1. Talk about what makes you feel stressed with a human who will listen with respect and understanding.
3. Go slower.
4. Build a habit of noticing how you react to things, this is called mindfulness.
7. Realize you don’t have to heal alone, because you’re not alone in feeling this way.
9. Forgive yourself for not acting on these stressors earlier, this is completely normal.
11. But seriously, get out of your head and into your body. Food, exercise, walks, sex, baths, whatever. Thinking about feelings rarely makes them change.
But the DSM (our American diagnosis manual) makes no mention of it. So there’s that.
It doesn’t have to be a lover or a close friend. A stranger will do, as long as they’re a human, and there’s lots of us. You’re not alone.
We all have the capacity to care and be cared for.