Today my advice is to do with stress relief and good emotional health practices. I maintain good attitudes and positive ways of dealing with lifes little glitches, with a rather silly method. I hadn't given alot of thought to this until the other day when i actually caught myself doing

it and realised what i do to combat stress is something that anyone with an open mind can do aswell!!

It all began at the age of 22, when i was struck down with a horrible disorder called ANXIETY. The first time it happened was when i was in the newsagents paying a telephone bill of all places..haha. I was standing in line, and noticed my hands were shaking, previous to this i hadnt been overly upset or worried about anything in particular, so i found this pretty disturbing. I payed the bill and went home, my mind raced with all these thoughts of what it was that caused this weird thing... all of a sudden i was sooo aware of my mortality that it was scary. Pins and needles attacked my hands, then my feet, then my cheeks felt numb. What the hell was this!! I couldnt breathe and the room was spinning. Gasping for air i sat as still as i could manage and inside my mind i was saying, someone help, i'm about to drop dead any minute. As i sat huddled on the kitchen floor, my postnatal councillor came for her visit, in all the comotion i didnt remember the appointment, i was too focussed on the sensations i was experiencing. She organised emergency care for the kids and took me to the GP. I had developed what is called an anxiety disorder, partly caused by the birth of my son and partly by the medication i was taking, Depro provera injections to prevent pregnancy.

This was the beginning of a long hard road back to normal for me. All of a sudden everything was turned upside down. And how i thought i coped with everything changed. At first i had medication, which pretty well doped me out for about 3 weeks and i didnt want to get out of bed and had a very difficult time tryin to do everything i needed to do for the three little kids i had. I couldnt drive a car, and i couldnt leave the house without worryin that i was goin to have an attack in a public place and make a fool outta myself. after about 8 months of medication, i fell pregnant with my 4th child and took myself off the medication, it was time to face this thing head on.

The breathing and relaxation was more helpful than the pills, and there was no way i was goin back on them, strong lil girl i was hehe. The thing that worked the best was when i would give myself some self talk, when i felt an attack coming on, i would immediately stop what i was doing, and tell myself,, Mel you are a doofus, do you realise how funny you look right now, everyone is doin their own thing and youre sitting here breathing into a paper bag....i would laugh at myself and tell myself i was being silly...turn my music on and dance around the loungeroom and watch the kids laugh as mum did silly bum wabblin dances and sang at the top of her lungs, hehe sure the neighbours thought i was nuts, but this silly stuff was working.

I got preg with my 5th child and decided to quit smoking, i said to myself every time i crave a smoke, i'll laugh, or make a stupid noise and distract myself from the craving... again it worked like a charm and i stayed quit for the remainder of the pregnancy. It didn't really occur to me until the other day, that i did this, it had become a habit, and upon thinking about it thought i might risk letting everyone know what a dork i was and still are, just to pass on this knowledge. I was at the park with the kids the other day, and i started to have a couple of sad thoughts about the breakup with my ex.. when i got up and jumped on the swing and began to swing like an idiot, my tummy felt funny as the swing went up and down and i was like wow Mel you have gotten old hehe. But in amongst this, i felt a rush of endorphins thru my body and i laughed and swung and the kids were sittin in the car waiting for me because they thought i looked silly hehe. My entire day felt better, and i felt energised and happy, it was an amazing sensation.

Silly theropy varies from one person to the other and what makes a person laugh is sometimes different to someone else. Find that lil idiot within and i promise you, you will combat every horrible nasty or scary thought you have inside, but it only works if you are being genuinely silly i must add. No fakers will get results hehe.

It sounds rediculous people, but look at me, i am 32 years old, i have 6 children, thier ages are 13,11,10,8,6, and 4yo, i have just been through a divorce and believe me my relationship with my ex's family is a bad one, i have no  physical help with these kids from anywhere, it is me that deals with all the trials of parenthood with these lil gremlins, i went through my last pregnancy and childbirth alone, well except for my mum and my sister being incredibly supportive emotionally. If some strategie can keep me sane you have got to admit, it must be working.

Everyone has different ways of dealing with stress, and this is mine. Look what i exposed to fill you in on this classified information, try it guys...it works.

Yours in Silliness..Mel