COVID-19 hit the world hard. It also hit me hard. I suffer from anxiety and occasional bouts of depression. My work means a lot to me and often keeps me balanced mentally and emotionally. I support people who are labelled as having an intellectual disability. My mental health success and work are linked.
I enjoy going every day as we work side by side in a bakery setting. In March 2020, our workplace was shut down – as were many all over the world. My situation was no worse than most others; in fact, it was better because we had some job security. That didn’t stop me from spiraling down into a depression.
Mental Health Success Despite Depression
Depression is not just feeling sad. Depression is a feeling of being lost, of darkness, or just exhaustion with life. It’s being in bed and not having the desire, ambition or reason to get up. It’s feeling that people won’t miss you if you aren’t there and don’t get out of bed. Bill continued his work and I wandered around the house, unable to focus or find joy in anything. I was not allowed to see my adult daughter, my mother or anyone else outside my little, small home circle. Lost is how i describe it. It was a very dark time for me.
Things started opening up again about the same time Bill and I started keto. I was back to work, although the people we support were still in lock down. This meant the staff and I were doing the bakery work without the people we support – the reason we do the job. It still felt good to have a purpose though. Then I was able to visit my daughter and my mother. Things were looking up!
Covid & Mental Health
The second wave of COVID came and went with barely a ripple of effect on us here. We stayed careful and we all felt quite smug about the whole thing. Everyone was back to work, although at reduced hours, and the world felt like it was going back towards normal. Keto was going well and Bill and I felt better than we had in years.
About 7 months into our keto journey, the third wave of COVID hit and things came to a screeching halt. Suddenly, the case count exploded and staff were back to doing production without the joys of working with the people we support. While we were still working, it was not the work we love and I felt myself sliding back down into that emotional black hole. But this time was different. This time, I had the energy and the mental clarity to fight!
Keto Can Make a Mental Health Success Story
We stayed on track with keto, being even more careful of what I was eating. I started a journal where I named the worries I was feeling. I looked at each worry and if I had any control over it. If I did, I made a plan for it. If I didn’t, I worked on letting it go. I wrote down the negative thoughts I was having each day and really examined if they were true or not. Spoiler alert – they most often were not true. I focused on the things I love about my life (and there is a lot). It wasn’t perfect, but it kept me getting out of bed.
I’m not going to say that my handling of the lock down this time around was all due to keto. There is evidence that keto does help mental health, but it’s still fairly new and controversial. What I do know is that I had enough awareness and energy this time around to know I was in trouble and to fight for my mental health. I believe, personally, that keto played a big role in that and, to me, that’s a win!
Wendy
