T.A. Michaels

 I'm on track right now to be Smoke free by the end of April. It's been a long road of unsuccessful quit attempts but I feel that the one I am currently on will in fact be successful. I'm currently 2 weeks alcohol free. I hope that I can continue this for the remainder of the year. I have learned to limit my drinking when I do in fact drink, But the negative side effects in the days after drinking are something that I want to stay away from. I find that after a night of drinking I often feel anxious for a period of time after the fact. It also exasperates my Schizoaffective symptoms. I recently reread a book I have on preventing Bi-Polar Relapse. There are a number of strategies in the book and to follow it 100% would mean eliminating a lot of the foods and behaviors that I currently do in order to achieve mental wellness. The "Affective" in Schizoaffective is basically Bi-Polar disorder so I figure if I can prevent a mood episode it will likely prevent the psycho...

 I'm not really sure what to write... But I want to get into the habit of Writing once a week on Sunday Mornings. Katie is currently at work. She had me run some errands for her this morning. It's about 12:32pm now... and I'm kinda putting off laundry. I have tomorrow off... So there is no immediate rush to get it done, however the issue is that I need clean clothes for when I return to the office on Tuesday. The work from home policy has changed now that the Covid Wave in Rhode Island has been reduced greatly. I think that's because Nearly the whole state caught it... regardless of Vaccination status. I'm vaxxed and Boosted and I still managed to get it.  Katie wants to me try Cigarette alternatives such as Snus. I figure its a step in the right direction. I wont die of lung cancer... And if I play my cards right I can slowly ween down on the pouches until I don't need them. I would say I should be nicotine free by the end of March. Speaking of the end of march...

 The weather had been nice this past week. It motivated me to get outside more. During my working hours I took two breaks or so to get out of the house and walk around the building. This made me feel better throughout the day. And Thursday and Friday of this past week Katie and I had gone walking on my Lunch break. Not really anywhere super far. But it assisted with keeping me in a positive mood for the rest of the day. Yesterday Katie and I went for a walk down at Goddard Park. It was about a mile and a half through some woods and i enjoyed it. It was a great first start to getting more active. Earlier today Katie suggested we go to the gym tonight. I hope that we do actually make it there. I would like to start the week on a good note.  At 10:42am i put on a nicotine patch and threw away the last of my cigarettes. I'm planning on this being a successful attempt at quitting smoking. I need to buy one more box of Nicotine Step one patches, But i am not going to do that until I...

 It's tough at the moment for me. I have a series of Intrusive Thoughts which enter my head on a daily basis. These thoughts are mainly from other voices which are calling me some rather bad things. Things you wouldn't want to be associated with in everyday life.  It makes it hard for me to maintain a positive attitude a lot of the time. These thoughts are not something I wish to be associated with. And what's worse... is that twice now the thoughts have manifested into reality in the sense that someone i know will point blank ask me if i am what my internal voices accuse me to be. Needless to say I am having issues with it. In the last few days I've become increasingly agitated.  While i know i have resources available that can assist me with this type of issue... The fact that i cant get my thoughts under control is something i am not happy about. For instance after a burst of energy this morning i became increasingly upset. Even now i feel frustrated with no probable...