It’s March.
Mad Month.
It caught me by surprise this year.
I don’t know why it should, it happens every year.
Some years I’m aware of it and I’m prepared but this year, when the storm hit, it caught me totally off-guard.
I have absolutely no science to back me up on this, to be honest I’ve never really made any effort to find some, but every single year in March/April, things seem to go a bit mad.
I first became aware of it many years ago while working in the psychiatric hospital and public clinics. At this time of year we’d start seeing a lot more admissions of people who were very dysregulated. Relapses of psychosis, depression, high anxiety, suicidal ideation… Patients and staff alike seemed to be losing their internal balance and my colleagues would say, ‘Oh yes, it’s mad month.’
What?!
But really, it kept repeating each year and it made me wonder why.
I’ve theorised about it, even wrote a little opinion piece in a magazine about it once, but never really bothered to be scientific with it. I’m not sure why.
Here are some unscientific thoughts I’ve had about possible reasons and some tips for how to take care of yourself in this time.
Change of season: Moving into winter or into summer can bring emotional shifts. There’s even a diagnosable depression that’s linked to it called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). But I haven't noticed this happening every September…
Religious holy days: Ramadan, Easter and Passover all often coincide at this time of year. All three of these major religious holy days focus, in some way or another, on death and rebirth, cleansing, stepping away from old unhealthy ways, trusting in a higher power during times of deep challenge, remembering the spiritual as primary…
All three include processes that are followed for many days and involve some kind of soul-searching and inner challenge. This kind of deep inner work does tend to bring out our shadow aspects for healing.
Awakening consciousness / Self-development: Someone once told me that during this time the light of consciousness is brighter so it means we can see the darker corners of our internal rooms that have gathered dirt. It’s an opportunity to do a good clean on unnoticed areas in ourselves and our lives.
Whatever the reasons, it seems to happen each year.
This year, with all the overwhelming and painful world events, the intensity is even higher.
Many of us seem to be losing our internal balance, feeling dysregulated and behaving in some overreactive way or another.
If you’re feeling particularly emotional, anxious, hopeless and overwhelmed… please know you’re not alone!
This shall pass.
But you HAVE to look after yourself well while it’s going on.
Do your self-care disciplines and practices regularly. This isn’t the moment to put it off for later.
Treat this as a golden opportunity to clear some of your old fears, traumas and unhelpful patterns.
Use it.
Ideas to soothe, heal and regulate yourself:
Meditate
Pray
Journal
Do yoga or gentle stretching
Spend time with good friends
Laugh as much as you can
Eat well
Dance
Listen to music that brings you joy
Find exercises that tone your vagus nerve
Spend time in nature
Focus on having your feet on the ground
Rest
Practice LOTS of self-compassion (here’s a little free self-love meditation I posted four years ago)
Try tapping (here’s a good one to feel safe again)
Do EFT trauma-release tremoring
Go for healing sessions
See a therapist
Go for a massage
SPEAK KINDLY TO YOURSELF
Ask yourself, If I loved myself, what would I choose to do now?’
Then do it.
If you loved yourself, how would you look after yourself even more now?
