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I’m Nori Rose Hubert, and I’m so excited to contribute to the "Work and Bipolar or Depression" blog at HealthyPlace. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder type II in May 2019 at age 26, after a lifetime of struggling with my mental health. Although our culture’s attitude towards mental illness is slowly changing for the better, mood disorders such as bipolar disorder remain highly stigmatized. I write about bipolar because I want others living with this disease to know they are not alone and that mental illness recovery is possible.
Surviving mental health stigma during isolation sounds like it would be an easy sort of situation. Even with isolation during the COVID-19 outbreak, the general idea of this practice is we're simply staying home and everything is okay, but that's not the case for everyone. Although the word isolation, especially self-isolation, gives this sense of solitude, there are still opportunities for mental health stigma.
How often do you read out loud to someone? If you have kids, it may be an everyday activity, but for many reading is a solitary activity. As I've lived through these surreal weeks, I've begun to question whether reading out loud might provide value that reading to oneself doesn't quite deliver. In some ways, I feel like I've come to terms with the new status quo for my daily life, and in other ways, it still feels as impossible and unreal as when social distancing started. Living with uncertainty can be a significant challenge for anyone, but this can be further exacerbated when you face daily anxiety as well. Now more than ever, coping skills that can be easily implemented on a daily basis are crucial for handling anxiety in a positive, sustainable manner.
Addiction recovery is filled with numerous unexpected triggers and challenges. There are obvious triggers recovering addicts must face along the path to recovery, like people, places, and activities that might be associated with their drug-of-choice. However, there are also plenty of unexpected triggers in addiction recovery that catch many individuals completely off guard.
I mentioned in last week’s article that sheltering at home with schizoaffective disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t that hard for me because my schizoaffective anxiety keeps me in so much anyway. However, now the extreme isolation is starting to take its toll.
Coping with self-harm triggers can be difficult enough during normal, everyday life. It should come as no surprise that major stressors like the COVID-19 pandemic can make coping with self-harm triggers exponentially harder.
So much is uncertain and anxiety-provoking right now, but one thing is certain: kids experience anxiety during this COVID-19 pandemic, too. Not knowing how to help your kids with anxiety can be frustrating, and right now, when you might be dealing with anxiety of your own about the ever-changing COVID-19 scare, wondering how to deal with anxious kids can be challenging. Happily, there are ways you can help your kids deal with their anxiety and increase the mental health and wellbeing of everyone in your household in the process. Here are some insights from my own experience as a parent and former high school teacher and counselor. I can help you help your kids who have anxiety from COVID-19.
This post explains how the coronavirus is impacting my anxiety. I’m sure most of you (and you can include me in this group) are sick and tired of reading about this, and would rather focus on something else. Yet here we are, so I’ll at least do you the courtesy of being brief. Basically, I’m discussing how this coronavirus thing we’re all going through is impacting my anxiety.
I believe there are real dangers to losing your bipolar routine during isolation. There are issues of work, school, socializing and more that are affected by social distancing; and any one of those things can interrupt a carefully planned routine. I know my bipolar routine has been lost during isolation due to the novel coronavirus, and I know it's hurting my mental health.
What is the connection between anxiety and romantic relationships? How do you cope with relationship anxiety? After all, romantic relationships can be complicated; nearly everyone has a story from a relationship gone slightly (or incredibly) awry. Add on a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety disorder, and these relationship complications can shift and take on entirely new forms. Here are some of the ways that anxiety has infiltrated into my relationships.
Love, Elizabeth
Love,
Elizabeth
Love,
Elizabeth
Thanks for your comment. I think I'm going to try doing ballet classes on YouTube.
Love,
Elizabeth
It's not a good feeling to have to carry around anxiety and guilt and all of the accompanying emotions because of a very human blunder. It sounds like you have done many things to apologize and repair your relationship with your family. It's good that almost all of them have responded positively. Let your actions and words now and in the future show them that you are letting yourself and everyone else move on and that a single comment made in the past isn't important. The more you mention it or let it control your interactions with them, the more your anxiety will grow. Even if you feel awkward for a while longer, don't let those anxious feelings affect your actions now. Your family will lighten up and move forward with you. Unfortunately, you can't control your aunt's reactions. She is choosing to hang on for some reason that you'll probably never know. But if you and everyone else moves on, she'll face a choice: either keep the problem alive in her own mind and heart -- and push away her family in the process -- or let it go and join everyone else in going forward. Whatever she chooses is her own decision and has surprisingly little to do with you. Feel confident that you've made amends, and focus on the new moments.