Blogs
When my husband, David, left in August, I was hurt and angry that he choose to walk out while I was struggling with anorexia nervosa. Many people thought I was too quick to forgive him when he returned a month later. But I thought about what anorexia had done to our marriage for the past three years. He also struggled as he watched the woman he fell in love with fifteen years ago whittle away to almost nothing.
"Why do my kids always turn into complete monsters during the holidays?"
If you have ears, you've heard it; if you're a parent, you've said it. The "most wonderful time of the year" often seems like anything but for multiple reasons--not the least of which being our precious little angels usually seem to think they've already secured their position on either the "naughty" or "nice" list. Dealing with them, whether at home or away, can turn even Jolly Old St. Nick into Scrooge.
According to the Workplace Bullying Institute, 35% of the U.S. workforce - an estimated 53.5 million Americans - report being bullied at work. If you're one of them, you're already well acquainted with the dread and anxiety that goes along with being a victim of chronic psychological violence. But how well do you know your tormentor? Is she a narcissist, driven by a grandiose sense of her own importance? Is he a psychopath, devoid of compassion and empathy? Arming yourself with information about workplace bullies and their methods may help you find ways of coping with them.
As families grow larger and loved ones move away, traditions help to bind family members together and strengthen ties. A ritual or family tradition can be the one constant among an ever-evolving group of related people. Creating new traditions as old ones become stale or have lost their relevance is also a good idea, especially for families with young kids, blended-marriage families, and multi-cultural families.
or, why I should've gone to Hawaii
The amount of time I spend watching films that feature Colin Firth and/or Sandra Bullock to offset the moodiness and irritability ignited by the festive season - whilst paying for wholly unnecessary items on my Ebay account.
The pressure to invest in one day of no-regrets, wholehearted good cheer and joy. It doesn't come naturally to those of us who spend most of the year dealing with the symptoms of anxiety and depression.I love Christmas. I just don't buy into the myth that it's the one perfect day of the year.
During visualization exercises, the mind can't tell the difference between a real performance and one that is imagined. Neither can the body. Most important, when you visualize yourself, you see yourself in the present, As if you would see it through your own eyes, not watching through the eyes of a spectator.
People with BPD are the pit bulls of the mental health community. We have a bad reputation that, while true in some cases, is usually not grounded in reality.
Near the bottom of the HealthyPlace homepage there's an audio widget, bordered in orange with the header Share Your Mental Health Experience. If you have a spare three minutes, please play the clip titled "I Hear A Voice in My Head" and listen to one woman poignantly illustrate why I write about Dissociative Identity Disorder. This woman, like so many others, is struggling in isolation with something she doesn't understand. "People act like it's nothing," she says. No matter the condition, there will always be people who act like it's nothing. Talking about mental illness, publicly and honestly, is the only way I know to ease that kind of invalidation.
A Respite From My Bipolar Child
Bob has been at his father's house since Friday evening for the first half of his winter school break. He won't be home until next Sunday--meaning nine days of life without Bob for us. Of course, I miss him--but truthfully, it couldn't have come at a better time.
I’m spending this Christmas back in the town where I grew up, sleeping in my mother’s guest room. I have to be there a week. A week with parents and siblings. A week of turkey and tiny oranges. A week of me silently begging to go home.
But I understand that holiday obligations are, well, obligatory, so I do have some methods for trying to survive it.
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!