Blogs
Cheryl Wozny
The effects of verbal abuse are numerous. They can affect the victim during times of abuse and also long afterward, impacting their life. Some side effects have influenced my adulthood, even years after facing an abusive situation. Isolation and loneliness are factors that have made their way into my world with verbal abuse.
Tanya J. Peterson, MS, NCC, DAIS
Mindful breathing is a simple and powerful tool for enhancing mental health and wellbeing. While this may seem strange, mindful breathing can help anxiety in two opposing ways: It can calm the nervous system so we feel less anxious, and it can also lead to increased energy. Breathing mindfully can both calm us down and pep us up, countering two frustrating effects of anxiety. Add these four mindful breathing exercises to your daily life for positive, anxiety-reducing benefits.
TJ DeSalvo
Yesterday, I woke up in the middle of the night with bad dreams. The dreams were such that I was unable to fall asleep for the rest of the night (it was 4:00 AM when I initially woke up) and spent much of the rest of the day in a negative state of mind. Because this tends to happen not infrequently, I want to take the time to discuss it in a bit more detail.
Nori Rose Hubert
This post contains a discussion of the Pulse nightclub shooting and violence against queer people.
June 12th is a difficult day for me. This year it marked the five-year anniversary of the deadly Pulse nightclub shooting that snuffed out the lives of 49 queer people -- most of them Black and Latinx -- and wounded 53 others in Orlando, Florida.
Annabelle Clawson
I like to feel prepared. I like to expect a particular thing, and I like when that particular thing happens. I don't cope well with sudden changes in plan, and I don't remain calm when disaster strikes. The unknown is a major source of anxiety for me--often my fear of the unexpected future is debilitating. I've been working on living with uncertainty, diving into the unknown with curiosity instead of anxiety. Read on for two of my favorite ideas for dealing with uncertainty.
Natasha Tracy
Let me start by saying I'm not against bipolar disorder support groups. Actually, I recommend them to people and think they can be very helpful. That doesn't mean there aren't drawbacks, however. One of those drawbacks is the spreading of misinformation in bipolar disorder support groups. If you participate in bipolar disorder support groups, it's something you absolutely want to watch out for.
Martyna Halas
Whether you've slowed down due to the pandemic or thrown yourself into the sea of new responsibilities, you might feel emotionally exhausted as a result. This is completely normal, though it might become an obstacle on your road to self-harm recovery. Burnout could easily become a trigger and exacerbate self-harm urges, so it's important to recognize the signs and take action before it's too late.
Martha Lueck
While difficult seasons in life are painful, the journey through them can teach us many important lessons. Navigating hard times can help us develop strength, courage, resilience, and empathy. In addition, we receive opportunities to look for hope. To learn about my personal experiences with hard times and what I learned from them, continue reading this post.
Alixzandria Paige
There is nothing that causes a flare-up of my anxiety quite like having to say goodbye. It feels like the worst thing in the world I could do is to give up a good opportunity, but sometimes in life, I have to take a risk. This article is going to be about how I diminish the anxiety I feel when I have to say goodbye.
Laura A. Barton
Recent events in tennis have highlighted mental health stigma in sports and mental health struggles in sports in general. I'll be honest; I don't follow sports—neither the actual games/matches/events nor the athletes—but the controversy with tennis player Naomi Osaka bowing out of the French Open due to backlash over her mental health self-care decision caught my attention.
perhaps you can have a chat mellow chat in a soothing environment. be sure both of you are prepared for this alter to try and break your means of communication with your sister. let her know how you believe her; and, therefore, when this alter does commit acts out of her control through her body, this opens a vulnerability in her connection with reality. alters can take advantage of this, and it only seems to me that's what this alter is doing right now because i certainly don't have all the information. i truly hope this helps with the least potential for pain.
sincerely,
a sister to one who lives with DID.
I must disagree with your assertion that breathing is a simple way to regain energy. I will go one step further and assert that breathing while anxious is not simple, easy to do, or refreshing. Re-focusing the anxious mind to concentrate on breathing takes practice, (sometimes years of practice) patience and energy. Learning to breathe through anxiety is fraught with the frustration brought on by the number of failed attempts. Like many people who suffer from an anxiety disorder, I assure you that words like "simple" and "easy" or phrases such as "you can easily accomplish this by..." are perceived as offensive. Those words indicate a lack of effort on the sufferer's part, and appear to take aim at one's intelligence. Words matter in a world of stigma on people with mental illness. Thank you for this informative post.