Bay 12 Games Forum

My car was encased in three inches of snowy ice this morning.

That was an interesting 25 minutes getting it off, in shorts. Big ass winter jacket and snow boots, though. I’m not completely mad.

Focus on your breathing when you’re trying to sleep. Breathe in, breathe out. If you find your mind wandering, bring it back to your breathing.

If you find you’re not dropping off after say half an hour, get up and find something relaxing to do which doesn’t involve a screen for ten or fifteen minutes, and try again.

For longer term stuff, avoid drinking caffeine later in the day, alcohol is also not that great, don’t eat a large meal close to bed time, try going to bed and getting up at the same time every day (every day) and try to keep the same routine before bed so your body knows it’s sleepy time, and avoid anything energetic or stressful in the hour or so before bed (don’t exercise, watch tv, that kind of thing). A warm shower is good, I think.

Napping during the day is a weird one. I personally can’t do it, and it’s best to limit it to around 20 minutes, but that can also have a huge influence on how sleep.

Keeping your bedroom cool (but not cold) will probably help. I can’t sleep if it’s too warm, and wake up many times if I do manage to fall asleep. Also don’t drink too much liquid, else you’ll wake up to pee.

I actually don’t know what I’m doing with myself. After spending a very long time in an environment which I associated with buried trauma, it all came out a while back and I’m symptomatic of CPTSD now. I might alwayd have been, but I didn’t have the self confidence to actually tell anyone that there was a problem, and now I’m just sitting here doing nothing, seeing a therapist once a week with the vague idea that I’ll magically find some coping mechanisms to deal with the fact that it physically hurts to watch any kind of drama, real or imagined or playing loudly on a radio next door, to a near crippling degree. I have absolutely nothing to do with myself, and I can’t even pick up and read a book because if two characters disagree I’ll just have to put it down. I live in the middle of nowhere, so I never actually get to speak with anyone, except when enough People agree to have a D&D session, once every two weeks on average. No Games hold any joy for me, I can’t focus enough to play anything more than five minutes. I am incapable of contributing anything to anything. Just sitting here. I actually want to punch the walls.

As Kagus said, doing something about it is better than not doing something about it.

You won’t magically learn coping mechanisms, it does take effort on your part to get there, but it’s doable, especially with the help of a professional. It won’t happen tomorrow, it will take a long time, but keep at it and it will happen.

Things might look bleak now, but you’ve acknowledged there’s something not right, and you’re taking steps to make it right.

Other than the fact their existence means you’re employed? :p

I don’t think it does require more incentive though. It doesn’t take much to listen to someone and try to figure out their problem, or find someone else if you don’t know how.

I may be in a unique position though, since while I work retail, I’m not sales so if I can’t help someone I don’t get any flack for fobbing then off on someone else. I try not to, but I also don’t care enough to learn about the stuff we sell to be useful beyond what I’m expected to do: mainly move boxes off the floor.

Quote from: scriver on November 30, 2019, 02:20:45 pm

Quote from: Lord Shonus on November 30, 2019, 11:52:57 am

No. It is not impolite to leave your face in a resting position instead of forcing a fake.grin on it.

If it's fake, then you're faking politeness.

And don't be ridiculous. Nobody's talking about any grin, and nobody's talking about walking around with it all the time. That's not how you do it. You give people small smiles to show that you see them and acknowledge them. This is really basic stuff.

You know, most customers don't smile at all.  They just stare at me with their mouth slightly ajar due to the pull of gravity.

But that okay, because a customer is doing it.

‘tain’t okay, but you don’t have to lower yourself to that level.

Some people get off on treating retail staff like shit, some people just aren’t very good at dealing with other people, some people are going through shit and don’t have the energy to engage in basic social niceties.

On the other side of the coin, you also get people who go out of their way to engage staff. Not everyone’s an asshole, even if that’s all you remember.

There are such things.

I guess I only really know of such things because my wife is a vet, though...

You’re an odd cookie. You make far too much effort to tell someone they talk shit.

I hope the jam returns to your doughnut.

The two posts I made shouldn’t be taken in isolation.