Relationships – Recovering from Mental Illness

How to Handle Toxic Facebook Friends

Let’s face it–Facebook attracts some toxic people and you need to know how to handle toxic people on Facebook. Whether they’re posting belittling comments or mocking any honest, heartfelt post, they leave you feeling worse than before you read their comment. There are three major types of toxic people on Facebook, and the good news is there are ways to deal with people with issues. Here are the three toxic people on Facebook and how to handle them.

Domestic Violence Issues in the LGBTQ Community

Last week was National Crime Victims Rights Week, and while at a rally, someone gave me a pamphlet on domestic violence issues in the lesbian, gay, bisexaul, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) community. While domestic violence can affect anyone and can take many forms, the unique forms of domestic violence in the LGBTQ community are rarely discussed. I will focus on three types of domestic violence issues: strict gender roles, access to safe places, and threat of “outing” without consent.

Three Lies Abused People Believe

Unfortunately, abused people often believe certain lies. No one wakes up one day and says, “I think I’ll fall in love with an abusive person.” Many people in abusive relationships report that there was no violence until the relationship was well-established. At this point, conflicting emotions come into play–and emotions can be powerful and confusing. The fact that abused people believe lies makes the situation even more complicated. Here are three lies abused people believe.

Misunderstandings Can Contribute to Mental Health Stigma

Feeling misunderstood is one of the most difficult and painful things for people with mental illness. It’s difficult for most everyone, but sometimes our mental illness can make the misunderstanding even more complicated and can even contribute to mental health stigma. Has it ever happened to you? Some event transpires and you are clearly misunderstood by another person, or a group of people? Have you experienced a misunderstanding that has contributed to mental health stigma?

Family Members’ Attitudes About Mental Illness

I am in the interesting position of being both a family member of a mentally ill person and being mentally ill myself. It sometimes gives me a unique understanding into both sides of the issues that can arise between the ill person and their family members.

Mental Illness Validation: Tell Me ‘I Believe You’

Mental illnesses and the symptoms they cause can sometimes put us in a great deal of pain. We have a need to share our pain with others. There’s just a desire in us for people we care about to know that we’re hurting (The Stigmatization of Your Emotions). We want them to know so they can comfort us, reassure us, and take care of us.

Do You Feel Safe with Your Doctor?

If you are a person with mental illness, your relationship with your psychiatrist is one of the most important relationships in your life. This person will hear you relate some of the most intimate details of your life.

They will help you decide what medications to take, at what dosage, to help you. They will be privy to your most personal feelings, like no one else in your life besides your significant other. They will have the power to hospitalize you against your will if they determine you are a danger to yourself or others.

This is why I believe we should take our relationships with our doctors just as seriously as we do any other close relationships.

Controlling Beliefs and Behaviors Harm Mental Health Recovery

Have you ever noticed that control is a major life issue for people? And have you noticed that we all, as human beings, want to have control of ourselves, others, and pretty much the entire universe, if we had our way? Of course, you’ve noticed, because you’ve lived around other people enough to know that our quest to control permeates much of our lives.

Understanding the Mentally Ill: Fighting Stereotypes with Facts

One of the worst things about having a mental disorder is the symptoms the mental disorder causes. These symptoms are the cause of much suffering for those of us who have received a mental health diagnosis. We face our symptoms every day, sometimes every minute of the day. They can cause us to see the world and the circumstances of life very differently than people who aren’t mentally ill.

Because we sometimes perceive things this way, we occasionally come into conflict with people. It’s often family who don’t comprehend our behavior, especially since they see us at our worst. Misconceptions can, and do, happen, frequently, on both sides. Of course, it’s not only we who misperceive. Misperceptions can lead to stereotyping, part of mental health stigma. Let’s look at some examples of these stereotypes.

Guilt, Shame, and Responsibility in Mental Illness

When should the symptom-induced guilt and shame end and responsibility in mental illness begin? Chris T. (actual person, name changed) has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. One of the ways his bipolar manifests is hypersexuality. This symptom drives Chris to act out sexually. He’s a married man and over the years has had two extramarital relationships. He has come perilously close on more than one occasion to losing his entire family. Chris feels guilt and shame. He doesn’t deny responsibility in his mental illness, but his wife is torn apart because of his actions.