Blogs
I don’t know if I am unique in this respect, but I feel like I am more sensitive to the passage of time than others. How I experience the passage of time plays fairly heavily into how I respond to anxiety. In this post, I want to spend a bit of time discussing how time and anxiety intersect for me.
With the widespread success of COVID-19 vaccines, we're inching closer to the normal we've been dreaming about for over a year. I can't wait to gather freely with friends, family, and strangers again. But some of us are experiencing anxiety about post-pandemic life. The question is: Will it really be back to normal, or will we have to adapt to another new normal?
No matter how much coffee I drink, I am exhausted all the time, and it's because of my mental illness. Recovery is hard, but sometimes it's not even about recovery, it's just about getting through the day, and that's where I'm at right now. I have to fight to do anything; even getting dressed in the morning is a battle. As I sit typing this, my hands feel heavy, and with every breath, I want to quit and go back to bed.
People often wonder how long they should try a bipolar medication before switching it for something else (due to inefficacy). I have taken a look at this question, and the answer may surprise some people. When I think about how some doctors (and patients) look at the question as to how long to try a bipolar medication, I think they often get it wrong.
Before I started writing this post, I decided to take a big step in improving my confidence by enrolling in a business writing course. One reason for this decision was that school gave me a sense of purpose and hope for the future. I am not where I want to be career-wise. But knowing that I can use education for my future endeavors makes me feel better about myself. To discover what I learned from school and how it affected my confidence, continue reading this post.
It's always nice to see folks speaking up in the name of mental health awareness. Continuing the conversation about mental health and mental illness is one of the key things we can do when combatting mental health stigma, but it's important to communicate in these situations effectively. I'd like to use what happened with Demi Lovato and a small frozen yogurt business as a starting point and example for this conversation.
A family is comprised of a group of individuals, so it's no wonder there are going to be disagreements now and again. However, in my family, some disagreements have a way of becoming a family meltdown that can cause rifts and a lot of tension between all the members. Here is a guide to surviving a family meltdown.
My name is Nori Rose Hubert. You might recognize my name from the Work and Bipolar or Depression blog here at HealthyPlace, where I have been blogging for a little over a year. I have enjoyed my time there, but lately, I have felt called to expand my mental health writing into other areas -- and the subject of mental health in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, etc. (LGBTQ+) community is a topic that hits very close to home.
Most people associate self-harm with self-imposed physical injuries that can be seen on the surface of one's skin. However, self-injury can come in many other forms and include behaviors that are much more complex. For instance, some people may use binge eating as self-harm, or they may struggle with an eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia that fuels their self-injury.
We all want to feel like we are contributing to the world, but as the world grows more competitive, it can be hard to feel that we are doing "enough"— as employees, partners, parents, or just as members of society. This has resulted in a culture of "competitive tiredness," in which we measure our worth according to how exhausted we are and seek recognition of that exhaustion from the people around us as proof that we are "doing enough." It causes friction in personal relationships and is terrible for our mental health. So why have we become so invested in the idea that to be fulfilled, you also have to be knackered?
I read this book many years ago, just as I was entering the turmoil of remembering, questioning and doubting myself all the way (as I'd been covertly taught over a lifetime). I happened to mention to my two sisters one day, "This is so strange but I've been diagnosed with PTSD." Both my sisters surprised me by responding, "Me too."
THEN I happened upon an old book manuscript that my now deceased father had written (not published), wherein the protagonist was obviously based upon himself and he rapes his "fiancee," who had my unusual name. Yes, truly.
Then I made myself look at the peculiar memory I always had where he violently threatened me but somehow I had never been able to recall what came before or after the episode. I had to admit that was a bit strange.
The pressures and powers to forget sexual abuse are great, both in family and society. In fact, I've come to the sad conclusion that the vast majority of survivors never really deal with their childhood wounds (a neglect for which there are always repercussions).
To critique an encouragement of people trusting their intuition in such matters is really getting the prescription dangerously wrong.
Thanks!