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During my sophomore year of college, I discovered I was transgender nonbinary. I began experimenting with the way I presented my gender. For me, that meant being myself for the first time. And that was terrifying. The idea of having my internal sense of self in congruence with my external self felt like turning myself inside out.
I wasn’t surprised when I read a recent study that linked reading with a lower risk of depression. I’ve seen the mental health benefits of reading firsthand, and books are now one of the many tools I use to cope with depression. Reading boosts my self-esteem, distracts my thoughts, and reduces my stress—all contributing to alleviating my depression. Here, I’ll discuss why reading has been so therapeutic for me.
Until recently, I thought conspiracy theories and delusions were the same. That made me wonder why people who believe in conspiracy theories don't receive a diagnosis of mental illness. After reading numerous articles on the differences between conspiracy theories and delusions, I now better understand the difference between the two.
Here's a little-known secret about me: Ever since I was young, I have wanted to be famous. When I was a little girl, I first wanted to be a singer, then an actor, and finally, a writer. While singing and acting didn't pan out because I wasn't passionate about them, writing stuck with me. But I haven't yet achieved fame as a writer, and until recently, it made me feel bad about myself. Although I have made peace with this now, I see a lot of young people with a burning desire to be famous. And it hurts because I know this obsession can leave behind deep mental scars.
I talk to myself all the time. In fact, I don't think I know anyone who talks to themselves more than I do. It's an incessant, running commentary on my existence. It's like I have my own narrator — but not only are they saying what's happening, but they're commenting on it, too. The question is, if I talk to myself, is this a part of bipolar disorder?
Maintaining and improving your cognitive skills, or the ability to use your brain, is an integral part of living happily into old age. Your cognitive skills allow you to think, reason, and process information. Small changes in your daily routine can strengthen these abilities, boosting your brainpower, mood, overall wellbeing, and emotional state.
Many people are struggling with finances and self-esteem, and while these two might seem unrelated, they are actually deeply intertwined. Personal finances have a significant impact on self-esteem and vice versa. Most people fail to realize that the guilt, shame, and insecurity from poor money management can greatly affect their self-perception.
The media's portrayal of alcohol addiction hurts people. Last week there was an article on the front page of my local newspaper about a man who was publicly intoxicated. The paper printed his name, hometown, and mugshot for everyone to see. This story was the talk of the tiny, touristy town where I live. Everyone thought it was acceptable to mock this man who struggles with alcohol. After this media portrayal of alcohol addiction and the ensuing jokes, I found myself in a triggered tailspin.
Advocacy burnout is a real thing. I once thought of mental health advocacy as a vital component of my recovery process. Being able to speak about things I’d kept silent for so long—depression, anxiety, excoriation (skin-picking) disorder—was freeing. It allowed me to find communities of people who understood and empathized instead of downplaying and stigmatizing what I felt. I would never have imagined I’d get burnout from mental health advocacy, but, truthfully, that’s where I’m at.
My medications for schizoaffective disorder cause a lot of weight gain, as readers of this blog well know. So, when I developed osteoarthritis in my knees at age 42, I started going to a nutritionist. I wanted to lose weight to take pressure off my knees. After a while, my nutritionist put me on a popular medication to support weight loss. At first, it was working really well. But then terrible side effects set in, including unbearable nausea, so I had to stop taking it.

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Linda singer
I have shared similar frustrations—glad to finally have a name for what makes my life more difficult. I have no sensory memory, but profound emotional ones— not always helpful, either!
Kayla Holtom
I am 16 with a twin brother,Kevin.We both recieved our Sacrement of Confirmation back in early September in the class of 23. Kevin and the other boys had to wear white suits and me and the other girls had to wear white,short sleeve floor length dresses with a veil,white gloves.lace anklets and white maryjane shoes.Two weeks before the ceremony,dad told mom that he wanted me diapered under my dress and mom went along with it! She got a package of 26x27 inch cloth diapers and sewed them together in my waist size to make one diaper out of them.She ordered a pair of white adult size rubberpants[plasticpants] and got a card of diaper pins at Walmart.That sunday morning,after my bath,mom had me sit down on my bed and lay back.She slid the folded diaper under me,applied the babypowder,then brought the diaper up and pinned the corners.Then she put my feet into the waist and leg openings of the rubberpants and pulled them up my legs and over the diaper.Since they were adult size,they fit me blousy over the diaper.My top was put on next,then my dress,veil,lace anklets and the shoes.I was brought out and shown to dad and Kevin.Mom lifted up my dress and showed them the diaper and rubberpants and i turned red!I felt weird walking down the aisle with my classmates and having the diaper and rubberpants on under my dress!
Hanna
How do we not traumatize our children like we were traumatized? How do we stop the cycle of abuse? This is nearly impossible if you have never been parented properly. My parents were hopeless, an autistic and traumatized father who was lashing out at my family every day and created true hell in the house and constantly depressed, fearful and dark mother who looked the other way. How do you fix yourself without any help when this happened to you and now boiler breaks down in the middle of winter and you get fired from work, which is what happened to me? I lashed out at my kids last night. They are unruly and messy and just being kids and of course this is not a reason to freak out like I did. Every time this happens it breaks my heart but I am powerless to stop it. We don't have money for trauma therapist. My childhood was hell, I was on drugs from depression since age 12 or so, the last 35 years, I had to find an own dr as a kid because my parents could not care less. I fist tried to commit suicide at age 14 or so and they just said that I needed to get a hobby. My friends mother was an MD and she saw me for free and gave me drugs, the old type of antidepressants, but they did not help. Since then I have had diagnoses of BPD and depression all my life and have been on Zoloft every day. My brain is probably already damaged beyond repair from 35 years of taking Zoloft. Never had a chance to do therapy. I am now 48. We lost all our lifetime savings on a buying a house for our kids that is unsellable now and don't know where to start fixing it without money for therapy.
Natasha Tracy
Hi Dave,

Thank you for your comment. I'm so sorry your friend is going through that.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any information on that topic. The best thing she can do is talk to a psychiatrist about her situation because everyone reacts differently to coming off of medications.

I hope she gets the help she needs.

-- Natasha Tracy
Dave Beaulieu
A friend of mine is in some seriously deep trouble. She went off of her medications for bi-polar and anxiety cold turkey. She fell asleep in her car due to this and was arrested by police, who noticed a baggie of white powder on her lap. Upon being awakened, then frisked by male officers, she went ballistic and started kicking and threatening the cops, who were incidentally armed to the teeth. When forced into the squad car she endeavored to hang herself with the seat belt. The cops actually had to cut the seat belt out of the car to protect her from herself. Her medications were Seroquil, Zoloft, trazadone and a few others. Do you have any information on violence by people going off their medications?