Blogs
The physical symptoms of mental illness and mental health struggles are not often spoken about but are important pieces in understanding mental health overall. I'm sure to some, pairing physical symptoms with something mental seems like a misnomer. Maybe that's part of why physical symptoms are used in the battle against stigma. But can the existence of physical symptoms stop mental health stigma?
Do you have a hard time believing in positive affirmations? For many people struggling with mental health conditions, the use of positive affirmations can be a great coping skill. This is because positive affirmations are used to increase self-compassion and self-esteem. Unfortunately, positive affirmations do not always help everyone. A major reason for this is that many people do not believe in their truth or power. To learn how to find belief in positive affirmations, read this article.
For the past several months, I've been in the midst of applying to PhD programs in Clinical Psychology. It has been an intense and challenging process in many ways, but I've found the most difficult part to handle has been facing the unknown.
Why might someone coping with depression develop a tough exterior? Is fostering a tough exterior a good way to cope with depression? Let's explore these ideas.
Competitive sports can create poor body image problems which can lead to eating disorders. There are reasons why this happens to both men and women, and there are ways to lessen poor body image and eating disorders in competitive sports.
I went to a party. It's a big deal because schizoaffective anxiety caused me to stop going to parties for many years. But then my doctor and I did a medication change that made my schizoaffective voices all but disappear. I previously had been hearing the voices as often as twice a week, sometimes more, and that made me dread parties and the thought that voices might erupt in the middle of one. This medication change has made me a lot more confident about doing things, so, when my husband Tom and I were invited to go to a party, I decided to go.
Do you ever feel in control of time, or do you feel like you'll never finish everything you want to do?
Post-vacation depression is real. This Monday, I returned to work after 18 days. It was not a holiday per se, for I was physically sick and had to get a couple of tests done, but it was a break from work and the daily routine. I should have expected that I would soon be dealing deal with post-vacation depression.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and fear are the best of friends. Fear is the driving force behind our fight-or-flight instinct, the most primal emotion we experience. While fear can exist without PTSD, PTSD can't exist without fear. Because of this connection, overcoming trauma-related fears is an important part of PTSD recovery.
How might you balance social responsibility and mental health recovery? In my mental health recovery, I have had to consider what responsibilities I have to myself vs. social responsibility.
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.