Fighting the Loneliness

I haven’t always had to fight loneliness and isolation. When I was younger I loved going out to listen to live music. Dancing was a fun way for me to interact with others. I enjoyed being social and was always looking for a place to meet friends at a bar or show. All of that has changed since my diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder.  Fighting loneliness has become part of my new normal. Isolating myself because of my mental illness can easily lead to loneliness and depression in my life now. One Saturday evening a few years ago I decided to count how many beers I had consumed in a 24 hour period. I counted 19. I realized at that moment I couldn’t just have one beer, but I had to have a lot of beer, or nothing at all.  Before my diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, my lifestyle involved going out to bars to drink with my friends. At the time that was my social outlet. However, after my diagnosis I quit drinking alcohol. I was used to spending a lot of money on alcohol. That was another reason I stopped drinking… it was too expensive.  Another reason I stopped abusing alcohol was for health reasons. An unhealthy lifestyle led to a size 42 inch waistline, but I also knew that the excessive drinking was doing damage to other parts of my body, as well.  The first couple of weeks of not drinking on a Friday night were especially tough for me.  I missed even the minor chit chat that occurred in those settings because alcohol provided liquid confidence for me. W...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Antidepressants Antipsychotics Atypical Antipsychotics Personal Stories Schizoaffective Disorder Schizophrenia Combat Veteran Loneliness Mood Disorder Music Therapy Psychosis Seasonal Affective Disorder Social Isolation Suicidal Source Type: news