When Feeling Crazy Isn't So Crazy

The cat threw up on the carpet, the kids are crying, your boss is calling you at home on a Sunday, for some mysterious reason you’ve gained five pounds overnight, there’s nothing to eat but popcorn and questionable looking deviled eggs, and you’re kind of wishing that aliens would swoop out of the sky and abduct you. Your “notes to self” run something like: give children away; change home phone number (better yet, cancel all phone service); find out whether Prozac is now available over the counter; figure out appropriate justification for eating nothing but carbohydrates; and research that alien abduction thing so you can position yourself appropriately next time they come around. An extreme snapshot of a day in hell, or daily life for the average multi-tasker?

If you’re like most women, some or all of the above has passed through your head at one time or another, and you’ve probably wondered if you were going crazy. Well, the good news is that, while there’s chaos and insanity all around you, and even sometimes inside of you, it does not mean you’re crazy. Quite the contrary, in fact. Feelings of “insanity,” “losing it,” and “going off the deep end” are actually your body’s natural resources coming to the rescue, and telling you that you’re living in a crazy world. The harder you try to get in synch with that world, the likelier you are to feel crazy yourself.

What’s the solution to feeling like the world’s cracking up, and you’re cracking right along with it? First, listen to what your mind and body are telling you, and take it seriously. You are the expert on your own well-being and your unconscious will reveal everything you need to know, if you slow down for just a few minutes and let it talk to you. Second, banish all unnecessary tasks from your to-do list, and simplify those that remain. Do you really need to make a homemade meal tonight, or will ordering in suffice? Can you refuse to return work-related calls on Sundays? And maybe you don’t need so many fuzzy area rugs that the cat can throw up on. In other words, reduce your visual clutter as well as your mental clutter, and you will find that the feelings of craziness begin to reduce along with your task list.

Although it would be nice to have assistance from others, the road to feeling sane and centered begins with you. You have the power to say “NO” and the ability to decide what you really want to do, even when the demands placed upon you are extreme. Remember that nothing extreme is ever healthy. That includes your mental health, where small changes can produce big results.