⋆·˚ ༘ * new year, same me (but better) ⋆·˚ ༘ *

Hey,

Now that 2024 it's a reality I really want to try and do things that I never did in the past, so I thought, why not opening up about how I feel living with dysthymia?

First I want to clarify why I'm doing this:

1. I always felt that the anonymity of the online space provide me a sense of safety, allowing me to share without the fear of judgment this type of experiences, cause you don't know me and I don't know you. + knowing that other may be experiencing similar struggles and that my story might offer comfort to that people make me want to tell it.

2. Exercises proposed by my psychologist: try to writte about how you feel (ofc not on the internet, but I always wanted to try how I would feel sharing my thoughts, that's why I decided to post it online).

Warning: these are my thoughts, they may be totally different from how you feel (not everyone has the same symptoms), and please if you feel this way, seek psychological help that can treat you. Please don't diagnose yourself.

For me, life has become a continuous quiet storm. Each day, I wake up in a place that I knew before but that I no longer remember. All this years I've came to the conclusion that is kinda like a song, if I speak with metaphors, dysthymia is like a background melody, but ofc not a pleasant one.

Everyday feels like swimming against a current, and even in the "better" days doing the most easiest tasks becomes a BURDEN, everything becomes complicated to the point that is not worth doing anything.

But not everything is bad, as the years go by you begin to find shades of gray, you learnd to appreciate and to find beauty in the "bad" moments. You understand that the solution is not to get frustrated, but to learn to deal with your discomfort.

Living with this means celebrating the small victories. Whether it's getting out of bed on a tough day or completing a task that seemed insurmountable, acknowledging these victories fosters a positive mindset and reinforces the idea that change is possible, and it's better if you have people that celebrate with you, remember that.

One of the things I have learned to appreciate in 2023 has been my friendships. Friendships have become my lighthouse in the fog thanks to them I'm here today and they have become a comforting refuge.

So please count with them, I know it's hard but not impossible.

So 2024, here's the new me, same as always but diferent in every way.

I hope that if someone who is going through what I have gone through is reading this, may you know that everything gets better, I promise you that.

Hope to see you again in a few,

[Natia] // [Eng not my first language so sorry if there are any errors]