I’ve been working remotely for a year now and although there are some clear benefits, I find myself getting into some pretty dark places as my negative thought run away with themselves. Quite torturous at times. It occurs to me that this might be because of lack of human interaction. Anyone else?
Has anyone found working remotely/from home has lead to increased triggers and more prolonged distress?
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Is it because of remote work, or is it because you've been working on getting better?
I work from home (for myself and for my partner), and I've been doing this for a number of years, now.
My dark places come and go, but when they come, they're mostly due to excessive stress from either work or from working on my past.
However, when I am in my dark places, I absolutely do find it useful to connect with people.
Can you go to a coworking place where there will be other people around, say maybe once a week or so? That might help.
It might also help to start finding some low-stakes social opportunities. This can be difficult, though, since there has been a loss of so-called "third places," which are places that are not home and not school/work where people can gather to interact.
Libraries sometimes have a schedule of groups that meet on a regular basis for particular interests. Maybe reach out to your local library to see whether any groups meet there.
I used to have a much more stressful job, but it never took me to these places because just a passing chat with a colleague would allow any emerging thoughts to dissipate. Now, I don’t have that. It was one of my fears when I started working from home.
I think another difficulty is that those online interactions with colleagues is a bit odd. It’s a bit like people on Facebook only presenting a certain persona of themselves and we’re not seeing the real person. It all seems a bit fake. Conversations are always very vanilla and superficial.
I have been in therapy for the last few months and perhaps that work is making me feel particularly raw. I asked for an earlier appointment because the last few days has been awful.
I absolutely know I need to get out and mix with others more. It always makes me feel better. I have a regular community group once a week and occasionally see a friend once or twice a month but that’s about it. Being in the house so much feels convenient, but is also very stifling. I should apply myself to a meetup group. Thanks for your reply.
Oh, yeah, that's rough. And I agree that online interactions with people can sometimes feel superficial.
Good luck finding non-work social situations! And maybe you can find a place to co-work a day or two a week? That might give you people to socialize with who are not actual co-workers.