Random reason I love Steam Powered Giraffe (#9)

Anyone who's dug into the depths of this blog or followed me on Tumblr for a while knows that I have enough issues to run a major news-stand.

Let's just summarise it as: ASD with co-morbid anxiety and sleep issues with a massive side order of depression.

I have some really bad days, sometimes. I can, have, and will get to the point where I need to make a pillow fort just to survive the day. BUT - on any given bad day/hour/minute/whatever... I can turn on Steam Powered Giraffe and... their music helps me feel better.

Just the other day, I had a pretty intense session at the dentist's [self-neglect issues, wa-hey!] and it was getting painful and I was getting fretful to the verge of panic.

And I deliberately thought of Starlight Star-shine [from their latest album: The Vice Quadrant: A Space Opera] and my panic levels dropped like a rock. I may have segued into Oh No at one point, but the effect remained.

I calmed the fuck down.

Steam Powered Giraffe - their music, their goofiness, their weird snippets, all of it - has helped me battle the Bad Moments. Even my hardy perennial inner demon, the Dark Side, will shut up when listening to SPG. I've even played Vice Quadrant in bed to help me get over some bothersome intrusive thoughts, and to drown out the sounds of the family being incredibly insensitive about my need for quiet, just a door away.

I had a much more restful sleep that night.

SPG helps me focus when I'm scatterbrained. It helps me stay calm when I'm nervous. It soothes my personal beast within. It inspires cheer when I'm depressed.

I might even request that I play their music when I go to have a cavity filled.

I used to use a lot of mental muscle to get through the bad times. With SPG in my ears, it's a lot easier to deal with those moments.