Insecure Writers Support Group Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the June 5 posting of the IWSG are Liza at Middle Passages, Shannon Lawrence, Melissa Maygrove, and Olga Godim!
Every month, we announce a question that members have the option to answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.
June 5 question – In this constantly evolving industry, what kind of offering/service do you think the IWSG should consider offering to members?
ANSWER: IWSG has always provided a great opportunity to meet and learn from other writers. My search topic among IWSG writers has been to learn how make an impact when advertising my books on a low budget. There are many other reasons writers find IWSG helpful and entertaining. Being that some of us tend to write in an isolated cave, IWSG has provided a much valued opportunity to experience companionship even if its limited to cyberspace. And, if anyone in IWSG has promotional tips on a dime, I’m all ears.
Newsletter Link: https://mailchi.mp/3f37b91087db/november-iwsg-17971073?e=e812894f4b
Some Personal News: I recently became desperately ill having become a victim of Covid’s merciless attack. Though I have survived the initial onslaught, my body is still recovering. That’s not my main concern. The body will heal. It’s my mind that is of greatest concern.
We know so little about mental health, and even less on how to mediate mental dysfunction. In the days following the defeat of Covid, I suffered extreme anxiety. It was beyond simply being overly concerned. A terror rose up that left me catatonic at times. Living alone and with no children to beg for their sympathy and nurturing, my emotional turmoil presented a darker shade of hell.
By midnight, I drove myself to our local hospital’s emergency department. When I finally was evaluated by the ER doctor, he seemed impatient, told me that I was no longer contagious, go home, make an appointment to see my doctor to correct my asthma condition. He had been my last hope for a light at the end of the tunnel. His callous behavior drove my anxiety to a level beyond description.
I think this is typical in the medical community. Dealing with a patient with mental health complaints is not what most physicians have time for. Two days later, my family doctor prescribed medication which has helped me sleep and feel calmer. It has also dulled my thinking and ambition. I have an appointment with a mental health counselor – four months in the future.
I don’t know if my mental health is a temporary condition or if it’s a permanent casualty of covid. I’ve lost interest in doing the many things that gave me pleasure. My self-discipline is being tested. There’s a lesson here. I have fiddled while I should have been writing “Nothing Left to Lose.” I’m not sure that I have what it takes to fight through my mental fog to create a great story. Learn from my mistake. Write while you can.
If there is a gift in this experience, and if my writing talent is up to the task, the darkness in Nothing Left to Lose will be revealed in gut wrenching prose.
Romance Under Fire 
Sorry this is so hard for you, hope you feel better today. . Last night, email from a friend, sent to hospital by their GP, as an urgent case, battling with an eye infection for two weeks plus…Seven hours later, exhausted, hungry, thirsty, still not seen, and as your experience says so eloquently, medics don’t seem to care if people are ill and afraid. Are applicants selected for lack of empathy ? How much are mental heakth problems exacerbated by uncaring docs ?
Friend ready to give up Go for refreshment, or to the WC, risk losing your place Friend has Primary immune deficiency – not the better known Acquired , but PIDS is hard to live with. Email and text support, till they were seen – collect a prescription today..
Esther.
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I’m sorry you had such a rough time. Doctors and nurses should be more kind.
Not sure what your oxygen levels were at that time, but low ones can create a panicky feeling, too. Your emotions could very well have been influenced by physical things. One time, when I had fluid in my lungs from a heart condition, I was scared to go to sleep because I felt like I wouldn’t wake up if I did. My mind knew better (I was on a heart monitor, and the staff would have known), but my body had its own ideas about things. I finally talked my nurse into redosing me with a diuretic (the first dose was wearing off), and I was able to finally sleep.
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Not me – friend, 150 miles away, battlling with the NHS (Voltaire re Holy Roman Empire applies.)
Eventually, we managed to organise local support.
Sorry you had such a tough time.
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I’m sorry for your health trouble. And I know by personal experience (unfortunately) that anxiety attacks are horrible, and nobody gives a damn. My advice might sound cheesy, but try to give yourself pep talks. It is hard in the middle of fits of depression, but it helps. A little, but still. Go to the mirror. Try to smile at yourself, even if in the beginning your smile looks like a grimace and is definitely not sincere. Keep smiling. Tell yourself what is good in your life. Compare to others who have it worse: Ukrainians at war, for instance. Don’t try to write, but try to hoard this experience in your mind. Analyze and catalogue your feelings, both physical and mental. One day, you will write about it.
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Dealing with medical professionals can be really hit or miss. I once had a doctor tell me that my headaches could be a sign of cancer. I took that statement at face value and rapidly went into an anxiety spiral, only to find out later that my doctor had been joking. I don’t know why the heck he thought he could joke about that with a patient, but that’s what happened. I switched to a different doctor as soon as I could.
My experience with mental health professionals has also been hit or miss, but I can say that if you find the right person, they can do you a lot of good. I came close to giving up on writing a few years ago, due to mental health issues, but my therapist at the time talked me down, helped me figure out where my anxiety issues were coming from, and taught me some coping mechanisms to help me manage my anxiety whenever it crops up. I can’t say that she cured me, but she got me back to living my life — a life that still includes writing.
If things don’t click with your first counselor, keep looking. You can even ask this person for recommendations or a referral. They’re usually pretty cool about that. They understand that they’re not going to “click” with every patient they see, and they also know that their specializations might not be a perfect match for whatever your needs happen to be.
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I’m so sorry that you had such a rough go with Covid and its after effects, Judy. I’m glad that your family doctor helped you. Take hope in the thought that your mental fog will clear. The other commenters here have given you excellent suggestions. As someone who has dealt with serious health and mental issues in the past, I always took one day at a time and tried to get through that day one step at a time without worrying about the others. One step at a time was my mantra, and eventually I walked out the other side. Be kind and gentle with yourself. Take care!
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Four months away? No wonder so many people are mentally ill in this country. They can’t get help. I hope when you finally do see that doctor, he is sympathetic and actually helps you.
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Hi,
It is amazing that you have to wait that long. Sometime ago, I was depressed. It was horrible. When I went to the doctor, he gave me a medicine that numbed my emotions, and I didn’t like that feeling, so I stopped taking them. I actually went cold turkey and stopped taking the tablets immediately and I went through hell. I was as I am now, living alone, and the battle was long but I learned how to fight for my mental well being. It was not easy and I am not recommending it to you, but between reading great Christian books, like My Name is Hope: Anxiety, depression, and Life after Melancholy by John Mark Comer and a couple of other books by him like, The Ruthlessness Elimination of Hurry which deals with staying emotional healthy, and reading some of the authors that he recommended in his bibliograhpy at the back of his books, I started moving forward and have been moving forward ever since.
Sure there are times when I feel like I am kipping over, but I don’t kip because I know what I need to do and I now have the strength to do it.
So, I truly hop that you rise like a Phoenix out of the ashes and find your courage to stand up to whatever is hindering you from moving forward.
Take care.
Shalom shalom
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