u/Certain-Yak-7951

Hi everyone, after a couple of years on mirt, I feel it has done everything it can for me and I'd like to come off now that I'm mentally in a better place.

I mostly took it for sleep and never took more than 15mg. So I've started decreasing by a quarter of a tablet, so I've decreased to 11.25mg, and will do this for 2 weeks, then go to 7.5mg for 2 weeks, then 3.25mg for 2 weeks then nothing.

Does this sound like a slow enough plan? I will check with my doctor when I see him this weekend, but given I want to come off this medication as soon as possible I thought I'd give myself a head start.

And feedback from anyone who has gone through this before would be greatly appreciated ☺️

My housemate who I've just moved in with is not in a good place with her mental health. I feel like she's very resentful towards me in the home and it hurts, she is mean and passive aggressive and unkind.

I have been struggling to understand how to "love thy neighbor" through this. I spend a lot of time ruminating on our interactions and I can feel it's hurting me.

I am trying to practice the art of "giving her the free will to not like me" as a way of aligning myself with what Jesus would do. But I also don't want to be self righteous and holier than thou - I also don't want to pity her because I feel like that is a form of shaming.

I think trying to let her dislike me and just not engaging with her much is the best way forward - but does anyone have any practical advice on how love thy neighbor in this kind of circumstance?

So I've just ordered a dumb phone (Nokia 3210) and I want to lean right into not having any apps at all.

But, I am a heavy user of Uber because I don't drive. I figured I could just suck it up and get cabs and buses more and that is fine, but I've just learned that you can apparently call Uber by calling 13 Uber and ordering an Uber that way?! Does anyone do this with their dumb phone? Does it work for you?

This year I started doing indoor rock climbing as a form of physical exercise. I have had anxiety severely for over 15 years, and I'm 31F now and decided this year that I was going to get into some hobbies and one of those hobbies had to be physical activity for my well-being.

I've never been a fit person, I've always been a timid anxious bean and struggled to get into sport and even gym because I just found it either overwhelming or boring.

Rock climbing was an amazing revolution for me - the benefits are:

1. It's excellent controlled exposure therapy. You're safe, hooked into a harness, and it's indoor so you are safe as houses. However, you are challenging your brain to handle one of its most primal fears: the fear of FALLING. Despite being hooked in, you always get a bit of an adrenaline rush so you can practice your exposure therapy at your OWN PACE.

2. It builds confidence. It scratches a really primal itch I think, to know that you've climbed to the top of a wall successfully. It feels like something you can tick off for the day, and no matter how shit your day is, your brain knows it climbed a wall today and that gives a sense of accomplishment.

3. Any fear you feel on the wall is not anxiety, it's just pure adrenaline, and honestly I think it's important to feel that occasionally to remind yourself you can handle some adrenaline.

Unlike anxiety, the feeling of pure adrenaline up on a wall MAKES SENSE TO YOUR BRAIN. Like yes, my heart is pounding bc I'm 10m off the ground (but again, it's super safe because you're hooked into a harness - but your brain doesn't know that!). My brain is now better at determining actual risk from safety, and this regulated my nervous system. Because it has been exposed to what it believes is physical risk. When we aren't exposed to hazards in the modern world, our brain forgets what a hazard actually is, and I think this contributes to anxiety.

4. It can be as chill or as difficult as you want, it's not competitive, it's a social activity, and it's relatively a cheap activity to be a part of (my membership is no more expensive than a normal gym membership).

5. It's overall just great exercise, and a lot of fun and brings genuine joy!

6. When you're on the wall, all you're thinking about is getting to the top. It's not like doing weights (I get so bored with weights and I all I think about is how uncomfortable it is), on the wall you have an incentive to not let go of the wall, because to let go is to fall (instead of being like "this hurts and sucks I want to stop" my brain is like "holy fuck I'm up so high don't let go, keep moving") , so it's hard to distracted while you're on the wall. Also, it's hard to be anxious about normal life things on the wall, bc you're so focussed on the task at hand.

So for anyone looking for some kind of exercise to get into and who struggles with panic attacks and anxiety, please consider getting into indoor rock climbing or something similar!