Hodd

A bit of a tongue in cheek thread, but I am certainly stressed and sleep deprived lately. I started a teaching training course. I knew it’d be a lot of work, but it’s a bit more then I expected. My resting heart rate (thanks Fitbit) has gone from 50 to about 57. That’s a definite sign of stress/no sleep.

So how to deal with it? Well, some sort of yoga/mindfulness would help as would continuing to exercise. I can do lots of things such as plan better. But notice I haven’t mentioned alcohol? That wouldn’t help and would only serve to rob me of even more sleep. The irony is I’d use stress as an excuse to drink before when that stress had come from not drinking.

This is how non-drinkers deal with stress.

Anna

Yes, it is Hodd. I hope your teaching training course goes well.

Sober45

Agree 100%, Hodd. When I’m feeling overwhelmed I try to step back and remind myself I can only do one thing at a time. The thing that slows me down most is the fear of failure. The anxiety literally stops me from absorbing new information. So I try not to tie my self worth to my successes or failures. Instead I give myself credit for the effort I put in.

good luck!

stickyone

Yes this is how sober people deal with stress. That really hit for me. Addiction runs strong on my father's side of the family. My mother is a amazing women who doesn't do any type of mind altering substance's but gets up goes to work always finds the best of every situation. I am truly grateful for her. Thank you for sharing this has helped me grow in the right direction.

CupofJoe

I'm glad you're finding other ways of dealing with stress. Keep it up!

Hodd

Thanks all. Odd post, but if I’d started this teacher training when I was a drinker, I’d be using the stress as an excuse to drink. I’d then be sleeping even less, performing worse and getting more stressed. The cycle would continue. Well, it would only continue until I got kicked off the course.

MaximusD

Good to see you are doing good Hodd!

Hodd

Thanks Max, I’ll be asking for teaching tips 😀

But in all seriousness, I do need to find a way to relax, ideally one day a week, e.g. Sunday, which is totally free. I just did a yoga class one to one, and that was a good start.

Sounds like you’re doing OK too, Max. Top man.

Hodd

You’re selling yourself very short, sober45. Your posts from last weekend showed quite a battle going on with the gathering you didn’t want to go to, but you dealt with it all admirably. Don’t be too fearful of failure when you’re doing so well.

freedomfries

Yes definitely. I used alcohol to deal with stress and anxiety but I ultimately just added more.