, or 8, or a few more infusions to achieve the full antidepressant benefit of ketamine.

Understand that ketamine’s not for everyone, and we’ll talk about that with you when you come in.

Meanwhile, we’re vigilant about maintaining an infection-free environment here, with exciting plasma cell technology which destroys viruses, bacteria, and mold in the the air so you can come for treatment without concern for contaminants. Including COVID.

If you struggle with symptoms of depression, trauma or PTSD, substance use disorder, alcohol disorder, or suicidal thinking...please call us.

If you’ve felt lost... and also have no appetite (or you’re eating too much), or you’re not sleeping (or you’re sleeping too much) — or that feeling of being lost is getting bigger and bigger and just keeping you stuck, call us for an appointment.

And let us help. 

To the restoration of your best self,

Lori Calabrese, MD