Blogs
Have the attitudes and conversations around female body image shifted in the era of #MeToo? Is this movement helping to reinforce how bodies should be viewed and talked about? Has it encouraged women to love, accept, and embrace their own bodies, as opposed to self-deprecation and shame? Will positive changes take root, so that female body image is less distorted in the era of #MeToo?
The arts have played an integral part in my recovery from schizoaffective disorder. It all started with a five-week stay at a treatment center where I received my initial diagnosis. There was a lot of downtime at the center and I was frequently digging through their stash of art supplies. I had frightening visual hallucinations, and found it very therapeutic to draw them. When others could see what I saw, my hallucinations lost their power over me and I felt less isolated. A few drawings and painting turned into many which then turned into a more serious pursuit. Over the next several years I participated in group and solo art shows all across North America. Recovery is full of surprises, and my life was taken in a direction I would have never expected prior to my admission to the treatment center, the place where my recovery journey began.
When online, I generally avoid political discussions. Because so many of them are so prone to devolve into toxic shouting matches, I find it healthier to stay away. Today, however, I’m diving in headfirst. The country is still reeling in the aftermath of the shootings in El Paso and Dayton, and quite frankly, I’m pissed off. Once again, a certain segment of the population is refusing to budge on any meaningful discussion concerning gun control, and I’m just sick of it. If we don’t have meaningful action on gun control, this country is going to drown in anxiety.
After two instances of sexual abuse, I felt that my sexuality no longer belonged to me. Twice my body was treated as an object to be used by my abusers as they saw fit, first during my childhood at the hands of a family member, then later by a stranger on a train. Though I didn't realize it at the time, I accepted that my sexuality belonged to the men who I slept with and not to me. It took me a long time to confront this truth, and I still haven't deconstructed the many ways that these instances of abuse eventually brought me to my experiences with sex now. I decided to use this blog as a place to explore this.
When you go away to college for the first time, it can be overwhelming. You might not know many people going to your school, and you won’t know what to expect from classes. Some people drop out of college due to anxiety. Luckily, there are many ways to get through anxiety and excel during the first month of school. Read this article to learn more.
Depression is a common symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After someone goes through a traumatic experience, it's normal to feel sorrow, confusion, and anger--all of which can manifest into depression.
Healing toxic shame is a process, it takes a lot of time and self-awareness and a willingness to confront the sources of shame in your past, but it is definitely possible. Personally, I have been working on healing toxic shame a lot in therapy lately, because it's impossible for me to truly recover from my issues with anxiety or depression if I believe the toxic shame from my past that tells me I'm not good enough.
When you are at work, like any other employee, you too are expected to be professional at all times. But you have something that other employees may or may not have - depression.
I don’t know how to forever banish the voice in my head that tells me I’m a failure. I know who I am. I know what I have to offer the world. On my worst days, none of it matters because I feel like I’m a failure. On my best, I’ll wake with renewed hope and by day’s end am fighting back tears of angst, staring numbly at the wall.
Research has been fairly consistent in identifying the link between body image issues and eating disorders. Can school-based intervention programs, therefore, help reduce the onset of eating disorders in young people by giving them the tools to develop high body esteem and satisfaction?
In case you haven't come across them, here are a couple of blogs I've written on this topic:
https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/survivingmentalhealthstigma/2015/11/romanticizing-mental-illnesses-feeds-mental-health-stigma
https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/survivingmentalhealthstigma/2019/3/stop-romanticizing-suicide
I happy to chat about this more if you have other questions. :)