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Having been through the depths of despair in my gambling addiction journey, I can confidently say that financial health is one of the most challenging areas to rebuild. The financial instability that gambling throws you into takes a lot of determination and the right strategies to overcome. My experience with debt management and regaining financial stability taught me many valuable lessons I wish to impart to others like me. Read on to learn more about rebuilding your finances after gambling addiction.
Every few years, I search for movies and books I haven't read or seen that are either created by someone with schizophrenia or have a character who has schizophrenia. I love a good memoir written by someone with schizophrenia because, in most cases, the writer can tell about both good and bad days or hard times and times when things have been much smoother or better. It feels like that is a realistic view of schizophrenia (at least for me), and often, the author gives us some hope. After all, they are in a place with their illness where they can write and publish a book. Books and movies can show a realistic version of schizophrenia or not.
Traveling for work can be exhausting but can be even more complicated when you have bipolar or depression. It is a time-consuming process to get ready for travel when you have one of these mental health conditions. There are so many items that need to be taken into consideration when traveling for work with bipolar or depression, including medications and your sleep schedule.
Jokes and pranks can be fun for some people, but they can be downright abusive for others. Not everyone will possess the same sense of humor, leaving the other person with conflicted feelings. Does this mean pranks and jokes are verbally abusive or cruel? For some, they can be. While jokes can be fun, hurtful or malicious words packaged in an entertaining method of delivery are still verbal abuse.
A common symptom of anorexia is associating specific foods with shame, fear, or distress. In spite of all the progress I've made to heal from my eating disorder, this restrictive outlook on food still remains one of the toughest myths to dispel. But with some encouragement from my personal trainer, I have recently started taking certain foods out of the shame category. Here's what I am discovering in the process. 
I recently learned how much healthy activities matter. Last week, I had two consecutive days off from work, which does not happen often. Usually, I spend those days oversleeping. But last week, I tried to stay busy with healthy activities. Here are five ways that I benefited from staying active on my days off work.
Identity policing is when a person tries to tell another person (usually one with a marginalized identity) that their identity is invalid or that they can't or don't belong to an identity group they claim to identify with. I wanted to talk about this after my last post, where I talked about what it means to be a lesbian. Unfortunately, even within the queer community, I have had my identity policed on more than one occasion. Identity policing can be extremely hurtful and problematic. Allow me to illustrate with the example that follows from my life. 
In the past, my trauma therapist has had to give me a reality check about over-identifying with borderline personality disorder (BPD). To be honest, I needed that wake-up call. Not every unpleasant thought or emotional dip is automatically a BPD symptom. It's made me realize the pitfalls of getting too wrapped up in identifying with my mental health issues.
Foreboding joy is a concept I discovered recently. In her latest book, "Atlas of the Heart," Brene Brown describes 87 emotions that humans experience. While I could recognize and identify times when I felt most of the feelings she listed, foreboding joy was difficult to understand. Why do I run away and catastrophize when things are going well?
When healing from trauma, I have found that having a community is important. Although there are times I feel tempted to isolate myself when I'm struggling with my mental health, I have always felt better after reaching out to loved ones for support. This is especially the case when I seek out people who have been through similar traumas or share similar passions. Finding a community in which I feel welcomed and safe has done wonders for my healing from trauma. 

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Natasha Tracy
Hi She_Has_No_Name,

Thank you for your comment. I'm so sorry for what you've been through. I wish I could say something to make it feel better, but I suspect that's impossible.

What I can say is that you're right to hope. There is always the possibility of positive change. Getting help -- new help, additional help, etc. -- can be very hard and even disheartening at times, but it can also work, too.

I'm sending you some warm fuzzies. I know how hard it is, but the fact that you're still here speaks to your strength.

-- Natasha Tracy
Rue
Thank you, Gyss. My friend is letting me borrow some long gloves. I'm working on stopping self harm, I was clean for 3 months but I relapsed last night. Thank you so much.
Rue
Hey, I hear you. First I would talk to your boyfriend about how you feel. I would tell him maybe why you self harm, and open up to him why you are afraid of your parents finding out. Also explain to him that self harm is like an addiction, it's hard to stop and It's normal to relapse. I understand why you are afraid of your parents finding out, and I'm sorry that you're afraid that your parents will be mad at you. I really would open up to them if you could, because they might be able to find resources for you. I really hope that this helps you Chanel.
she_has_no_name
Girl, you just basically told the story of my life. I'm 41 years old. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder 5 years ago. And unfortunately where I live the Healthcare system is a disgrace and the real help isn't available unless we have the money or insurance coverage to pay for the right therapy and the right professionals. I'm honestly suffering, and have been stuck in my bipolar depression for my entire life but most severely being the past decade or so. It's now become so debilitating that I cannot have any life at all. I can't even spend time with or around family and friends, or strangers for that matter. I've lost the strength and tenacity and desire even because honestly the Healthcare is so disappointing, it's so bad I can honestly say, I wouldn't trust the Healthcare system in this province, to save my life. It's a sad true, I could go on more about that but I'd run out of space LOL... But reading your story really helps my heart. I feel like quite a damaged human whose life will now just consist of existence with a constant suffering battle with mental health and there feels like very little hope for me. It's also very hard to be taken seriously for the illnesses I have. I also have misophonia, self diagnosed since no one even seems to know nor care about what it is. I've had it all my life I just didn't know what it was until recent years. All the same, because of you, I will try to hang onto that last thread of hope that there is help for me and that I will get it and may be able to get out and live a normal kind of life. As of now I'm isolated to myself 98% of my time, I'm also a single/only parent been raising my son on my own, he's 16, also has alot of the same mental health issues but he's stronger and he has been able to get some help while its most crucial in life, so he hopefully doesn't end up with long term untreated and undiagnosed issues, making it harder to get better, like myself being in my mid 30s before even getting a diagnosis and improper treatment since then, it feels like it may take another half of a lifetime for me to get well. Here's to having a chance, and thanks to people like you for sharing your story and knowledge and inspiring us, the lost ones, LOL ♡ one love to all ♡
Jeremy
When I was 8 years old, I peed my pants in the supermarket. My mom drug me to the bathroom , told me to finish, then left. She came back with a bag of small size Attends briefs. I was diapered and made to finish shopping in only my diaper, a t-shirt and shoes. I was kept in diapers the whole summer and was rarely allowed to wear pants over them. Once school started again, I was allowed to wear pullups during the day but was still diapered every night. This was the normal routine until I graduated high school. I went to college but went back to diapers 24/7. I've been diapered full time for almost 30 years now. I am fully dependent on diapers, all because I wet my pants when I was 8.