Blogs
Each year, approximately a quarter million people in the United States experience sexual assault and rape (What Is Sexual Assault?). An issue of such great importance is still often misunderstood and the road to recovery can sometimes be long. Our guest, Dr. Kathleen Young, helps us to better understand the process of recovery and why it sometimes takes a long time to recover from sexual assault.
Is panic emotional pollution?
Running on adrenaline, cortisol -the fear center of the brain staging neurochemical warfare on your nervous system- is the equivalent of climate change. It's dangerous. It's doing your whole system damage you can't even see: Forests for trees.
Anxiety: I can't stand it anymore
Anxiety alters the way our minds and bodies respond to stress so that it's harder, in the long term, to return to a state of calm and restfulness.
I can't stand it anymore. If you have an anxiety disorder, you know what I mean.
I’ve written about this several times, but never said it quite this directly: No one is a diagnosis. No one fits the criteria for “bipolar” or “depression” exactly. No one is a “Patient Like You.” It’s why someone only has to have five out of eight characteristics to be diagnosed with depression. Because there is recognition within the medical community that “depression” isn’t a single thing, much as “bipolar” isn’t a single thing. Those words represent diagnoses that exist along a spectrum.
In writings elsewhere I have suggested what I call a “dimensional” diagnosis. (And this is probably because I’m a computer science-y kind of gal.) Basically you have symptoms and diagnoses that exist along multiple axes. Then, depending on where the dots cluster, you essentially have a Venn diagram of diagnoses.
It’s OK if you didn’t quite follow that. I know. It’s complicated.
But humans are complicated creatures. I like chocolate ice cream, you like vanilla. Humans are a heterogeneous bunch.
Why then, if we understand this, do we have names in the first place? Is the term “bipolar” really even useful?
In short, yes, it is. And yes, we need those labels, even if they are ill-fitting.
I have a young friend who is 17 and must return to her home today under Department of Social Services' direction. Amy stayed with me the past few weeks as a runaway; she left her home two months ago. I visited the social worker at her school early on and tried to find a way to keep Amy safe. We looked into a group home, but Amy needs her parent's permission to go there. There is no placement for Amy, a 17 year old runaway. There is no help for her. The school honored Amy's request to keep DSS out of it for awhile. "Awhile" ended on Thursday.
Parents--answer this question: How many times today have I asked myself, "am I doing the right thing here?"
I'm guessing most of you answered "at least once." And if your child has a psychiatric diagnosis, I'm guessing your answer was closer to "at least once every half-hour."
On December 28, 2010, I started the process of recovering from anorexia nervosa. Many people ask how I was able to get started when I was going through a multitudes of stressors.
It really was very simple at its core—I woke up that morning, made my breakfast, and proceed to eat one bite at a time. It has been that way ever since.
If you’re in treatment for depression and have ever mentioned a desire to die, you’ve probably heard these questions:
How would you commit suicide?
Have you make a plan to commit suicide?
And others.
So a commenter recently mentioned that this is just a way of “covering their backs,” and “. . . if I were serious about killing myself and had made a plan, why on earth would I tell them?”
This is a logical question, but an uninformed one. In studies, we know that people who attempt suicide do reach out for help and do not really want to die.
Recently, I felt pretty darn sorry for myself. It seems that despite my best efforts, I cannot cut ties with Will, my abuser. Just last night, he came to my home to bring me our final divorce papers. He stood in my living room telling a humorous story of how our youngest son attempted to climb a pine tree with parachute gear. He gave my the papers, and I handed him my military ID card.
Marc, our oldest son who now lives with me because his father choked him in a rage, sat quietly on the couch. I saw my son shrinking into the fibers of the sofa and made a mental note that Will is no longer allowed entry to my home. I will speak to Will on the steps or out by his truck; the man's mere presence disturbs the peace.
Rough week? Symptoms flaring up? Consider building a comfort zone as a way to self-soothe and de-stress. Watch this BPD video.
Amanda_HP
The cycle of dysfunction - you grow up in a significantly dysfunctional family and it has an impact on you. Now you have kids and the cycle of family dysfunction continues. Without recognition and positive change, the family dysfunction is passed from generation to generation.
My point being, I'm right there with you. I hate the rollercoaster. I just want to live life without being in a state of constant fight or flight mode, only for his character to change and de-escalate and I fall for the person I fell for all over again.
Exhausting is a horrible word. The understatement of all understatements, if you will.
I wish there were better support groups for this kind of mental health condition.