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Yesterday, I noticed an eyelash on my finger. I asked my husband Tom if wishing on eyelashes amounted to magical thinking, even though I already knew it did. I just wiped the eyelash away instead of wishing on it. I am trying to stop most forms of magical thinking.
Last time, I wrote about setting goals and using tasks to focus on to help channel my anxiety. But what happens when things get less busy in my life, and it is time to relax? How do I relax when you're anxious?
I live alone with bipolar disorder, and recently, someone asked me how I do it. I have rarely thought about such a thing as we all just work with the life with have, but let's talk about how I survive as a person living alone with bipolar disorder.
How often have you heard people say or imply that suicide is selfish? Well, if you are a netizen like me or have lost a loved one to suicide, I am sure you have been exposed to this line one time too many. Not only is this statement hurtful, but it is also completely untrue. I want to be clear: #suicideisnotselfish.  (Note: This post contains a trigger warning.)
As my school year draws to a close, the notion of letting go is front and center on my mind. May is always a poignant month for a teacher, but this May has been particularly heavy as I prepare to leave the world of education behind and embark on a new career path. I will miss my students dearly and the person I have become under their tutelage, but as we march toward the last day of school, I am more and more ready to let go of who I have been in order to make space for who I will be. 
Most of us have "open to criticism" on our resumes. But truth be told, receiving criticism, especially if it is negative, is not one of our best moments. Criticism can hurt our self-esteem if we're not careful.
Though our society has come a long way in the perception of mental illness, stigmas around this topic are still alive and well. Stigma can be blatant or subtle; sometimes, it’s as small as an individual word or phrase. Here are some tips for choosing the right words and using language to fight mental illness stigma. 
While doing a few mental health presentations recently, I was surprised that not everyone knew that hallucinations could originate from any of the five senses (taste, touch, sight, sound, smell). There are many different types of hallucinations. I have experienced hallucinations from every one of my senses except maybe taste (gustatory). My most common hallucinations are olfactory (smell). I frequently smell chemicals or something burning when there is no source for either one of those things. 
This year will be seven years since my cat died, and I’m still not over the pet loss. My cat was a part of my life for 17 years, and it doesn’t seem big enough an expression to describe her death as something that rocked me. Will I ever get over it? I have no idea, but I’ll highlight a couple of reasons preventing me from getting over the loss of my pet.
For Mother's Day, I asked my mom what my post this week should be about. She loves to give advice, and I figured a fresh perspective would brighten my writing. When she immediately suggested I write about gardening, I decided to run with "planting happiness."

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Elizabeth Caudy
Dear William, thank you for your comment. I can definitely relate to it and I'm sure a lot of other people can, too. Best, Elizabeth
Devils-Avocado
I have just read this and actually had a little bit of a tear up. I'm a Brit on a waiting list for ADHD assessment. I have always had trouble buying clothes (and other things). Everything has to be just, just, perfect...every damn detail. I used to do exactly as described in stores but online shopping has made this worse. If I'm looking for something I end up with bags of clothes bought online (100's of £'s worth) which I'll go round and round trying on for days before returning at the 11th hour. It drives my partner (and me too, actually) batty having all this stuff in the corner of the bedroom. Currently it's summer trousers...omg.
I wonder if potential ADHD-ness also has something to do with the way I obsess, to the point of tears, over what I'm wearing to certain key things/events that really matter to me: evening out, work thing, seeing old friends after a while. I have to allow extra hours to go through the wardrobe rotation. I have been known not to go if it's just not right.
Gg
Fight hard and support your son through this hard time eventually the truth will come to light and your son will be heard.
William morgan
I am diagnosed with Schizzoaffective disorder and the part of my sickness I hate the most is severe anxiety. It attacks me from the pit of my stomach to my brain. I get so afraid that something terribly wrong has happened. Also, I’m afraid to see or be seen by my neighbors at times. This is a difficult thing because I enjoy getting out of the house at times. My anxiety is worse in the morning after waking up. I have no social life at all because i shy away from any kind of human interaction because I have social anxiety also. I freeze up in fear and all I can do is listen to others around me talking, and I am in fear to talk or communicate with others.
Lynn
Hi Kathleen, I am a pastors wife with Bi-polar 2 and I hear how you miss hearing and feeling God as He once was. I hope by now he has found better meds. I’ve also found other causes to my mental illnesses that have helped them work better. Ie my copper levels were very high from Wilson’s disease brought on by a rare bacterial infection from farming called Whipples disease. When they were Chelated, I had 10 years of feeling so well. Also have found a gene that interferes with neurotransmitters that aid serotonin levels. And take TMG an amino acid that helps too, I’m only heterozygous of this gene but I wish I could remember more to help more. The last factor that’s affected my moods is having hyperaldosteronism… an adrenal disorder that can effect our ability to cope.
So a copper, zinc cerruloplasma blood test. Anything higher than 17 is symptomatic even though a bells curve in science has the level higher. The Bill Walsh institute is dedicated to these bio chemical issues. Not sure where in the states they are.
Then aldosterone renin ration for adrenals. … early symptoms are a higher diastolic blood pressure than normal. But eventually it leads to hypertension that seems resistant to meds.. took them ten years to do this blood test on me with hypertension.
Hope ruling out things means he gets a better hold on it. But sometimes my favorite bible verse for my low mood times is “And it came to pass”