Blogs
There will always be unavoidable triggers on our posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) journey. While we can become skilled at avoiding some PTSD triggers, coping with many other triggers, and adept at implementing self-care, there will still be times when our most challenging PTSD triggers are unavoidable.
You can't turn off your mental illness in the workplace. I am a server. Although this pays the bills, it triggers a lot of an emotional and physical stress. Unfortunately, almost all of us will have to find some sort of income to survive in today's society, but what happens when you're faced with the constant pressure and stress of having a mental illness in the workplace?
My daughter and I have a mental health safety contract. She violated the conditions of the contract, and I had to call the police. Since my daughter and I have used mental health safety contracts since she was a teenager, we both understood the rules. By having a mental health safety contract, I took what could have been a volatile, extended fight with my adult child with bipolar disorder and turned it into a straightforward contractual arrangement. It made a difficult situation easier.
All of us need to learn how to survive negative thoughts. Some days, we want to just start over. We want to forget who we are and who we were because we feel stupid, embarrassed, or unaccepted. Sometimes we just hate ourselves. All of these limiting beliefs hold us back from succeeding or even living. Here's how to survive these negative thoughts.
Irritability and anger can be related to anxiety. When we think of anxiety, most of us think of worry and fear. Occasionally, we may think of compulsions and obsessions, but few of us think of irritability and anger. These last two anxiety symptoms, however, are often just as distressing as the others. In fact, for some people, irritability and anger may be the most troubling symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
The word “anxiety” typically isn’t associated with courage. Quite the opposite, anxiety involves fear. Anxiety and fear can work their way through our entire being and lock us in their vice grip. Our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and relationships are negatively impacted by fear and anxiety. What many people don’t realize is that the presence of fear and anxiety does not mean the absence of courage. Further, the presence of anxiety and fear doesn’t define you. Understanding the nature of anxiety, you, and the meaning of courage will help you see yourself more accurately.
Hi, my name is Elizabeth Brico and I’m the new author of Trauma! A PTSD Blog. You can also call me Betty if you prefer. I've been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for almost a decade. I developed it in response to domestic violence, which occurred when I was a teenager. HealthyPlace has been a long time refuge for me. I've enjoyed reading the various blogs and articles, especially those pertaining to PTSD. You can imagine, then, that I'm thrilled to be joining the team as one of the authors of Trauma! A PTSD Blog.
Practical self-care tips are important not just for your mental health, but for your physical health as well, but they're harder to do on a tough mental health day. Many popular self-care routines involve taking care of, and often pampering, the body such as taking a bath, applying a face mask, drinking a cup of tea, or working out. However, these activities aren't always feasible for someone having a bad mental health day. Try these practical self-care tips on bad mental health days to rest and recharge.
There are many barriers to eating disorder recovery, but there are three that particularly wreak havoc. Recovery of any addiction requires us to be brutally honest with ourselves, take responsibility, and hold ourselves accountable. These are all things that an addict of any kind despises (How to Fight Barriers and Get to Your Safe Place). But once we can face the three barriers to eating disorder recovery that stand in our way, the road opens under our feet.
Did you know it is possible to manage frustrations with confidence? When there is no immediate solution to a problem, say you can't find your car keys, or you have to do something you've been dreading, there is a skill that helps you manage frustrations confidently. The IMPROVE Skill is a dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) tool that I've found to be helpful for reducing daily stressors and drama that finds its way into frustrating my life.
I believe she will only be able to rid herself of her demons, and hopefully her BPD as well, when she's ready to confront the abuse of her father. If she can put the blame where it belongs, she may stop projecting that victim/perpetrator cycle on the present men in her life. These demons are a metaphor for the purgatory she has created for herself. That reality has consequences in the real world, but it need not be real in the tangible sense. Exorcising her demons will require the expenditure of real physical energy and probably the destruction of aspects of her personality. If this ever happens, and it's possible but not probable, then these demons will evaporate. They are only as real as one's personality is real. In short, reality is not the question, it's what you make of the things you feel to be real.