It's possible to reduce anxiety and guilt starting immediately. Last week's post, Guilt: A Distressing Effect of Anxiety, explored guilt as an effect of anxiety and the vicious cycle created when anxiety increases guilt which, in turn, causes greater anxiety and then more guilt. Just because we feel guilty, however, doesn't mean we have to accept it. The following suggestions can help you reduce anxiety and guilt now. 

Family vacations can make me feel like I'm losing my mind. I pack so many expectations into our annual, family vacation that I forget to be realistic about what I need, who my family is, and just how much togetherness we can endure. But this year, I'm dead-set on surviving our family vacation without losing my mind.

Hello, everyone. I am happy to join HealthyPlace as a blogger on the More Than Borderline blog. My name is Laura, and I know about borderline personality disorder (BPD) from living with it for decades, as well as from working in the mental health field for 10 years and encountering many people with the diagnosis. It can be challenging to work with people who have BPD, but it is far more challenging to be the person who lives with the mental illness.

Embracing resistance in eating disorder recovery is key to our health and happiness. It can be a confusing process because the eating disorder didn’t develop overnight. We didn’t wake up one morning and say, “Hey, I found a brilliant way to destroy my life, my relationships, my health, and my self-esteem. Hello, eating disorder, come right in.” We didn’t realize that our “diet” would lead to a downward spiral. At some point, we all face the choice of recovery, and it’s scary (An Exercise in Letting Go of Fear in Eating Disorder Recovery). We must venture in the opposite direction of the path we’ve known. Resistance is normal. Here’s how embracing resistance in eating disorder recovery can be simple.

The stigma of talking about mental illness shows itself in mental health conversations and proves again and again to be a double-edged sword. On the one side, there is the potential to help many people who are otherwise left in the dark and suffering in silence. Talking about mental illness can also bring awareness to people who had stigma-driven ideas of what mental health is and change their minds. Essentially, talking about mental illnesses can slice through the negative and bring about positive change (Stop Minimizing Mental Illness: Worst Things to Say). That same sword is also often used to parry against the truth of mental illness. Some people just don’t get it (and don't want to get it). They keep the ignorance of mental illness alive by talking about mental illnesses incorrectly. There can be stigma in talking about mental illness.

You can thrive in chaos. When your life seems out of control, it's easy to get sucked into a vortex of anxiety, depression, and a general feeling of paralysis. When life gets crazy, rely on a few simple practices that will allow you move beyond just surviving and help you to start to thrive in chaos and uncertainty. 

Hi, my name is Leif Gregersen and I am excited to be starting a new position as your mental health blogger on the Surviving Mental Health Stigma blog. I was diagnosed with a mental illness at the young age of 14 and was bullied and ashamed of my condition. I remember having a very difficult time returning to school after a hospitalization and convincing my dad that I didn’t need pills. As a result, over the next four years, I became much sicker and my life only got worse. It is my hope that I can help people to have a better understanding of mental illness and overcome stigma. I strongly feel this is an essential step in recovery.

Is Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) the only way to recover from alcoholism? Like many survivors of spiritual abuse, I have a problem with a Higher Power. While A.A. literature says one's Higher Power is "God as we understand him," the chapter to the agnostic basically argues for the existence of a God. So where does that leave those of us who have some problems with God? The good news is A.A. is not the only way to recover from alcoholism. There are several other organizations that, while not as well known, are just as effective as A.A. Here are three.

Are you are interested in taking a closer look at how eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy works for recovery from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? If so, I recommend a book I read recently, Every Moment of a Fall, A Memoir of Recovery Through EMDR Therapy, by Carol E. Miller. The book gives a first-hand account of what EMDR therapy is like and how it helps with PTSD recovery (see also PTSD Treatment: My Experience With EMDR Therapy). 

Excoriation disorder is more than just a habit and words around it can stigmatize. Body-focused repetitive behaviors like excoriation (also called dermatillomania and skin-picking disorder) are more than bad habits one can break. The disease is difficult enough to deal with without the misunderstandings and stigma. Very few people know about this group of obsessive-compulsive related disorders (OCD) despite increased awareness efforts from within the body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRB) community and even outside sources. It's important to remember that words can be stigmatizing and that excoriation is more than just a habit.