Blogs
Healing from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is rarely a linear process. Just like any journey in life, recovering from PTSD has ups and downs. There will be times when things are good and times when things are bad. When PTSD starts getting worse, it can feel frustrating and scary. We know how to handle the good times in PTSD recovery, but what do you do when PTSD symptoms start increasing?
We can all emotionally heal. Most of us might not want to admit it, but we have an immense amount of power to heal emotionally. But we get stuck. We get stuck in unhealthy and destructive patterns from earlier in our life. Many times, we can barely remember how and when they even began. But with these steps, we can emotionally heal.
Loneliness during the holidays is something many people go through, though it may not feel that way if you're the one experiencing it. It can be especially hard if you typically struggle with feeling lonely, with the holidays being a time for people coming together. In this article, we'll discuss how to cope with feeling lonely during the holidays.
Dependent relationships are more common than you think. For example, have you ever looked to someone else for reassurance when you felt anxious? Don't worry, you're not alone. Reassurance seeking is a common and often healthy process that everyone does to better understand and accept the decisions we make. However, when we go to someone for help every time we feel anxious, this can create an unhealthy dependence that reduces the quality of the relationship and can exacerbate your anxiety.
Holiday anxiety is a common experience. The holiday season, meant to bring peace and joy, instead can bring anxiety and misery The reasons for anxiety during the holidays are numerous and personal. Worries about money, materialism, family matters, holiday parties, loneliness, food-related concerns, alcohol use, and more can make the holidays, whether it's Hanukkah or Christmas, ho-ho-horrible. Regardless of what your holiday anxiety is like, it's real, legitimate, and can be put in its proper place: in a distant corner where it doesn't block the candles' glow. Read on for four simple, effective, mindfulness activities to reduce any holiday anxiety.
Being unproductive during depression is common; depression has a way of depleting us of energy, motivation, and momentum. Productivity requires of us all three of these things. Productivity is also an effective method of combating depression, meaning the very thing we need to feel better is the very thing that we can't have until we feel better.
As a recovering behavioral addict, I've learned quite a bit about cravings and how to manage them. Through my experience, I've determined that cravings can typically be split into three different categories: physical, mental, and emotional. Some recovering individuals are more impacted by one of these craving categories, while others are plagued with the task of fighting all three on a regular basis. Addiction recovery, like most things, does not come in a one-size-fits-all format though. You must figure out which cravings affect you the most and learn how to manage them on your personal recovery journey.
Is it necessary to dialogue with your parts in dissociative identity disorder? What are the benefits of dialoguing? What exactly does it mean to dialogue with your parts? In previous posts, I have written how important it is to communicate with your parts, or headmates as I call them. However, dialoguing with headmates is something more. What does dialoguing look like, and why should you try it?
As a child, I experienced three years of sexual abuse at the hands of a family member. As a teenager, I fell asleep drunk on a train and woke to a stranger's hand in my underwear. In the past, I've discussed the impact this abuse has had on my early experiences with sex and on my relationships with my family. Today, I'm going to talk specifically about how this abuse has impacted two of my most serious relationships.
The holidays are upon us, which means it's more important than ever to set healthy boundaries to maintain your mental health and wellbeing. Family parties, gift-giving, and the pressure to enjoy yourself can all impact your mental health during the holiday season, especially if you don't have solid boundaries set up to protect yourself. In the past, all of these things have made me miserable throughout the holiday season, but over the years I've learned how to set healthy boundaries and actually enjoy the holidays despite my mental health issues.
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.