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My name is Martyn Armstrong (Momo, as I'm more commonly known in online circles); I'm a new blogger for "Debunking Addiction" at HealthyPlace. Next January, I'll cross the threshold of 10 years of sobriety. Still, other than a few Twitter threads on my journey, I'm relatively new to discussing addiction and mental health. And I feel excited (and, if I'm honest, slightly nervous) about sharing my experiences. Addiction and mental health play significant roles in my everyday life. And, though it sounds odd, there are upsides to both.
Which is worse, having really bad arthritis in my knees or hearing schizoaffective voices? I don’t know. They both stink, and I’ve suffered from both. Not that rank needs to be pulled, but maybe I’ll figure out which one is worse--or which one I can cope with better--by writing about it.
There was a time that I felt I needed to avoid anything that caused anxiety. Whether it was a long-term trigger or something that was making me feel uncomfortable at the moment, I felt that I needed to avoid the situation to keep from experiencing any unpleasant feelings as a result of anxiety.
I am one of the many people who consider their first love a life-changing chapter of their lives. Unfortunately, betrayal marred my first love, and the resulting trauma made it hard for me to move on.
It's harder than it's ever been to be an individual. This week, I've been thinking a lot about The Fountainhead, a novel by Ayn Rand, the Russian-born American writer and thinker who's been largely slimed by 21st century progressives for her conservative political philosophy. The Fountainhead, however, deals not with politics but with self-hood. The story follows Howard Roark, an idiosyncratic architect who refuses to bend to the popular principles of his field. Time and time again, Roark is threatened with the end of his career if he doesn't bow to the preferences of the masses, and time and time again, he refuses to give in. Eventually, he comes out on top. The novel is, of course, fictional; reality might not have delivered success to Mr. Roark.
During my childhood, my dad was one of my best friends. So Father's Day was a very exciting time. But after my father died, I dreaded the holiday. Over the years, I have learned to cope with grief through writing. This Father's Day, I want to share some writing prompts that have helped me to remember my father's special place in my life. This post contains six of my writing prompts.
Perfectionism is a double-edged sword. While it can help you achieve greater things in your personal and professional life, it can also lead to a never-ending cycle of self-criticism and low self-esteem. Perfectionists tie their self-worth to their achievements, and if things don't go to plan, they start feeling like they are failures which can destroy their confidence and even self-worth/ image.
For me, psychosis involves auditory hallucinations (hearing voices and sounds) and is the most dangerous part of my illness. The last time I went to the emergency room for symptoms of psychosis, the doctor asked me if I heard voices, and when I answered that I was, he asked an important question, "Do you do what the voices tell you to do?" And unfortunately, my answer was yes. If you can't immediately see the danger in this scenario, try to think of it this way, imagine taking orders from something that is not real. It's alarming. Schizophrenia, voices, combined with suicidal ideation, is even more alarming.
My eating disorder relies on selective memory in order to maintain a stringent foothold in my life. Selective memories are enticing and compelling. They can also be quite dangerous. In fact, as I have come to realize, the presence of selective memory is often the difference between making continual strides in recovery or free-falling back into a cycle of relapse. What do I mean by this, and how am I learning to combat selective memory in my eating disorder? Let me explain.
In the 15 or so years that I've lived with depression, I’ve built a metaphorical toolbox of techniques and relationships that help me keep the darkness at bay. Two of these depression coping tools are my dogs. Here’s how bundles of fur and slobber, known as dogs, help me cope with depression.

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Natasha Tracy
Hi Rebecca,

Thank you for your comment. You're right; what I stated was an opinion. There is no way to know that number with any accuracy.

And, in case you were wondering, I actually do have bipolar disorder and have been writing about it for 20 years.

Thanks.

-- Natasha Tracy
Rebecca
I don't think it's very ethical to say something like "this is true for 99.9 percent of people" in this blog post. There is no citation here and that is not an accurate statistic. If your goal is to provide information to help people, lying to them isn't the way to go. Do better. -someone who actually has a background in psychology and behavioral health, and living with bipolar disorder.
Brandi P.
I am 19 and babysit for a bedwetting 15 year old girl.She too wears cloth diapers and rubberpants to bed everynight.She has about 5 dozen pairs of adult size rubberpants and the majority of them are in pink,yellow,blue,white and babyprints.She likes the babyprint kind the best! When i have to babysit her,i have to put the diapers and rubberpants on her before bedtime and she takes a pair of her babyprint rubberpants out of her drawer and lays them beside her diapers.The rubberpants fit her blousy over her diapers and with the babyprint rubberpants on she looks like a baby!She just recieved her Sacrement of Confirmation[9thgrade] this past sunday,June 4th and had to wear a white ankle length dress and veil with white knee hi stockings and white shoes..I went to her party and she lifted up her dress and showed me the pair of her babyprint rubberpants she had on under her dress and told me she wanted to wear them.So to answer your question,i do feel that babyprint rubberpants are appropriate for girls 13 to 15 to wear over their bedwetting diapers!
Deidre Lombard
I find that when people upset me and I start crying I become so ill. For weeks after I am so anxious and fall into a pit of depression which I cant get out. I feel like this right now. What I do is put people out of my life who upset me. My daughter tells me I am alienating people that I love as a coping mechanism. I just cant allow people to upset me as I become very ill. I feel like this for weeks. I cant understand why crying makes me feel ill for so long.
Donna
First, thank you for your balanced reasoning. Most articles, especially by mental health professionals, urge reunification, often citing the distress that must be endured by all parties. I was diagnosed with more than one serious mental illness in my late 30s even though they began at age 8. As a result of all those decades of dealing with MI alone, the symptoms naturally only became more entrenched and I became more dissociated and emotionally dysregulated. My family chose denial as a coping mechanism, and toxic positivity, and religious escapism -- they still do. My parents are now dead and I have a brother and sister who are still alive. We are in our 60s and 70s. I am 65 and 3 yrs ago chose total estrangement from my siblings because it was much more distressful to stay in contact with them than to be alone. I can't say I am happy that I'm alone, but I have much greater peace of mind now that we are not seeing each other regularly. My brother is simply emotionally distant and doesn't want to know anything, and my sister insists I am well and am choosing to hurt her. But I am not responsible for their wellness, I am responsible for my own. I freely admit: I am avoidant, depressed, anxious, and suffer from PTSD from an abusive marriage I ended years ago.. Plus the aftermath of a life with schizophrenia and possible elements of bipolar disorder. I owe it to myself to take the best possible care of myself and to enjoy the 4th quarter of my life as I see fit, not remain attached to family members simply because we are related by blood. It is unfortunate, yes, but necessary. I tried other measures before choosing estrangement and the results were not acceptable. Thank you again for addressing this matter with compassion.