Blogs
Your negative thoughts and beliefs can hijack your self-esteem, and those negative thoughts didn't show up overnight. They are often habits, conditioned thoughts, that have been with you for years. Perhaps you have been putting yourself down since childhood without a second thought. If that's the case, your negative thoughts have manipulated you for a very long time.
I’m pretty sure I have anxiety and bipolar. I've never been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, and I’ve never talked about anxiety with my doctor, but I’m pretty sure it’s there. I meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder and and it wouldn’t be altogether shocking if this were the case as anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness and comorbid disorders with bipolar disorder are the rule rather than the exception.
Living in the chaos of PTSD symptoms and post-trauma haze can make you very self-centered. Know how I know that? I used to be like that! It's hard to cope on the inside and still be sensitive to others on the outside. Heck, it's tough to be miserable and do anything that would make someone else happy.
One U.S. Marine + One Guitar = Big Impact
When was the last time you did something nice for someone else? Last week, on Changing Direction, I interviewed U.S. Marine, Markus Fox, about how his guitar and music helped his platoon during a particularly difficult night in Iraq. They had lost the first two casualties since their deployment and the platoon was very upset. Markus took out his guitar, sat on the back step of a truck and invited the other soldiers to pull up their stools while he played a tribute to their fallen brothers. The results of this simple, selfless act during a time of trauma were enormous.
Still, there are a couple of problems with the PTSD self-centered lifestyle. Let's take a look...
A friend of mine at Wellspring Mental Health Ministries recently e-mailed me some prayers for current and former military personnel. The prayers reminded me of the stigma I faced in the Army for having a mental health condition, and made me think about the struggles veterans with mental illness often face.
Sometimes, I think about the people I went to school with when I was a kid and a teenager and I wonder where they are now, what their lives are like. Are they successful? Do they have their own homes? A nice and enjoyable career, or have they moved away? Rarely do I consider whether they have a severe mental illness.
Many of us view our young adulthood years as the time when we find some of our first jobs and apartments and having the freedom to begin “Life.” But some of us aren’t so lucky. Our severe mental illnesses take an enormous toll on living (Living With A Mental Illness And Self-Stigma).
Of all of the lessons I've realized as a parent of a child with mental illness, the biggest parenting lesson has been that kids need all of the encouragement they can get. Bob is the product of an unplanned pregnancy, but he has been my best accomplishment. Why? Because I've been able to be the parent that I needed as a child.
Every day, I make small choices which greatly impact the maintenance of my bulimia recovery. One of these choices starts with thinking ahead in the morning on the meals I plan to have throughout the day; while another is being mindful of the inner dialogue I have about my self-image and how it relates to my eating habits.
About 7.7 million adults and 20% of children and adolescents suffer from severe mental illness. Severe mental illness is chronic and requires sustained treatment. Mental health has become the most politically charged topic of today but despite attention, one population remains unrecognized.
The overwhelming neglect of parents, families, and caregivers is what led me to write my first book. I have always been aware of systemic barriers. But I wasn’t aware of the great divide between parents, families, and caregivers and mental health professionals, services, or even advocacy groups. (Parents of Mentally Ill Children Have a Long and Difficult Journey)
I had some time to kill between class and my train home on Friday and I spent it watching youtube videos. A waste of time, you say? Nay! I watched videos about Adult ADHD and one in particular by Dr. Russell Barkley about the fact that Adult ADHD is NOT a gift. But, Dr. Barkley, we've been told for so long that ADHD isn't only a bunch of junk that makes it hard for us to focus, but it's something that helps us to be more creative and really good and different things. What is the meaning of this?
We've just turned our clocks back marking the end of daylight savings time. While the nights will be darker sooner, the mornings will be brighter. For a short while. The truth is, with the end of DST comes the season for Seasonal Affective Disorder (winter depression).
Thank you for your comment. I'm sorry you're having such overwhelming experiences. That sounds hard.
I would say that when I get really wrapped up in talking to myself because of hypomania, it's similar but I don't feel like I'm in an imagined place or dreaming. That's the part that may be concerning.
If you're experiencing distress because of these experiences, you absolutely should tell your doctor -- and make it clear that it's causing your distress. It does sounds like it falls into the mild psychosis category, but that doesn't occur with cyclothymia. That only occurs in bipolar I. Of course, you may be experiencing bipolar and psychotic symptoms, just in an unusual way. (There is a category of bipolar disorder for this called "Other Specified Bipolar and Related Disorder.") https://www.healthyplace.com/bipolar-disorder/bipolar-types/what-are-the-types-of-bipolar-disorder
Experiences like that are normally treated with antipsychotics. A low dose of one of those medications may be just what you need. Antipsychotics are serious medication, though, so you want to carefully consider whether you think it's worth taking them. Thoroughly discussing your options with your doctor should help you make that decision: https://www.healthyplace.com/thought-disorders/schizophrenia-articles/antipsychotic-medications-for-treating-psychotic-illness
If you choose to go down the medication route, go slowly and continually assess along the way. There are many antipsychotics available, so it can take time to find the right one for you.
It's really good that you've recognized these issues in yourself. Now you can work on lessening them.
Good luck.
-- Natasha Tracy